对于大型科技平台来说，在流感大流行的最初几个月里出现的一个更紧迫的问题是，强制关闭办公室将如何改变他们对内容节制的态度。Facebook、YouTube和Twitter都依赖大量的第三方合同工来管理自己的网络，而传统上这些员工都是在大办公室里并肩工作的。当科技公司关闭办公室时，他们也关闭了大部分内容审查设施。

令人高兴的是，他们继续给版主发工资——即使是那些不能再工作的版主，因为他们的工作要求他们使用安全设施。但随着社交网络的使用激增，选举在即，对节制的需求空前强烈。因此，硅谷很大程度上把监管职责转移到了自动化系统上。

问题是它是否有效——本周，我们开始了解一些细节。Facebook和YouTube都曾警告说，自动化系统会比人类犯更多的错误。他们是对的。詹姆斯·文森特在边缘：

Around 11 million videos were removed from YouTube between April and June, says the FT, or about double the usual rate. Around 320,000 of these takedowns were appealed, and half of the appealed videos were reinstated. Again, the FT says that’s roughly double the usual figure: a sign that the AI systems were over-zealous in their attempts to spot harmful content.

As YouTube’s chief product officer, Neal Mohan, told the FT: “One of the decisi*** we made [at the beginning of the pandemic] when it came to machines who couldn’t be as precise as humans, we were going to err on the side of making sure that our users were protected, even though that might have resulted in [a] slightly higher number of videos coming down.”

结果表明，自动化系统并没有录下略高数量的视频，而是录下了两倍数量的视频。这一点值得我们所有人思考，尤其是那些抱怨科技公司审查过多内容的人。出于很多原因，像YouTube这样的公司面临着越来越大的压力，他们既要删除更多的不良帖子，又要自动删除。随着时间的推移，这些系统肯定会得到改进，但过去几个月向我们展示了这种方法的局限性。他们还表明，当你向科技公司施压，要求他们删除更多有害的帖子时——有充分的理由——代价就是审查制度的升级。

我们几乎从不同时谈论这两种压力，但这对于制定我们都能接受的解决方案至关重要。

在内容节制方面还有另一个更紧迫的权衡：使用容易出错但不可战胜的自动化系统，而不是使用技能更高但易受工作影响的人。

去年，我去了奥斯汀和华盛顿特区，为YouTube和Google介绍现任和前任主持人。我大部分时间都和那些在YouTube恐怖队列工作的人呆在一起，他们每天检查暴力极端主义的视频，把它从公司的服务中删除。这是我做的一个关于内容版主的长达一年的系列文章的一部分，这个系列试图记录做这项工作的长期后果。在YouTube上，就像在Facebook上一样，我采访过的许多主持人都患有创伤后应激障碍。

其中一位主持人，我在报道中称他为彼得，他这样向我描述他的日常生活：

Since he began working in the violent extremi** queue, Peter noted, he has lost hair and gained weight. His temper is shorter. When he drives by the building where he works, even on his off days, a vein begins to throb in his chest.

“Every day you watch someone beheading someone, or someone shooting his girlfriend,” Peter tells me. “After that, you feel like wow, this world is really crazy. This makes you feel ill. You’re feeling there is nothing worth living for. Why are we doing this to each other?”

本周，当我读到一份代表像他这样的工人提出的新诉讼时，我想起了彼得。以下是中新网的王奎妮：

A former content moderator is suing Google-owned YouTube after she allegedly developed depression and symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder from repeatedly watching videos of beheadings, child abuse and other disturbing content.

“She has trouble sleeping and when she does sleep, she has horrific nightmares. She often lays awake at night trying to go to sleep, replaying videos that she has seen in her mind,” says the lawsuit, which was filed in a California superior court on Monday. The former moderator also can’t be in crowded places because she’s afraid of mass shootings, suffers from panic attacks and has lost friends because of her anxiety. She also has trouble being around kids and is now frightened to have children, according to the lawsuit.

据黄之锋报道，参与诉讼的律师事务所也是针对Facebook的类似诉讼的一部分。这是Facebook在此案中所做的大部分工作的一个重要细节：同意以5200万美元和解。这一和解方案仍需法官的最终批准，仅适用于Facebook的美国版主。而且，由于全球各地都在审理类似的诉讼，Facebook的最终成本可能要高得多。

在与100多位不同规模的服务机构的内容版主交谈之后，似乎很明显，无论他们在哪里工作，这项工作都会付出类似的代价。只有一小部分员工可能会因为每天观看令人不安的内容而患上全面的创伤后应激障碍，但其他人会患上其他严重的心理健康疾病。而且，由于科技公司基本上都将这项工作外包给了供应商，这一成本在很大程度上被隐藏了起来。

我问YouTube对这起新诉讼有何看法。

一位发言人说：“我们不能对未决诉讼置评，但我们依靠人工和技术的结合来删除违反我们社区准则的内容，我们承诺支持从事这项重要和必要工作的人。”。“我们谨慎地选择与我们合作的公司，并与他们合作，提供全面的资源来支持版主的福祉和心理健康，包括限制每天花在评论内容上的时间。”

在同意支付5200万美元之前，Facebook告诉了我同样的事情。

不管怎样，我今天把这些故事串联起来写是为了强调权衡是多么困难。过分依赖机器，它们会删除很多好的演讲。过度依赖人类，最终会导致精神健康状况恶化。到目前为止，还没有一家全球规模的科技公司能够做到这一平衡。事实上，我们仍然没有真正的协议，让它“正确”会是什么样子。

然而，我们知道雇主有责任保护他们的主持人的健康。为了让Facebook承认限制极端主义内容的危害，承包商打了一场官司。当这场新的诉讼最终解决时，如果YouTube不被迫承认这一点，我会感到惊讶。

比率

今天的新闻可能会影响公众对大型科技平台的看法。

上升趋势：Facebook删除了来自中国的账户网络，这些账户对特朗普总统和拜登都进行了宣传和批评。这是该公司首次针对美国政界对中国账户进行的清理。（克雷格·廷伯格/*****）

趋势：推特推出了迄今为止最大规模的鼓励美国人投票的举措。该公司正在促使美国的每一个人登记投票星期二，这是全国选民登记日。（杰西卡·盖恩/今日美国）

管理

⭐ 据中情局评估，俄罗斯总统普京“可能指挥”一场外国势力行动，干预2020年针对拜登的总统选举。这份评估报告描述了乌克兰议员安德烈·德卡赫如何在美国传播有关拜登的****。《*****》的乔希·罗金有这样一个故事：

The CIA asses**ent described Derkach’s efforts in detail and said that his activities have included working through lobbyists, members of Congress and U.S. media organizati*** to disseminate and amplify his anti-Biden information. Though it refers to Derkach’s interacti*** with a “prominent” person connected to the Trump campaign, the ****ysis does not identify the person. Giuliani, who has been working with Derkach publicly for several months, is not named in the asses**ent. [...]

On Sept. 10, following calls from Democratic lawmakers, the Treasury Department sanctioned Derkach, alleging that he “has been an active Russian agent for over a decade, maintaining close connecti*** with the Russian Intelligence Services.” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a Sept. 10 statement that “Derkach and other Russian agents employ manipulation and deceit to attempt to influence electi*** in the United States and elsewhere around the world.” The Treasury Department stated Derkach “waged a covert influence campaign centered on cultivating false and unsubstantiated narratives concerning U.S. officials in the upcoming 2020 Presidential Election,” which he did by releasing edited audio tapes and other unsupported information that were then pushed in Western media.

⭐预计美国司法部本周将向州检察长通报其对谷歌提起反垄断诉讼的计划。调查最初集中在该公司的广告业务，但后来逐渐涵盖了其在在线搜索领域的主导地位。以下是《*****》的托尼·罗姆：

The department had been eyeing a September lawsuit against Google. U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr this summer sought to speed up the agency’s work, overruling dozens of federal agents who said they needed additional time before they could file a case against Google, The Washington Post previously reported.

