YouTube already have a huge staff of human moderators, probably in the tens of thousands. Moderating content in a consistent and fair manner is essentially impossible, largely because nobody agrees on what should be kept off the platform.
Is the image of a female nipple pornographic or empowering? Is the image of a murder victim terrorist propaganda or reportage? Is a political rant hate speech or free speech? There is no universal answer to any of these questions, least of all when we consider the huge difference in cultural attitudes across an international user base.
I can highly recommend the documentary The Internet’s Dirtiest Secrets: The Cleaners, which illustrates these paradoxes with brilliant clarity by intercutting between the moderators and the moderated.
Is the image of a female nipple pornographic or empowering? Is the image of a murder victim terrorist propaganda or reportage? Is a political rant hate speech or free speech? There is no universal answer to any of these questions, least of all when we consider the huge difference in cultural attitudes across an international user base.
I can highly recommend the documentary The Internet’s Dirtiest Secrets: The Cleaners, which illustrates these paradoxes with brilliant clarity by intercutting between the moderators and the moderated.