Regulating algorithmic filtering on social media

TL;DR

This paper proposes a black-box auditing method for social media filtering regulations, analyzing how regulations impact platform performance and content diversity, with implications for designing effective content moderation policies.

Contribution

It introduces a novel black-box audit approach for verifying regulatory compliance and explores conditions where regulation does not hinder platform performance.

Findings

Auditing can be performed with black-box access to filtering algorithms.

Regulations may not significantly impact platform performance under certain conditions.

Content diversity can align platform incentives with regulatory goals.

Abstract

By filtering the content that users see, social media platforms have the ability to influence users' perceptions and decisions, from their dining choices to their voting preferences. This influence has drawn scrutiny, with many calling for regulations on filtering algorithms, but designing and enforcing regulations remains challenging. In this work, we examine three questions. First, given a regulation, how would one design an audit to enforce it? Second, does the audit impose a performance cost on the platform? Third, how does the audit affect the content that the platform is incentivized to filter? In response, we propose a method such that, given a regulation, an auditor can test whether that regulation is met with only black-box access to the filtering algorithm. We then turn to the platform's perspective. The platform's goal is to maximize an objective function while meeting regulation. We find that there are conditions under which the regulation does not place a high performance cost on the platform and, notably, that content diversity can play a key role in aligning the interests of the platform and regulators.