[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/cbscwp/324.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The economics of content moderation: Theory and experimental evidence from hate speech on Twitter

Author

Listed:
  • Jiménez-Durán, Rafael
Abstract
Social media platforms ban users and remove posts to moderate their content. This "speech policing" remains controversial because little is known about its consequences and the costs and benefits for different individuals. I conduct two pre-registered field experiments on Twitter to examine the effect of moderating hate speech on user behavior and welfare. Randomly reporting posts for violating the rules against hateful conduct increases the likelihood that Twitter removes them. Reporting does not affect the activity on the platform of the posts' authors or their likelihood of reposting hate, but it does increase the activity of those attacked by the posts. These results are consistent with a model in which content moderation is a quality decision for platforms that increases user engagement and hence advertising revenue. The second experiment shows that changing users' perceived content removal does not change their willingness to pause using social media, a measure of consumer surplus. My results imply that content moderation does not necessarily moderate users, but it can marginally increase advertising revenue. It can be consistent with both profit and welfare maximization as long as out-of-platform externalities are small.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiménez-Durán, Rafael, 2022. "The economics of content moderation: Theory and experimental evidence from hate speech on Twitter," Working Papers 324, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:cbscwp:324
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/266349/1/1822173515.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Leonardo Bursztyn & Ingar Haaland & Aakaash Rao & Christopher Roth, 2020. "Disguising Prejudice: Popular Rationales as Excuses for Intolerant Expression," Working Papers 2020-73, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    2. Steven Berry & Amit Gandhi & Philip Haile, 2013. "Connected Substitutes and Invertibility of Demand," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 81(5), pages 2087-2111, September.
    3. Gary S. Becker & Kevin M. Murphy, 1993. "A Simple Theory of Advertising as a Good or Bad," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(4), pages 941-964.
    4. Leonardo Bursztyn & Georgy Egorov & Ruben Enikolopov & Maria Petrova, 2019. "Social Media and Xenophobia: Evidence from Russia," NBER Working Papers 26567, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Hainmueller, Jens, 2012. "Entropy Balancing for Causal Effects: A Multivariate Reweighting Method to Produce Balanced Samples in Observational Studies," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 25-46, January.
    6. Ingar Haaland & Christopher Roth & Johannes Wohlfart, 2023. "Designing Information Provision Experiments," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 61(1), pages 3-40, March.
    7. Leonardo Bursztyn & Alessandra L. González & David Yanagizawa-Drott, 2020. "Misperceived Social Norms: Women Working Outside the Home in Saudi Arabia," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(10), pages 2997-3029, October.
    8. Joao Correia‐da‐Silva & Bruno Jullien & Yassine Lefouili & Joana Pinho, 2019. "Horizontal mergers between multisided platforms: Insights from Cournot competition," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 109-124, January.
    9. Hunt Allcott & Matthew Gentzkow, 2017. "Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election," NBER Working Papers 23089, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. David Y. Yang & Leonardo Bursztyn, 2022. "Misperceptions About Others," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 14(1), pages 425-452, August.
    11. Hunt Allcott & Luca Braghieri & Sarah Eichmeyer & Matthew Gentzkow, 2020. "The Welfare Effects of Social Media," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(3), pages 629-676, March.
    12. Thomas Fujiwara & Karsten Müller & Carlo Schwarz, 2024. "The Effect of Social Media on Elections: Evidence from The United States," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 22(3), pages 1495-1539.
    13. Alexandre Belloni & Victor Chernozhukov & Christian Hansen, 2014. "Inference on Treatment Effects after Selection among High-Dimensional Controlsâ€," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(2), pages 608-650.
    14. Amalia Álvarez & Fabian Winter, 2018. "Normative change and culture of hate: An experiment in online environments," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2018_03, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    15. Matthew Gentzkow, 2007. "Valuing New Goods in a Model with Complementarity: Online Newspapers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(3), pages 713-744, June.
    16. Munger, Kevin, 2021. "Don’t @ Me: Experimentally Reducing Partisan Incivility on Twitter," Journal of Experimental Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(2), pages 102-116, July.
    17. Guofu Tan & Junjie Zhou, 2021. "The Effects of Competition and Entry in Multi-sided Markets," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(2), pages 1002-1030.
    18. Hunt Allcott & Judd B. Kessler, 2019. "The Welfare Effects of Nudges: A Case Study of Energy Use Social Comparisons," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 236-276, January.
    19. E. Glen Weyl, 2010. "A Price Theory of Multi-sided Platforms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(4), pages 1642-1672, September.
    20. Guy Aridor, 2022. "Measuring Substitution Patterns in the Attention Economy: An Experimental Approach," CESifo Working Paper Series 10190, CESifo.
    21. Ro'ee Levy, 2021. "Social Media, News Consumption, and Polarization: Evidence from a Field Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(3), pages 831-870, March.
    22. Ruben Enikolopov & Alexey Makarin & Maria Petrova, 2020. "Social Media and Protest Participation: Evidence From Russia," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(4), pages 1479-1514, July.
