One Style Does Not Regulate All: Moderation Practices in Public and Private WhatsApp Groups

TL;DR

This study explores how WhatsApp group admins in India and Bangladesh manage content, revealing differences between public and private groups and proposing design improvements for moderation based on parenting styles.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of WhatsApp moderation practices, using Baumrind's parenting typology to categorize admin behaviors and offering design recommendations.

Findings

Distinct moderation styles based on care and control

Differences between public and private group management

Challenges faced by admins in content moderation

Abstract

WhatsApp is the largest social media platform in the Global South and is a virulent force in global misinformation and political propaganda. Due to end-to-end encryption WhatsApp can barely review any content and mostly rely on volunteer moderation by group admins. Yet, little is known about how WhatsApp group admins manage their groups, what factors and values influence moderation decisions, and what challenges they face while managing their groups. To fill this gap, we interviewed admins of 32 diverse groups and reviewed content from 30 public groups in India and Bangladesh. We observed notable differences in the formation, members' behavior, and moderation of public versus private groups, as well as in how WhatsApp admins operate compared to those on other platforms. We used Baumrind's typology of 'parenting styles' as a lens to examine how admins enact care and control during volunteer moderation. We identified four styles based on how caring and controlling the admins are and discuss design recommendations to help them better manage problematic content in WhatsApp groups.