[Air-L] New CDT Report: Moderating Quechua Content on Social Media

[Dhanaraj Thakur]

Hi everyone,

We are excited to announce the publication of a new research report from 
the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT), "*Moderating Quechua 
Content on Social Media.* 
<https://cdt.org/insights/moderating-quechua-content-on-social-media/>"We 
explore how social media platforms conduct analysis of user generated 
content in Quechua, as well as processes for enforcement and appeals of 
moderation decisions. In addition, many platforms use large language 
models (LLMs) and other automated tools to support their content 
moderation systems. We examine how such technologies are incorporated 
into trust and safety systems that handle content in Quechua. This study 
is part of CDT's research series on the challenges of moderating 
low-resource languages in the Global South (see our related research on 
Maghrebi Arabic 
<https://cdt.org/insights/moderating-maghrebi-arabic-content-on-social-media/>, 
Kiswahili 
<https://cdt.org/insights/moderating-kiswahili-content-on-social-media/>, 
and Tamil 
<https://cdt.org/insights/moderating-tamil-content-on-social-media/>).

Using a mixed-method approach that includes an online survey of Quechua 
social media users, interviews with content moderators, influencers, 
linguistic activists, and digital rights advocates from Ecuador, Peru 
and Bolivia, we well as extended discussions with NLP researchers and 
LLM developers working on language technologies in Quechua, we found that:

  *

    Quechua social media users most frequently use Facebook, but most
    use multiple platforms, with a combination of Quechua and Spanish.

  *

    The motivation for some Quechua social media users to post online is
    to share their language and culture with each other and the
    world.Several of our interviewees affirmed that this form of
    linguistic activism and resistance, often done in Quechua.

  *

    Quechua social media users are confronted with multiple problems on
    platforms, including what they perceive as unjust content removals
    and algorithmic discrimination.Their own attempts at testing the
    platforms’ algorithms point to examples of the differential
    treatment between Quechua and Spanish, where moderation of the
    latter appeared to be more effective. These problems are driven in
    part by the limitations of the technologies (automated tools, LLMs,
    etc.) used by social media platforms.

  *

    There is a significant problem of harassment targeted at those who
    post in Quechua.As some interviewees recognized, part of this
    problem is also gendered, with women who identify as Quechua online
    subject to online gender based violence.

  *

    Automated content moderation technologies and trust and safety
    processes appear to fail Quechua social media users in several
    ways.Experts suggested that LLMs are not yet ready to be applied to
    content moderation in Quechua, given the lack of training data and
    other limitations. In addition, content moderation teams lack
    Quechua speakers and analysts, and the content policies used were
    essentially copied from English and Spanish and applied to Quechua
    content, leading to indecision, delays, and the non-removal of
    harmful content.

We conclude with recommendations to create trust and safety systems that 
support language equity while respecting the rights and aspirations of 
those who post in indigenous languages such as Quechua.

You can read and share threads on Bsky 
<https://bsky.app/profile/cdt.org/post/3lsjoczbofa2x>, LinkedIn 
<https://www.linkedin.com/posts/center-for-democracy-%26-technology_how-do-content-moderation-systems-treat-indigenous-activity-7344057259594821633-TxRH?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAABmRVjQBbSXIuPC3_K9dGpdU_vv3AzZW62k>and 
Mastodon <https://techpolicy.social/@CenDemTech/114750893089040642>, and 
you can access the full report here 
<https://cdt.org/insights/moderating-quechua-content-on-social-media/>for 
more details. We will soon publish a video summary of the report in 
Quechua and a Spanish translation (using the same link).

Feel free to share within your networks. Your feedback and insights are 
important to us as we continue exploring the complexities of content 
moderation in other regions in the Global South.

Best regards,Dhanaraj


-- 

*Dhanaraj Thakur* (he/him) | Research Director
Center for Democracy & Technology |*cdt.org <https://cdt.org/>*
**dthakur at cdt.org | **+1 202 407 8849