    23. Hunt Allcott & Matthew Gentzkow, 2017. "Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 211-236, Spring.
    24. Roberto Mosquera & Mofioluwasademi Odunowo & Trent McNamara & Xiongfei Guo & Ragan Petrie, 2020. "The economic effects of Facebook," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 23(2), pages 575-602, June.
    25. Siegel, Alexandra A. & Badaan, Vivienne, 2020. "#No2Sectarianism: Experimental Approaches to Reducing Sectarian Hate Speech Online," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 114(3), pages 837-855, August.
    26. A. Michael Spence, 1975. "Monopoly, Quality, and Regulation," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 6(2), pages 417-429, Autumn.
    27. Imbens,Guido W. & Rubin,Donald B., 2015. "Causal Inference for Statistics, Social, and Biomedical Sciences," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521885881, September.
    28. José Luis Montiel Olea & Mikkel Plagborg‐Møller, 2019. "Simultaneous confidence bands: Theory, implementation, and an application to SVARs," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(1), pages 1-17, January.
    29. Beknazar-Yuzbashev, George & Stalinski, Mateusz, 2022. "Do social media ads matter for political behavior? A field experiment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    30. Thomas Fujiwara & Karsten Müller & Carlo Schwarz, 2021. "The Effect of Social Media on Elections: Evidence from the United States," NBER Working Papers 28849, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rafael Jimenez-Duran, 2021. "The Economics of Content Moderation: Theory and Experimental Evidence from Hate Speech on Twitter," Natural Field Experiments 00754, The Field Experiments Website.
    2. Luca Braghieri & Ro'ee Levy & Alexey Makarin, 2022. "Social Media and Mental Health," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(11), pages 3660-3693, November.
    3. Geraci, Andrea & Nardotto, Mattia & Reggiani, Tommaso & Sabatini, Fabio, 2022. "Broadband Internet and social capital," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    4. Garz, Marcel & Szucs, Ferenc, 2023. "Algorithmic selection and supply of political news on Facebook," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    5. Marco Grotteria & Max Miller & S.Lakshmi Naaraayanan, 2024. "Foreign influence in US politics," Discussion Papers 2024-12, Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP).
    6. Eugenio Levi & Michael Bayerlein & Gianluca Grimalda & Tommaso Reggiani, 2023. "Narratives on migration and political polarization: How the emphasis in narratives can drive us apart," MUNI ECON Working Papers 2023-07, Masaryk University.
    7. Nicolás Ajzenman & Bruno Ferman & Pedro C. Sant’Anna, 2023. "Rooting for the Same Team: On the Interplay between Political and Social Identities in the Formation of Social Ties," Working Papers 231, Red Nacional de Investigadores en Economía (RedNIE).
    8. Thomas Fujiwara & Karsten Müller & Carlo Schwarz, 2024. "The Effect of Social Media on Elections: Evidence from The United States," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 22(3), pages 1495-1539.
    9. Thomas Fujiwara & Karsten Müller & Carlo Schwarz, 2021. "The Effect of Social Media on Elections: Evidence from the United States," NBER Working Papers 28849, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Ek, Claes & Samahita, Margaret, 2023. "Too much commitment? An online experiment with tempting YouTube content," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 21-38.
    11. Rezaee, Arman & Hirshleifer, Sarojini & Naseem, Mustafa & Raza, Agha Ali, 2023. "The Spread of (Mis)information: A Social Media Experiment in Pakistan," Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, Working Paper Series qt53n4q35z, Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, University of California.
    12. Leonardo Bursztyn & Ingar K. Haaland & Aakaash Rao & Christopher P. Roth, 2020. "Disguising Prejudice: Popular Rationales as Excuses for Intolerant Expression," NBER Working Papers 27288, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Shota Ichihashi & Byung-Cheol Kim, 2023. "Addictive Platforms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(2), pages 1127-1145, February.
    14. Assenza, Tiziana, 2021. "The Ability to 'Distill the Truth'," TSE Working Papers 21-1280, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Mar 2022.
    15. Donati,Dante & Orozco Olvera,Victor Hugo & Rao,Nandan Mark, 2022. "Using Social Media to Change Gender Norms : An Experiment within Facebook Messenger in India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10199, The World Bank.
    16. Jiménez Durán, Rafael & Muller, Karsten & Schwarz, Carlo, 2024. "The Effect of Content Moderation on Online and Offline Hate: Evidence from Germany’s NetzDG," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 701, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    17. Ekaterina Zhuravskaya & Maria Petrova & Ruben Enikolopov, 2020. "Political Effects of the Internet and Social Media," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 12(1), pages 415-438, August.
    18. Leopoldo Fergusson & Carlos Molina, 2020. "Facebook Causes Protests," HiCN Working Papers 323, Households in Conflict Network.
    19. von Essen, Emma & Jansson, Joakim, 2020. "Misogynistic and Xenophobic Hate Language Online: A Matter of Anonymity," Working Paper Series 1350, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    20. Lergetporer, Philipp & Woessmann, Ludger, 2023. "Earnings information and public preferences for university tuition: Evidence from representative experiments," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    social media; moderation; report; hate speech; experiment; welfare;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation
    • D90 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - General
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:cbscwp:324. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/gsuchus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.