A friend in Berlin said the new EU rules would help free speech, but I'm seeing the opposite.

He was sure the Digital Services Act would make platforms more open by forcing them to explain their moderation. But in the last month, I've seen three people in my network get their posts about medical studies removed with just a generic 'violated community standards' note. The rules seem to be making companies delete more, not less, to avoid huge fines. Has anyone else noticed platforms getting more trigger-happy since the DSA started?

3 comments

3 Comments

nancy_davis752mo ago

Actually, my experience has been kind of the opposite. Since those rules kicked in, I've noticed I'm getting way more detailed notices when something of mine gets flagged, not just the old generic message. It used to be a total black box. Now they at least have to point to the specific rule you supposedly broke. Maybe it depends on the platform?

stellawood1mo ago

Wait, but is that even a real improvement? They point to a rule, sure, but the rule is often super vague. "Violates our community standards" could mean ANYTHING. It just feels like they swapped one generic box for another slightly more specific box. The whole system is still stacked against regular users.

abbyc332mo ago

Yeah, I saw a tech blog saying the same thing. They called it the "moderation paradox" where more rules just mean more automated takedowns. What kind of studies were your friends posting about?