Americans are increasingly using code words known as “algospeak” to evade detection by content moderation technology, especially when posting about things that are controversial or may break platform rules.

If you’ve seen people posting about “camping” on social media, there’s a chance they’re not talking about how to pitch a tent or which National Parks to visit. The term recently became “algospeak” for something entirely different: discussing abortion-related issues in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Social media users are increasingly using codewords, emojis and deliberate typos—so-called “algospeak”—to avoid detection by apps’ moderation AI when posting content that is sensitive or might break their rules. Siobhan Hanna, who oversees AI data solutions for Telus International, a Canadian company that has provided human and AI content moderation services to nearly every major social media platform including TikTok, said “camping” is just one phrase that has been adapted in this way. “There was concern that algorithms might pick up mentions” of abortion, Hanna said.

More than half of Americans say they’ve seen an uptick in algospeak as polarizing political, cultural or global events unfold, according to new Telus International data from a survey of 1,000 people in the U.S. last month. And almost a third of Americans on social media and gaming sites say they’ve “used emojis or alternative phrases to circumvent banned terms,” like those that are racist, sexual or related to self-harm, according to the data. Hanna explained that Algospeak, which is commonly used to avoid hate speech rules, such as harassment or bullying, was followed closely by policies about violence and exploitation.

We’ve come a long way since “pr0n” and the eggplant emoji. Tech companies, as well the third-party contractors who help them with content polices, face ever-changing challenges due to these evolving workarounds. Although machine learning may be able to detect explicit violations, such as hate speech, AI is often unable to discern between the lines when it comes to phrases or euphemisms that, in one context, seem innocent but have a deeper meaning.

Almost a third of Americans on social media say they’ve “used emojis or alternative phrases to circumvent banned terms.”

The term “cheese pizza,” for example, has been widely used by accounts offering to trade explicit imagery of children. Although there is a related viral trend where many people are singing about their fondness for corn on TikTok, the corn emoji has been used frequently to discuss or attempt to direct people towards porn. Past SME reporting has revealed the double-meaning of mundane sentences, like “touch the ceiling,” used to coax young girls into flashing their followers and showing off their bodies.

“One of the areas that we’re all most concerned about is child exploitation and human exploitation,” Hanna told SME. It’s “one of the fastest-evolving areas of algospeak.”

But Hanna …read more

Source:: Social Media Explorer

Author: Aaron