A series of wall-mounted insulation panels printed with corporate guidelines that were leaked to us in the course of our investigations into internet content moderation.
Installed at Frankfurter Kunstverein
Installed at Biennale für aktuelle Fotografie, Mannheim.
The guidelines refer to images that content moderators need to classify, usually in order to remove them.
These guidelines map out morality through the lens of social media, revealing the invisible borders of what’s allowed and what’s forbidden. They are like “filters”: they let some things through while blocking others.
Installed at Fondation Phi pour l’art contemporain
The companies that produced these guidelines are unknown because they want to remain anonymous. Most of the time the moderators don’t even know who their employer is. One of them told us: “I’m pretty sure I work for Google.”
In this anatomy of images, CLEAN or OK TO SHOW refers to images that are considered proper and therefore can circulate on social media, like “Shirtless but wearing pants or shirts (and not more than the top band of their underwear is visible).”
While INAPPROPRIATE images may include “politics” and “controversial social issues” and should be filtered by moderators.
According to these guidelines SAFE content includes “fine art” and “celebrity gossip.”
