Towards the downstream effects of insufficient content moderation on the internet

Internet platforms rely heavily on content moderation to help drive positive engagement. Historically, this task has been done by humans, but in the recent decade, ML/AI models have been developed to reduce the burden by filtering out abusive content. While a step in the right direction, some moderation practices, manual and automated (e.g., context labeling, deepfake detection, and self-moderation), can still inadvertently cause harm to individual Internet users. To prevent the perpetuation of these harms, we must understand how they manifest regarding individuals’ perceptions, sentiments, and behaviors. This dissertation investigates how the ineffective content moderation practices of internet platforms affect how individuals respond to online abuse. Specifically, this dissertation explores how explanations (content-labeling) impact their viewers’ perceptions and sentiments (Chapter 3), how unmonitored deepfake-enabled profiles can sway an individual’s perception of and engagement with fake news (Chapter 4), and how low-moderation of platforms results in self-moderation to combat copyright violation harms (Chapter 5). In summary, these works show the downstream effects of deceitful and unauthorized content that slips through the moderation cracks, and assessing them is essential for developing better interventions.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Computer Science

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Ruffin, Margie

Contributors dc:contributor

• Wang, Gang
• Levchenko, Kirill
• Cobb, Camille
• Xiong, Aiping

• Content Moderation
• AI-generated media (images
• videos
• text)
• Copyright Violations
• Academic Integrity Violations

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Margie Ruffin

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129430

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F129430