Thread by @perrymetzger

This is a must read. Facebook is expected by the general public and regulators to do a perfect job of simultaneously censoring posts and protecting free speech. This is of course impossible. The impossible task falls on human beings, as described: 1/

theverge.com/2019/2/25/1822…

Read the whole thing, the best isn't at the front. Everything from people trying to parse erotic choking images to people terrified that their former co-workers might kill them. All the consequences of humans being asked to do a job perfectly that is literally impossible. 2/

This is the consequence both of demanding censorship and then paradoxically demanding that censors never block anything by mistake. It leads one to question whether the central problem isn't with Facebook's attempts at censorship but with the demands made. 3/

"Something must be done!" is the common cry of the public when faced with something unpleasant. "If only people would perfectly execute this vague and impossible demand!" Well, here are the consequences. They aren't pretty. 4/

And no, I have no good or easy solutions. That's sort of the point. The demand that "something must be done" is a demand for easy solutions. The universe doesn't care how much we want an easy solution to a problem or demand it must exist. 5/

My own bias (and I recognize it is a bias) is towards not trying at all, but at the same time, I've run several moderated forums for decades now and I know that in practice, without content moderation communities can disintegrate. 6/

That said, there is something we can do, which is to stop expecting that humans can perfectly enforce rules that are both complicated and exceptionally vague, and to stop blaming organizations for not trying when it's clear that perfection is impossible even in principle. 7/7

Addendum on the Facebook censorship post: this relevant blog post by @AlecMuffett: medium.com/@alecmuffett/a…