Case Studies
Case studies are real-life examples of trust and safety issues. Each case study demonstrates how difficult it is to make a trust and safety decision and discusses the associated trade-offs, prompting readers to think about the questions raised by the case and consider both intended and unintended outcomes.
TSF publishes case studies in an effort to form an ongoing repository of trust and safety examples providing deeper insight for the broader public. These case studies may also be helpful as a training tool as they examine past examples that resonate with current challenges.
Case studies are written by trust and safety professionals, researchers, and the Copia Institute.
Featured Case Studies
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The Reddit Blackout of 2023: Moderators Lead the Charge for a Site-Wide Protest of API Changes
Summary: Beginning June 12th, 2023, Reddit experienced its second-ever “blackout,” triggered by the platform’s decision to charge companies for API access. Reddit, known for its diverse user-generated content organized into […]
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Addressing Disinformation Through Labeling in Times of Crisis
Summary: A few days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Twitter announced that it would start labeling tweets containing links from Russian state-linked media outlets, noting their affiliation. Additionally, Twitter […]
All Case Studies
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Nintendo blocks players from discussing COVID, other subjects (2020)
Summary: Nintendo has long striven to be the most family-friendly of game consoles. Its user base tends to skew younger and its attempts to ensure its offerings are welcoming and […]
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Discord adds AI moderation to help fight abusive content (2021)
Summary: In the six years since Discord debuted its chat platform, it has seen explosive growth. And, over the past half-decade, Discord’s chat options have expanded to include GIFs, video, audio, […]
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Facebook suspends account for showing topless aboriginal women (2016)
Summary: Facebook’s challenges of dealing with content moderation around “nudity” have been covered many times, but part of the reason the discussion comes up so often is that there are so many scenarios […]
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Game developer deals with sexual content generated by users and its own AI (2021)
Summary: Dealing with content moderation involving user generated content from humans is already quite tricky — but those challenges can reach a different level when artificial intelligence is generating content […]
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Facebook struggles to correctly moderate the word “hoe” (2021)
Summary: One of the many challenges with content moderation is the flexibility of language. When applying blocklists — a list of prohibited terms considered not appropriate for the platform — […]
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Electric truck company uses copyright claims to hide criticism (2020)
Summary: There are many content moderation challenges that companies face, but complications arise when users or companies try to make use of copyright law as a tool to block criticism. […]
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LinkedIn blocks access to journalist profiles in China (2021)
Summary: A major challenge for global internet companies is figuring how to deal with different rules and regulations within different countries. This has proven especially difficult for internet companies looking […]
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Tumblr’s approach to adult content (2013)
Summary: There are unique challenges in handling adult content on a website, whether it’s an outright ban, selectively allowed, cordoned off under content warnings, or (in some cases) actively encouraged.Tumblr’s […]
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Snapchat disables GIPHY integration after racist “sticker” is discovered (2018)
Summary: Snapchat debuted to immediate success a decade ago, drawing in millions of users with its playful take on instant messaging that combined photos and short videos with a large […]
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Apple faces backlash against a new CSAM detection system (2021)
Summary: Apple announced on August 5, 2021 that it would introduce three new child safety features in its upcoming iOS 15 update in the United States. These features are intended to help protect […]
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Twitter’s self-deleting tweets feature creates new moderation problems (2020)
Summary: In its 15 years as a micro-blogging service, Twitter has given users more characters per tweet, reaction GIFs, multiple UI options, and the occasional random resorting of their timelines. […]
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Coca Cola realizes custom bottle labels involve moderation issues (2021)
Summary: Content moderation questions can come from all sorts of unexpected places — including custom soda bottle labels. Over the years, Coca Cola has experimented with a variety of different […]