Cheng Guo (Clemson University), Kelly Caine (Clemson University)

Social media platforms (SMPs) facilitate information sharing across varying levels of sensitivity. A crucial design decision for SMP administrators is the platform’s identity policy, with some opting for real-name systems while others allow anonymous participation. Content moderation on these platforms is conducted by both humans and automated bots. This paper examines the relationship between anonymity, specifically through the use of “throwaway” accounts, and the extent and nature of content moderation on Reddit. Our findings indicate that content originating from anonymous throwaway accounts is more likely to violate rules on Reddit. Thus, they are more likely to be removed by moderation than standard pseudonymous accounts. However, the moderation actions applied to throwaway accounts are consistent with those applied to ordinary accounts, suggesting that the use of anonymous accounts does not necessarily necessitate increased human moderation. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for identity policies and content moderation strategies on SMPs.

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Yuan Li (Zhongguancun Laboratory & Tsinghua University), Chao Zhang (Tsinghua University & JCSS & Zhongguancun Laboratory), Jinhao Zhu (UC Berkeley), Penghui Li (Zhongguancun Laboratory), Chenyang Li (Peking University), Songtao Yang (Zhongguancun Laboratory), Wende Tan (Tsinghua University)

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Haoqiang Wang, Yiwei Fang (Institute of Information Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences; School of Cyber Security, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences; Indiana University Bloomington), Yichen Liu (Indiana University Bloomington), Ze Jin (Institute of Information Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences; School of Cyber Security, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences; Indiana University Bloomington), Emma Delph…

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Zihan Qu (Johns Hopkins University), Xinyi Qu (University College London), Xin Shen, Zhen Liang, and Jianjia Yu (Johns Hopkins University)

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