The price of a clean internet | Hans Block & Moritz Riesewieck | TEDxCERN
Hans Block, Moritz Riesewieck |
TEDxCERN
• November 2018
With over 2 billion people using Facebook world-wide and several millions uploading content on Instagram, YouTube and other social media, we could potentially expect a lot of horrible content to be spread around.
However, in reality, we actually see dangerous or ugly content only very rarely in our feeds. How come? Who cleans our information channels? In Manila, Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck – two young documentary makers – encountered a hidden workforce who decides what to delete and what to keep up. By reviewing thousands of photos, videos and posts every day, young workers in the Philippines are facing extremely disturbing content. Alongside the ideological, political, cultural and religious implications of their work, what are the psychological effects that people who “clean up” the digital sphere go through?
The “safe” internet comes at a high price: the hidden exploitation of thousands of young workers in the developing world and the silencing of critical thinking in the digital space.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx