Document details

"Wait, Who's Timothy McVeigh"? A Translation Review of Facebook and YouTube Content Moderation Policies in Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, and Hindi

Localization Lab;Internews (2022), 54 pp.
"The report documents the quality and usability of Facebook and YouTube content moderation policies in four languages. It found that the translations of Facebook and YouTube's content moderation policies in these languages are far below a standard that would be considered acceptable by the average user. Each of the translations showed numerous and systematic errors that impacted readers' ability to understand the policy without referencing the original version in English. The report also discusses how translation impacts the entire value chain of content moderation and platform governance - from end-users' ability to report content to moderators' ability to detect and remove harmful content and to regulators' knowledge about what content is on the platform. The report includes recommendations for improving translation policies and processes, as well as for advancing best practices in translation across the industry." (Publisher description)
Background, 10
This Project, 14
Objective, scope, and methods, 15
Study limitations, 21
Amharic translation review findings, 23
Summary of Facebook Community Standards Review, 24
Arabic translation review findings, 27
Summary of Facebook Community Standards Review, 28
Summary of YouTube Guidelines Review, 31
Bengali translation review findings, 33
Summary of Facebook Community Standards Review, 34
Summary of YouTube Guidelines Review, 37
Hindi translation review findings, 40
Summary of Facebook Community Standards Review, 41
Summary of YouTube Guidelines Review, 44
Recommendations, 47
Conclusion, 51