Sarah T. Roberts is assistant professor of information studies in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a 2018 Carnegie Fellow and a 2018 winner of the EFF Pioneer Award.
“Sarah T Roberts’s vital new study demonstrates how online content
moderation is a global industry that operates on the back of human
exploitation” —John Naughton, The Guardian
“This book will define our thinking about the modern internet.
Roberts has deftly dispelled the myth of freely flowing content in
social media and brought critical attention to the work of digital
laborers. Whatever you thought about how the internet works,
prepare to rethink it all. A must read for anyone who uses and
trusts the objectivity of the internet.”—Safiya Umoja Noble, author
of Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce
Racism
“Sarah Roberts, one of the leading pioneers of scholarship in the
digital age, opens a window onto the opaque world of content
moderation. Behind the Screen is the definitive work on this key
sector of the digital economy, its influence certain to shape
policy and research in the years to come. Not only that – it’s a
great read!”—David Kaye, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of
Expression
“Behind the Screen is engaged social science at its best. Roberts
has deeply researched the labor of content moderators. Her
empathetic understanding of their place in the global digital labor
market unlocks a compelling theoretical framework for the political
economy of communication. This book is a must-read for anyone
interested in how online discourse is limited, structured, and
enabled.”—Frank Pasquale, author of The Black Box Society: The
Secret Algorithms That Control Money and Information
“Sarah Roberts will take you on an eye opening journey into the
hidden world of the largely unsung and unappreciated people whose
hard psychological labor plays a huge role in shaping the global
public sphere. Behind the Screen is essential reading for anybody
seeking to understand the private governance of online
speech.”—Rebecca MacKinnon, author of Consent of the Networked: The
Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom
"The duty of a technology scholar is to demystify a system so that
readers recognize the human hands and minds at work behind what
otherwise seems the work of wizards. In stirring and clear prose,
Sarah T. Roberts demystifies the labor and judgement that influence
what we see on Facebook and other platforms — and how they can
never achieve what the companies promise."—Siva Vaidhyanathan,
author of Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and
Undermines Democracy
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