In this week's episode, we explore the concept of shadowbanning. From politicians to creators, the term is used to explain or excuse an alleged lack of engagement on content or accounts. However, this is also increasingly hard to define or prove. So this week, we look at what shadowbanning is and how it has evolved over the years before diving into some of the most prominent examples of shadowbanning and the ethical implications of this moderation practice. We finish by aiming to answer the question: is shadowbanning a genuine censorship problem for Big Tech, or is it all just a conspiracy theory made up by disgruntled users?

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Timestamps:

2:30 What is shadowbanning & its history

10:18 Which platforms have been accused of shadow banning?

27:23 Why do platforms shadow ban?

29:32 Examples of shadow banning

`29:43 Political shadow banning

34:01 Shadow banning sex workers

38:58 Creators who have been shadow banned

45:32 Ethical implications of shadow banning

46:54 Is shadow banning a necessary evil?

52:03 The impacts of shadow banning

Resources:

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/04/social-media-shadowbans-tiktok-twitter/629702/

https://theconversation.com/what-is-shadowbanning-how-do-i-know-if-it-has-happened-to-me-and-what-can-i-do-about-it-192735

https://twitter.com/jackielerm/status/1231122961379340289

https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/instagram-ranking-explained/

https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.05101

https://slate.com/technology/2022/12/is-shadowbanning-real-twitter-files.html

https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2018/Setting-the-record-straight-on-shadow-banning

https://twitter.com/jack/status/1037399156460081152

https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1601352083617505281

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/twitter-files-matt-taibbi-bari-weiss-michael-shellenberger-elon-musk/

https://www.wired.com/story/twitter-files-elon-musk-shadowbanning-censorship/

https://theintercept.com/2020/03/16/tiktok-app-moderators-users-discrimination/

https://hackinghustling.org/posting-into-the-void-content-moderation

https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/19/meta-instagram-palestine-israel-shadowban-censorship-moderation-bias/

https://www.dw.com/en/tiktok-censoring-lgbtq-nazi-terms-in-germany-report/a-61237610

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKMlObOwzkc

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/08/algospeak-tiktok-le-dollar-bean/ 

https://theconversation.com/what-is-algospeak-inside-the-newest-version-of-linguistic-subterfuge-203460 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/01/13/business/what-is-shadow-banning.html 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonytellez/2023/01/31/mascara-unalive-corn-what-common-social-media-algospeak-words-actually-mean/?sh=7a10b1072a08 

https://centennialworld.com/julia-fox-apologises-after-misunderstanding-tiktok-slang-for-mascara/ 

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20563051231194586