Platforms Throw Content Moderation at Every Problem

In the wake of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, facing criticism over the prevalence of fake news, Facebook first proposed a trio of measures to address the problem… Let’s set aside not only the limitations of these responses, but also the profound problems of defining “fake news,” of distinguishing hoaxes and falsehoods from propaganda and spin. What I find revealing is that Facebook looked at the problem of fake news and saw it as a problem of content moderation, choosing as its first response to deploy its already existing content moderation apparatus, or a souped-up version of it.