Safe Havens for Hate - by Tamar Mitts (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Why efforts to moderate harmful content on social media fail to stop extremists. Content moderation on social media has become one of the most daunting challenges of our time. Nowhere is the need for action more urgent than in the fight against terrorism and extremism. Yet despite mass content takedowns, account suspensions, and mounting pressure on technology companies to do more, hate thrives online. Safe Havens for Hate looks at how content moderation shapes the tactics of harmful content producers on a wide range of social media platforms. Drawing on a wealth of original data on more than a hundred militant and hate organizations around the world, Tamar Mitts shows how differing moderation standards across platforms create safe havens that allow these actors to organize, launch campaigns, and mobilize supporters. She reveals how the structure of the information environment shapes the cross-platform activity of extremist organizations and movements such as the Islamic State, the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, and QAnon, and highlights the need to consider the online ecosystem, not just individual platforms, when developing strategies to combat extremism. Taking readers to the frontlines of the digital battleground where dangerous organizations operate, Safe Havens for Hate sheds critical light on how governments and technology companies grapple with the tension between censorship and free speech when faced with violence, hate, and extremism"--

Book Synopsis

Why efforts to moderate harmful content on social media fail to stop extremists

Content moderation on social media has become one of the most daunting challenges of our time. Nowhere is the need for action more urgent than in the fight against terrorism and extremism. Yet despite mass content takedowns, account suspensions, and mounting pressure on technology companies to do more, hate thrives online. Safe Havens for Hate looks at how content moderation shapes the tactics of harmful content producers on a wide range of social media platforms.

Drawing on a wealth of original data on more than a hundred militant and hate organizations around the world, Tamar Mitts shows how differing moderation standards across platforms create safe havens that allow these actors to organize, launch campaigns, and mobilize supporters. She reveals how the structure of the information environment shapes the cross-platform activity of extremist organizations and movements such as the Islamic State, the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, and QAnon, and highlights the need to consider the online ecosystem, not just individual platforms, when developing strategies to combat extremism.

Taking readers to the frontlines of the digital battleground where dangerous organizations operate, Safe Havens for Hate sheds critical light on how governments and technology companies grapple with the tension between censorship and free speech when faced with violence, hate, and extremism.

Review Quotes

"Offers timely insights into the trajectory of online threat actors, voluntary platform commitments, and international regulatory regimes over the past decade. . . Mitts' analysis goes beyond just an assessment of the threat actor trends, adding significant insight into the impact of regulatory trends over the past decade."---Joseph Stabile, Tech Policy Press

About the Author

Tamar Mitts is assistant professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University, where she is a faculty member at the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, the Institute of Global Politics, and the Data Science Institute.