A series of video installations about internet content moderators. Contrary to popular belief, the removal of offensive material from the Internet is not carried out by sophisticated algorithms. It is the nerve-wracking, demanding job of thousands of anonymous human beings: people disguised as algorithms.
We have interviewed one hundred moderators, and created videos in which avatars with computer-generated voices speak in their place, recounting memories about content they removed from the web, including pornography, sexual solicitation, racism.
Installed at Carroll / Fletcher, London 2016
Projection, Whitechapel Gallery, London
Trailer
The six episodes were released on the Darknet, to watch them download the Tor Browser and go to http://kclmg3xrrxz5qklgbstieqkz2nmguv74dcgrd7fwgvojjzzbrzf674ad.onion
Screenshot from Ep.1 “I would prefer not to include my name”
Screenshot from Ep.2 “I’m currently living in my car”
Screenshot from Ep.3 “His reign stops here”
Screenshot from Ep.4 “A darker place mentally”
Screenshot from Ep.5 “Something wasn’t right”
Screenshot from Ep.6 “The saddest moment”
Commissioned by Abandon Normal Devices and Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art