Tech giants list principles for handling harmful content

Nine of the world’s biggest tech companies have come together to establish an industry framework for handling harmful content and conduct online.Why it matters: Tech companies, facing a threat from U.S. lawmakers who are considering changing the rules around what content they are liable for on their platforms, are eager to win back public trust.Details: The Digital Trust & Safety Partnership — with Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Discord, Pinterest, Reddit, Shopify and Vimeo listed as its members — will develop a best practices framework for handling harmful content and behavior online, based on five commitments to:Anticipate the risks for misuse as part of product design, and develop ways to prevent misuse or abuse.Adopt rules for user conduct and content that are clear and consistent. Enforce the rules. The framework includes examples of best practices for enforcement operations, including investing in wellness and resilience of teams dealing with sensitive materials.Keep up with changing risks and review whether policies are effective in limiting harmful content or conduct.Report periodically on actions taken on complaints, enforcement and other activities related to trust and safety.Yes, but: This is unlikely to affect the individual companies’ existing approaches to moderating content created by their users. The partnership…
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