Ivar Hartmann: The greatest issues of concern when it comes to social media platforms are how to deal with hate speech, harassment, violent extremism, and mis- and disinformation. Are the platforms doing enough? What are the governments doing? And how do we strike a balance that respects free speech, creates a safe space online and doesn’t lead to a state censorship regime?

Of the four domains of platform governance covered in this series, I want to discuss the domain of content policy because how we choose to govern this space will have implications on how we interact online, how we get information and the future of democracy.

Content policy regulation is a difficult task to tackle because each country and region has unique laws, social norms and contexts, which must be considered.

In my essay, for example, I look at the state of online speech in Latin America. There is a real gap in oversight of this area of the world. Simply hiring more moderators or using artificial intelligence to filter [content] is not the answer. I argue that content moderation rules should not be managed by platforms alone. Rather, it should be regional courts and civil society organizations who have a say. It’s not perfect, as I outline in my essay, because some courts have not updated their precedents and case law to address online speech, but it’s certainly better than leaving content moderation to CEOs 10,000 km away.