Case Studies
The TSF Case Studies are a series of real-life examples of trust and safety issues. Each case study demonstrates how difficult it is to make trust and safety decisions and discusses the trade-offs inherent in each decision or setup, prompting readers to think about the questions raised by the case study and consider the implications and outcomes.
These case studies may be helpful as a training tool as they examine past examples that resonate with current challenges. TSF publishes case studies in an effort to form an ongoing repository of trust and safety examples providing deeper insight for the broader public.
The case studies are written by TSF staff, volunteer and paid writers, and The Copia Institute.
Featured Case Studies
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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 […]
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TikTok and Oracle: Public Accountability via Private Auditor
Summary: TikTok has been widely criticized for its handling of U.S. based user data. The criticism is not without merit, as evidenced by numerous data security scandals and investigations. To […]
All Case Studies
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Twitter removes “verified” badge in response to policy violations (2017)
Summary: Many social networks have enabled users to use a pseudonym as their identity on that network. Since users could use whatever name they wanted, they could pretend to be […]
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Spam “Hacks” in Among Us (2020)
Summary: From August to October of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic had no end in sight and plenty of people were still stuck at home, on lockdown, unable to gather […]
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YouTube deals with disturbing content disguised as videos for kids (2017)
Summary: YouTube offers an endless stream of videos that cater to the preferences of users, no matter their age and has become a go-to content provider for kids and their […]
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BoingBoing Begins Disemvoweling The Trolls (2007)
Summary: One of the challenges for any website that allows for user content — no matter the size of the website — is how to deal with trollish behavior. There […]
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Twitter temporarily locks account of Indian Technology Minister (2021)
Summary: In late June 2021, Twitter briefly suspended the account of Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Indian government’s Technology Minister because his content violated copyright. Although Prasad was given a copy […]
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Spotify comes under fire for hosting Joe Rogan’s podcast (2020)
Summary: In May of 2020 Joe Rogan, whose podcast was considered one of the most popular in the world, signed an exclusive deal to host the podcast on Spotify. Rogan, who has […]
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Twitter experiences problems moderating audio tweets (2020)
Summary: Since its debut in 2007, Twitter hasn’t changed much about its formula, except for expanding its character limit from 140 to 280 in 2007 and adding useful features such […]
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Dealing with “Cheap Fake” modified political videos (2020)
Summary: For years now there have been concerns raised about the possibility of “deep fake” videos impacting an election. Deep fakes are videos that have been digitally altered, often to insert […]
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Facebook removes image of two men kissing (2011)
Summary: In the spring of 2011, two men were on a first date at the John Snow pub in London. They were apparently thrown out of the pub after another patron at […]
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Spotify enforces hateful conduct policy, removing artists from its platform for off-platform behavior (2018)
Summary: In May 2018, music streaming service Spotify deployed an updated “Hate Content and Hateful Conduct” policy. The first part of this new policy allowed for the removal of content […]
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Facebook ad policies make it difficult for women’s health startups to advertise (2018)
Summary: Going back many years, there have been accusations that Facebook has a double standard when it comes to men’s and women’s health products in advertising. In 2018, a VentureBeat investigation highlighted […]
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Instagram takes down Instagram account of book about Instagram (2020)
Summary: Three professors, Tama Leaver, Tim Highfield and Crystal Abidin, wrote a book about culture on Instagram and how it developed. The book, entitled Instagram: Visual Social Media Cultures, was released […]