Thread by @EFF

When your posts get taken down or your accounts get suspended, who will have your back—and who will leave you in the dark?

Today we launch “Who Has Your Back?” Censorship Edition 2019 at #RightsCon, assessing companies on content moderation policies. eff.org/wp/who-has-you…

First, the high scores. Only @reddit earned stars in every category, and @Apple and @github earned stars in five out of six categories.

If they can achieve this level of transparency and accountability, it’s reasonable to expect other companies to also meet that standard.

Of the 16 companies we assess, twelve publicly endorse the Santa Clara Principles on Transparency and Accountability in Content Moderation, indicating increasing industry buy-in to important standards of transparency, notice, and appeals. santaclaraprinciples.org

We’re also happy to see several companies improving their scores since our inaugural Who Has Your Back? Censorship Edition report last year, including Pinterest, Snap, and Facebook.

But there is still much more work to do

One example: while we applaud the 11 companies that allow users to appeal takedowns and account suspensions, notice is still a missing piece for many.

How can you appeal a takedown if the company doesn't tell you what it took down and why?

This is a major challenge for users.

While it is reasonable for companies to moderate some content, no one wins when they censor legitimate online speech without transparency, notice, or due process. We hope this report will be a step toward better, human rights-based content moderation best practices.