PETALING JAYA: The internet and social media have become vital components in the lives of most people. Platforms such as TikTok, Facebook and Instagram largely provide a safe zone for its users under the watchful eye of content moderators, who decide what should and should not be visible to the public.
Content moderator G. Elwyn said he does not allow or reject content based on personal preferences but adheres to the policies adopted by the respective platforms.
“I believe all social media platforms have their policies when it comes to pornography, violence or vulgar content.
“Such content on social media is a “no-no”, but the fact remains that different platforms may have different policies on age-restricted content or removals.
“So, we don’t just remove videos because we don’t like it. We moderate content based on the policies imposed by the platform and if the content violates internal policies, it will be removed. Therefore, our ethics are subject to policy differences,” he said.
However, Elwyn agreed that social media is dangerous for children since internet users have the freedom to upload anything at any time without verification.
He urged parents to play a part in guiding their children by activating child-safety features so that their children do not have access to explicit content such as pornography and violence.
“On most social media platforms, the user can upload content immediately and not have to wait three days for it to be processed or approved.
“As such, parents should play (a more active role) in this rather than rely on content moderators alone. If parents want to protect their children from viewing explicit content, they should either use the child-safety features offered by social media platforms or don’t provide their children with mobile phones.”
In response to Elwyn’s comments, LGMS Berhad chairman and cybersecurity expert Fong Choong Fook noted that content moderation policies should be accompanied by fundamental rules that never deviate from the law, even if they differ from one platform to another.
He said content creators should be given guidelines on what to post, since social media is an open platform with a diverse user base that includes teenagers and children.
“There should be guidelines for content creators on what they should post. For example, in terms of pornography, we have seen comics with adult content. So, teenagers and youngsters can access all of these inappropriate comics easily,” Fong said.
“Social media is currently unable to filter scammers and fraudsters. For instance, maid agencies that offer cleaning services require users to download apps that are mainly run by scammers. Such scams happen almost every day, but social media platforms are not blocking this type of advertisement.”
He added that parental awareness is important as a means to shape the ability of future generations to discern scams and access the right content instead of blaming social media when their children push the boundaries.
“Many parents give full access to their children without supervising what websites they visit. Parental supervision and awareness are equally essential to making sure children understand the content they are allowed to access.”