June 10, 2021 - 8:00am to 9:00am PDT
Online

Note: Registration for RightsCon 2021 is now closed.

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Panel Description:

We will set the stage for this session by describing how colonialist concepts of “terrorist and violent extremist content,” and dis- and mis- information, are driving content moderation policies and impacting free speech. We will explain the practical concept of “dangerous speech” as defined by the Dangerous Speech Project, which is “Any form of expression (e.g. speech, text, or images) that can increase the risk that its audience will condone or commit violence against members of another group.” We will contrast this to the poorly defined concept of TVEC.

Bad actors coordinate across platforms to spread content that is linked to offline violence but not deemed TVEC by platforms; centralized responses have proved prone to error and too easy to propagate errors across the Internet. Can actual dangerous speech be addressed without encouraging such dangerous centralization?

Through the lens of our research, we will highlight the overt enforcement of content policies and discuss these adverse effects on speech while also stressing the devastating consequences these haphazard applications have on the work of archivists and human rights defenders.

We encourage participants to bring their own examples and policy recommendations to the discussion. We will then wrap up with breakout rooms to run through hypothetical content moderation questions, and come together for a brainstorming session on the top priority areas we want policymakers to understand.

Speakers: