How platforms write their rules on hate

Have you ever looked at the Community Guidelines of a social media platform and wondered what they are about?

Almost all social platforms lay out so-called Community Guidelines that describe the overall vision the platform has about itself and the type of content that they wish to be present. These pages communicate the kinds of content platforms do not want to see, and the rules they have in place to remove such content. They define what counts as hate speech, who is especially protected, and what is allowed to be said in response.

Community rules are long, and frequently re-written, often without any announcement. Most social media users have never read the rules, and many don't even know they exist. This project looks at the Community Guidelines of nine social media platforms, and how they have changed over time (from 2022 to today).

The four pages look at the same rules from different angles:

1. a big picture overview over what's included in community guidelines
2. how the rules define hate, whom they protect, and how this has changed over time
3. how the rules talk about counterspeech
4. how changing platform rules affect what is allowed and what is not