一个保守的**组织正在谷歌上发布关于佛罗里达州选民舞弊的误导性广告。虽然标题写着“佛罗里达州选举官员因大规模选民舞弊被抓获”，但广告的主体谈论的是教育举措。（选举诚信伙伴关系）

Facebook表示，如果美国总统大选陷入混乱或暴力骚乱，它将在其平台上“限制内容的流通”。（路透社）

这篇文章认为，大型科技公司可以采取更多措施来保护选举。他们可以把选举日定为公司的假日，为民调人员支付个人防护装备的费用，为民调人员提供打折的乘车服务等等。（查理·沃泽尔/****）

在波特兰组织亲特朗普**导致致命枪击事件的家人在事件发生前几乎没有任何政治背景。他们利用包括脸书（Facebook）在内的网络账户召集特朗普支持者，这些账户没有透露他们的全名。（艾萨克·斯坦利·贝克尔、约书亚·帕特洛和卡丽莎·沃尔夫/*****）

最新的透明报告显示，TikTok今年上半年删除了1.045亿个视频，原因是违反了社区准则或服务条款。该公司还收到近1800份法律请求，收到10600份版权撤销通知。（英格丽德伦登/TechCrunch）

YouTube正在推出人工智能工具来捕捉更多可能需要年龄限制的视频。此举可能意味着，更多的观众将被要求在观看之前登录自己的账户，核实自己的年龄。（朱莉娅·亚历山大/边缘）

道具。24日本应填补加州消费者隐私法案的漏洞。但隐私权倡导者们对这项法案是否会扩大或限制消费者隐私权意见不一。（吉拉德·埃德尔曼/连线）

洛杉矶警察局自2009年以来已经使用面部识别软件近3万次，尽管一再否认自己使用过该软件。公民自由倡导者说，这些否认是该部门欺骗行为的一部分。（凯文·雷克托和理查德·温顿/洛杉矶时报）

澳大利亚一家**下令一名阴谋论者向她在Facebook上诽谤的政客支付近百万美元。阴谋论者说，在没有证据的情况下，这位政客是恋童癖网络的一部分，这个想法与卡农是一致的。（Cam Wilson/吉兹莫多）

行业

⭐Instagram的联合创始人凯文·西斯特罗姆（Kevin Systrom）和迈克·克里格（Mike Krieger）构建了一个名为COVID-19的跟踪器实时帮助人们了解病毒是如何传播的。这已成为了解放宽住房限制对流感大流行有何影响的关键途径。以下是他们对《连线》的史蒂文·利维的采访：

RT.live is interesting because at times it doesn’t seem in sync with the caseload numbers you see reported other places. A few months ago, for instance, New York was over 4 on your chart and obviously in trouble. Now everyone says it’s one of the safest places. Yet I checked today and the R was over 1.07. That’s bad! Does that mean the numbers are going to go up?

Systrom: Yes, and in fact they are going up. Think of it as a forest fire — what we’re dealing with in California right now. If you have any enormous block of land on fire and it’s growing quickly, that is really bad. If you have a **all plot of land on fire that’s growing at the same rate as that big one, that is also really bad, but it’s less bad because you are starting from a **aller base. So four is really, really bad — it squares with what you felt in March, with New York being a place that was reporting at peak somewhere over 10,000 positive tests per day. But then shelter started, and very quickly you saw infecti*** start to drop. So R went below 1.0, which is good. It means the virus is under control. What you are experiencing in New York right now [with a 1.07 R] is that it’s a **all fire growing, but not nearly at the rate that it was back in March. Remember. I said 1.0 is the **oldering level.

摩根•贝勒（Morgan Beller）是Facebook天秤座战略的负责人，他将加入风险投资公司NFX，成为该公司的第四位普通合伙人。贝勒被认为是说服Facebook推出自己货币的人。她在发射前就离开这一事实似乎不是好兆头。（梅利娅·拉塞尔/商业内幕）

公司正在利用“生物链接”的趋势，允许创作者设计简单的网站。在这场大流行期间，当人们在推广资源和进行旁敲侧击时，人们越来越需要链接到网络的其他领域。（阿什利·卡曼/边缘）

Alphabet和Google的首席财务官ruthporat领导着这两个组织8亿美元的小型企业和COVID-19救援工作。“很明显，小企业是美国经济的命脉，”她说。（Maneet Ahuja/福布斯）

最后。。。

和我们谈谈

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