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T&S Early Warning News
Get ahead of new stories that are impacting the T&S industry.
The Metaverse Has a Problem: Consumers Aren’t Ready Yet to Shop and Distrust the Big Tech Driving It
Martechseries | April 05, 2022
Company Listed: Social Media
As headlines of brands staking their claim on the nascent metaverse continue to multiply, new research from Zappi, the leading consumer insights data platform for creators, shows that consumers don’t have a desire to shop on the metaverse and that appeal and trust is still low.
The survey, which asked consumers across the US and the UK about how they feel about the metaverse, found that a staggering 85% of consumers don’t currently have a desire to interact with their favorite brands or communities, whereas only around one in five (20%) states a desire to shop in the virtual world.
Despite the hype that the metaverse has drawn in recent months — with companies like Meta, Google, Microsoft, Coca-Cola and Ralph Lauren placing big bets to get their foot in the virtual door — the lack of appeal among today’s consumers could be explained by the confusion about what the metaverse really is and what its benefits are. While awareness is high with 69% of consumers having heard of it before (often due to Facebook’s rebranding last year), familiarity is low – over 55% claim they don’t understand what it means, and only 6% believe they are ‘extremely familiar.’
Twitter removes trans activist’s video with J.K. Rowling ‘death threat’
Nypost | April 04 2022
Company Listed: Twitter
Twitter has removed trans activist and singer Faye Fadem‘s music video which contained a J.K. Rowling death threat.
“Notting Hill” actor James Dreyfuss revealed on Twitter that he filed a complaint with the social media platform over an April 1 tweet penned by Fadem directed at the “Harry Potter” author, 56, who has caused controversy as of late in regards to her anti-trans views.
Dreyfuss, 53, said that the video by Fadem, who releases music under the name “Trust Fund Ozu,” included the lyrics “As I kill (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists)” and “J.K. I hope you fit in a hearse.” These words are in an apparent violation of Twitter’s terms of service.
Spotify should ensure hateful content is removed
Times | April 04, 2022
Company Listed: Spotify
It is a sad reality that antisemitism and attacks against Jews are on the rise. In 2021, the number of reported antisemitic incidents rose by 34% on the previous year. In the Community Security Trust’s (CST) Antisemitic Incidents Report 2021 they noted that “the landscape of UK-based antisemitism in 2021 is largely defined by responses to conflict in Israel and Palestine”. In fact, more than a third of the violent incidents had some link to conflict in the Middle East or demonstrated anti-Zionist motivation alongside antisemitism. When the conflict exploded in May 2021 leading to Israel’s Operation Guardian of the Walls, the CST recorded its highest ever monthly total of 661 reported antisemitic incidents.
Antisemitism often masquerades as anti-Zionism, and ‘Zionist’ is often used as a euphemism for ‘Jew’. It was no coincidence that in May 2021 a convoy of cars draped in Palestinian flags paraded in largely populated Jewish areas before speeding down Finchley Road calling for Jewish girls to be raped. It was no coincidence that YouTubers Ali Dawah and Mohammed Hijab harassed visibly orthodox Jews – on camera – about the Israel-Palestine Conflict on a Shabbat morning later that month.
T&S Policies & Regulations
Regulatory news and policy decisions impacting the T&S ecosystem.
Compare and review T&S Policies for dozens of companies here
Privacy in the Metaverse
Wsgr | April 04, 2022
Company Listed: Social Media
Coined in Neal Stephenson's 1992 best-selling novel, Snow Crash, the term "metaverse" has recently reentered the general public's lexicon to denote a technology hailed by some as the successor to the mobile internet and the next step in humankind's technological evolution. Though there is no consensus on the definition's precise contours, the metaverse has generally been described as an embodied internet where, instead of passively viewing content in two-dimensional space, users are in the content and experiencing it with others.
The recent enthusiasm for, and commercial promise of, this more immersive digital experience has led companies at all stages to consider a metaverse strategy, from early stage start-ups offering metaverse fashion items to mature financial institutions buying virtual land to open metaverse-based bank branches. And yet in any vision of the metaverse, real-world privacy issues are magnified, as I/O devices can capture qualitatively novel, more intimate data. For example, virtual reality headsets could leverage built-in sensors to capture facial movements, drawing even more deeply personal inferences about individuals such as their medical conditions or emotions.
Meta takes down 23.6 mn pieces of bad content in India on FB, Instagram
Business-standard | April 04, 2022
Company Listed: Facebook, Instagram, Meta
Meta (formerly Facebook) took down 21.2 million pieces of content across 13 policies for Facebook and over 2.4 million pieces of content across 12 policies for Instagram in the month of February in accordance with the IT Rules 2021.
Between February 1-28, Meta received 478 reports through the Indian grievance mechanism, and responded to 100 per cent of these reports.
Of these reports, the social network provided tools for users to resolve their issues in 402 cases. These include pre-established channels to report content for specific violations, self-remediation flows where they can download their data, avenues to address account hacked issues etc.
T&S Good News
Some of the good news in the T&S industry that leaders want to know
UK to ban gambling ads featuring sports and reality TV stars
Theguardian | April 05, 2022
Company Listed: Social Media
Gambling and betting companies will be banned from using advertising featuring top-flight footballers and other sports personalities, as well as reality TV and social media stars, under new rules designed to protect under-18s and other vulnerable groups.
The changes, set out by the body responsible for the UK code for advertising, will mean that past betting and gambling marketing that features stars and celebrities such as Cristiano Ronaldo, José Mourinho, Michael Owen and Harry Redknapp, would not be allowed in the UK.
The wide-ranging new rules also include a ban on showing specific teams’ football kit and stadiums in ads, as well as using video game content and gameplay popular with under-18s.
T&S Careers & Jobs
T&S jobs posted recently, often within the last 24 hours, looking for top talent.
Check out all the recent T&S job postings here.
Federation Incident Manager, Trust and Safety, Fusion Center
Google Inc. | United States
Posted: April 04, 2022
Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience
5 years of experience in technology industry, government, or related industry.
Experience working in cross-functional teams, including with stakeholders and executives.
Experience working at a technology company's strategic response or escalation/risk management function.
Experience in reviewing or being exposed to sensitive content.
Familiarity with Google products, infrastructure, and types of online abuse.
Program Manager, PMO - Trust & Safety
TikTok | Mountain View, CA, USA
Posted: April 03, 2022
You have 3-5 years working experience in cross-regional project management
Fresh graduate in an accredited university is also considered
You have demonstrated critical thinking and problem-solving abilities
You have excellent teamwork spirit, strategic skills
You are strong in communication and collaboration with others
You are proficient in English
Policy Enforcement and Operations Manager, Trust and Safety
YouTube | San Bruno, CA, USA
Posted: April 03, 2022
Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience
7 years of experience working with policies
Experience working in an operations capacity (e.g., sales operations, vendor management, process/organizational improvement, etc.)
Ability to work non-standard hours, including weekends, holidays, and on shift-based schedules
Experience with operations management, identifying abuse trends, or working within legal or policy
Experience with spreadsheets, SQL, and data analysis
Experience in content policy, anti-abuse, and reviewing online content
Ability to speak and write in Spanish and/or Portuguese fluently
Ability to build relationships with cross-functional partners across geographies
Excellent analytical skills, including using data to drive strategy and business action
Senior Data Analyst, Trust & Safety Enablement
Snap | Seattle, WA, USA
Posted: April 03, 2022
Comfort working within a content moderation environment
Excellent leadership skills to motivate, develop and retain talent
Fluency in SQL, Python, data manipulation, and trend analysis using various software (Spreadsheets, Tableau, Looker)
Excellent problem-solving skills, and the ability to structure ambiguous business challenges into actionable plans
Ability to analyze large datasets, identify patterns and trends, come to conclusions or recommendations and write comprehensive reports
Process driven individual with a proven track record of identifying gaps and implementing new processes
Experience reviewing sensitive content with a meticulous attention to detail
Experience in process optimization projects and identifying performance improvement opportunities
Scaled Abuse Analyst, YouTube Trust and Safety-Los Angeles, CA
YouTube | Los Angeles, CA, USA
Posted: April 03, 2022
Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
SQL experience (e.g., SQL, MySQL, MapReduce).
Experience with fraud and abuse dynamics in online platforms.
Experience in data analysis and statistical modeling.
Experience in project management, data management, metrics analysis, experiment design and automation.
Experience with classification systems, ranking systems, or similar.
Experience collecting, managing, and synthesizing large data sets and information from disparate sources, statistical modeling, data mining, and data analysis.
Experience with problem-solving and excellent quantitative skills, with the ability to translate analytical insights into business strategies and actions.
High-level product and policy knowledge, with the ability to understand/design training roadmaps and to communicate between multiple levels.
Interest in fraud and abuse dynamics in online platforms.
T&S FAQs
What is T&S?
Great question (and one the industry hasn’t fully agreed upon). Think of Trust & Safety as the organization that protects social media and Big Tech companies and users from online abuse. As long as users are able to generate content online, time has told us that a minority of these users will create content that is offensive, scandalous, fraudulent, disingenuous, misinformative, hateful, spiteful, and harmful. T&S fights this with flexible policies, resilient operations, and informed detections.
Is T&S interesting?
That depends. If you enjoy stopping bad actors and keeping good people safe, then you’ll love T&S. It requires understanding new technologies and staying on top of breaking issues across society and the world. It also pays Big Tech salaries (no coding skills required).
How do you get into T&S?
That’s the tricky part. The short answer is: not easily. Most T&S orgs are part of Big Tech and (as a result) pay extremely well, so jobs are highly competitive. If you don’t know someone in the industry who can help refer you in, then you can learn more about T&S policies, current events, issues, regulations, and jobs at trustsafetyinstitute.com to improve your hiring chances and start doing meaningful work that helps people.