Contents 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 5 1.1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. International standards and platform commitments ................................... 6 2.1. UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) ...... 6 2.2. UNESCO Guidelines for the Governance of Digital Platforms ............ 6 2.3. Meta, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp........................ 7 2.4. Google and YouTube .......................................................................... 8 2.5. TikTok ................................................................................................. 8 2.6. Telegram ............................................................................................. 9 A climate of fear and the reality of digital threats ....................................... 9 3.1. The risks of operating simultaneously in exile and inside ................... 9 3.2. Insecurity in exile............................................................................... 10 3.3. Forced to self-censor in exile ............................................................ 10 3.4. Pervasive attacks online ................................................................... 11 3.5. Attacks increased during elections.................................................... 11 The human cost of algorithmic moderation ............................................... 12 4.1. Over-moderation ............................................................................... 12 4.2. “Black box” moderation ..................................................................... 12 4.3. The graphic violence paradox ........................................................... 13 4.4. Hate speech, impersonation, and intellectual property ..................... 13 4.5. Moderation worsened during the elections ....................................... 14 4.6. The failure of recourse and appeal ................................................... 14 Financial exclusion and its impact on media viability .............................. 15 5.1. The platform monetisation crisis ....................................................... 15 5.2. Over-moderation leads to demonetisation ........................................ 16 Technology-facilitated gender-based violence.......................................... 17 6.1. 7. Methodology........................................................................................ 5 Discrimination within the newsroom .................................................. 17 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 17 Page 4 of 19