Sarah Gilbert

Research associate and Research Director of the Citizens and Technology Lab

Sarah Gilbert, postdoctoral associate at Cornell University and research manager of the Citizens and Technology Lab is an expert on content moderation and data ethics. She studies Reddit as well as the labor of community moderators and factors that lead them to take collective action against platforms.

Gilbert says:

“Reddit faces real challenges because of free access to its API, such as its use to train the large language models and privacy concerns that include unrestricted access to user-deleted data through open data archives. However, uninterrupted API access is needed by its volunteer moderators, who take on the bulk of the content moderation work on Reddit.

“Historically, Reddit’s leadership has not provided the critical infrastructure needed to perform vital moderation tasks. While Reddit has promised that moderation tools will not be affected by changes to the API, many moderators rely on third party apps and access to data archives to effectively do their work.

“API access isn’t just about making life easier for moderators. It helps mods keep communities safe by providing important context needed to make moderation decisions, such as whether or not users have a history of posting hateful content or engaging in harmful behavior, to more quickly respond to spam, bigotry, and harassment and to moderate from their phones. Further, third party apps are particularly important for moderators and users who rely on screen readers, as the official Reddit app is inaccessible to the visually impaired.

“There are potential downstream impacts of this decision that may not be immediately felt. Reddit is built on volunteer moderation labor, including the creation and maintenance of many tools. Changes like these, particularly the poor communication surrounding them, risks diminishing motivation among existing mods, increasing burnout, and it may be more challenging to find and recruit new moderators. Without Reddit’s volunteer moderators, the site could likely see less helpful content, and more spam, misinformation and hate."