Early Warning | Policy & Regulations | Good News | Jobs & Careers | T&S FAQs
Subscribe to the newsletter here
T&S Early Warning News
Get ahead of new stories that are impacting the T&S industry.
Former Twitter employee convicted of spying for Saudi Arabia
NY Post | August 09, 2022
Company Listed: Twitter
A former Twitter employee has been convicted of failing to register as an agent for Saudi Arabia and other charges after accessing private data on users critical of the kingdom’s government in a spy case that spanned from Silicon Valley to the Middle East.
Ahmad Abouammo, a US citizen and former media partnership manager for Twitter’s Middle East region, was charged in 2019 with acting as an agent of Saudi Arabia without registering with the US government. A jury found him guilty on six counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. The jury acquitted him on another five charges involving wire fraud.
Facebook bans hate speech but still makes money from white supremacists
Washington Post | August 10, 2022
Company Listed: Facebook
Last year, a Facebook page administrator put out a clarion call for new followers: They were looking for “the good ole boys and girls from the south who believe in white [supremacy].” The page — named Southern Brotherhood — was live on Tuesday afternoon and riddled with photos of swastikas and expressions of white power.
Facebook has long banned content referencing white nationalism. But a plethora of hate groups still populate the site, and the company boosts its revenue by running ads on searches for these pages.
Teens have fled Facebook but are loyal to YouTube, poll shows
Washington Post | August 10, 2022
Company Listed: Facebook, YouTube
Anyone who has talked to a teenager in the past five years knows teens aren’t spending all their time scrolling through Facebook posts. What social media sites are they staring at on their phones and computers?
They’re looking at videos, mostly on YouTube followed by TikTok, according to a Pew Research study on the social media habits of teenagers. Their interests are a mix of the old and new. At 17 years old, YouTube is the unrivaled dominant social media site for teens according to the study, with 95 percent of teens ages 13 to 17 saying they use the video streaming service. The next most popular option is TikTok at 67 percent.
Bad bot: Meta cleans up AI that spewed anti-Semitism and election conspiracies
NY Post | August 10, 2022
Company Listed: Social Media
Meta’s artificial intelligence doesn’t want to talk about the 2020 election being stolen or Jews controlling the economy anymore — but it still spreads rumors that Mark Zuckerberg “isn’t very nice to his employees.
After a flood of social media posts this week showed the Facebook parent’s newly released chatbot spewing conspiracy theories and anti-Semitism, Meta appears to have cleaned up the misbehaving artificial intelligence system to make it less of a shock jock.
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
Big Tech, intercepted messages and online privacy in a post-Roe world
The Hindu | August 11, 2022
Company Listed: Social Media
The case of a Nebraska woman charged with helping her teenaged daughter end her pregnancy after investigators obtained Facebook messages between the two has raised fresh concerns about data privacy in the post-Roe world.
Meta, which owns Facebook, said Tuesday it received warrants requesting messages in the Nebraska case from local law enforcement on June 7, before the Supreme Court decision overriding Roe came down. The warrants, the company added, “did not mention abortion at all,” and court documents at the time showed that police were investigating the “alleged illegal burning and burial of a stillborn infant.
Justice Department reportedly prepares antitrust suit against Google
NY Post | August 10, 2022
Company Listed: Google
The US Department of Justice is reportedly preparing to sue Google as soon as September over its domination of the online advertising market.
Justice Department lawyers are interviewing online publishers to put final touches on the lawsuit ahead of its filing, building on other interviews conducted in previous stages of the lengthy investigation, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
Google opposes Facebook-backed proposal for self-regulatory body in India –sources
Reuters | August 11, 2022
Company Listed: Facebook, Twitter, Google
Google has grave reservations about developing a self-regulatory body for the social media sector in India to hear user complaints, though the proposal has support from Facebook and Twitter (TWTR.N), sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters.
India in June proposed appointing a government panel to hear complaints from users about content moderation decisions, but has also said it is open to the idea of a self-regulatory body if the industry is willing.
T&S Good News
Some of the good news in the T&S industry that leaders want to know
Social media offers parents more controls. But do they help?
ABC News | August 10, 2022
Company Listed: Social Media
As concerns about social media's harmful effects on teens continue to rise, platforms from Snapchat to TikTok to Instagram are bolting on new features they say will make their services safer and more age appropriate. But the changes rarely address the elephant in the room — the algorithms pushing endless content that can drag anyone, not just teens, into harmful rabbit holes.
The tools do offer some help, such as blocking strangers from messaging kids. But they also share some deeper flaws, starting with the fact that teenagers can get around limits if they lie about their age. The platforms also place the burden of enforcement on parents. And they do little or nothing to screen for inappropriate and harmful material served up by algorithms that can affect teens' mental and physical well-being.
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.
Data Science Manager, Trust and Safety
Match Group | New York, NY
Posted: August 09, 2022
5+ years of experience as a data scientist, including 2+ years as a manager
Experience creating and driving data science roadmaps to support company objectives
Passion for developing and coaching direct reports
Superb data exploration skills and ability to surface actionable insights from complex datasets
Proficiency in Python and SQL
Strong theoretical and practical knowledge of machine learning algorithms and experience with the end-to-end machine learning workflow from inception to deployment.
Software Engineer, University Graduate (Trust and Safety)
TikTok | Mountain View, CA
Posted: August 10, 2022
Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or related fields or equivalent practical experience.
Decent knowledge in one or more of the areas: machine learning, deep learning, pattern recognition, anomaly detection, data mining, computer vision, NLP or content understanding.
Experience with coding in Python and similar languages, and a deep understanding of data structures and algorithms.
Good communication and teamwork skills, be passionate about learning new techniques and taking on challenging problems.
Must obtain work authorization in the country of employment at the time of hire, and maintain ongoing work authorization during employment.
Head of Enablement, Americas - Trust & Safety
TikTok | Mountain View, CA
Posted: August 10, 2022
The ideal candidate will have proven experience in people management, business management and cross functional collaboration, with a focus on building a strong organization, and streamlining cross-functional communication.
10+ years experience in complex program management, strategic planning, business process improvement, performance management, and/or change management.
5+ years of experience organizing and directing decision-making across multiple teams and departments with direct people management experience.
Exceptional RQ, i.e superb interpersonal and influencing skills.
Able to diffuse work conflict without needing assistance from the senior leadership team.
Adept at handling sensitive information and situations with care and confidence.
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.