I really don't get why sites don't think this way. If you take the hands-off route, you can deflect a lot of criticism: "We don't endorse it, we just let people post what they want". But as soon as you censor, or curate, or promote one item/subject, you become responsible for everything else on your site. Why add extra load on yourself?
> I really don't get why sites don't think this way
Because they lose revenue. In Facebook's case because advertisers have demonstrated time and again they won't spend money when their products are associated with controversial content. It doesn't matter how nuanced or obtuse the reason for the controversy.
That sounds plausible. I guess I don't see how FB can't throw their weight around. Sure, smallrandomsite.com can't fight advertisers, but FB should be able to.
If you don't moderate what the users post your service becomes a child porn host in a surprisingly short ammount of time is the common fear, and I think its also what generally happens. Though behadings and general gore from shitposters is probably what triggers most censorship programs.
I guess I didn't say it, but I meant don't filter out anything except for legally-required stuff. If they have to comply with the law, I can understand that.
Advertisers hate this approach, unfortunately. This means that if a site is primarily trying to make money, such an idealistic approach will fall to the wayside. Reddit is the most spectacular example of this, moderation by the administrators has in recent years stepped far away from the original approach of leaving up all legal content.
Or you could even let them tag content as inappropriate for those who only want to see fluffy bunnies and have an "give me an unfiltered view" option for everyone else.
I am 100% behind letting the user decide what they want to filter out. If beheadings offend you, filter them out! If tan-colored books offend you, filter those out as well!
I guess it's weird to me that some people can't just "filter" and move on.
I've once had the displeasure of clicking on a misleading facebook group title and seeing one of the worst pictures I've ever seen, an atrocity that I couldn't get out of my head for days. I reported it. Some idiots just want to shock others, I don't get it.
I know that there are companies in Europe that only do the verification of the reported content, and the employees cannot say that they work for facebook, but in a way they do.