Outside Looking In: Approaches to Content Moderation in End-to-End Encrypted Systems

Tags: 2020s Center for Democracy and Technology Content Detection End-to-End Encryption Online Abuse

Authors: Kamara, Seny, Knodel, Mallory, Llansó, Emma, Nojeim, Greg, Qin, Lucy, Thakur, Dhanaraj, Vogus, Caitlin

Published: August 2021

URL: https://cdt.org/insights/outside-looking-in-approaches-to-content-moderation-in-end-to-end-encrypted-systems/

Abstract: A group of researchers at the Center for Technology and Democracy orient the ongoing content moderation/end-to-end-encryption debate within the history of the Crypto Wars and analyze the strength of central competing claims. Content detection, and the obstacle of end-to-end-encryption, is only the latest permutation in the ongoing dialogue between law enforcement investigative capabilities and competing values including privacy, freedom of expression, and secure ecommerce. The authors investigate the degree of impact of end-to-end-encryption upon content moderation efforts, and conclude that, of the available methods of content detection in end-to-end-encrypted systems, “technical approaches for user-reporting and meta-data analysis” best support law enforcement while protecting user privacy and security.