"Overblocking" is going around

How IT giants export the values of prudish Americans

The US American Kaitlyn "Amouranth" Siragusa tricked the terms and conditions of the streaming platform Twitch with paddling pool streams and is now worth tens of millions of dollars.

(Bild: twitch.com/amouranth)

It's not just Hollywood that exports US culture, norms and values: the IT giants of Silicon Valley are an equally effective instrument. Their algorithms and terms of use regulate what users see - regardless of where they are. The interesting phenomenon that can be observed here is that it is better to block too much than too little.

The internet is in a constant state of flux and in recent years there has been a debate about how platform operators - social networks, search engines, streaming services, AI tools - should deal with controversial content. Terms of use have been adapted, laws have been passed against unwanted content, debates have been held about freedom of expression and censorship - and algorithms have been developed that remove everything from feeds, timelines and apps that does not fit into the advertising customer-friendly network world that is being marketed. However, even completely harmless content is increasingly falling victim to the algorithm ...