Moderating Content-Hosting Platforms

Robin Ng and Greg Taylor ()

CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series from University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany

Abstract: We study how content moderation facilitates communication on online platforms. A sender transmits information to a receiver, exerting effort to signal their truthfulness. Communication fails without moderation because the effort required is prohibitive. Moderation resolves this problem by making effort a more powerful signal of veracity. However, moderation crowds-out sender effort, decreasing content quality on the platform. A socially optimal or profit-maximizing policy may therefore involve limited moderation. We study the choice between being a platform or broadcaster, how moderation influences competition for attention, and the effects of misinformation actors, AI-generated content, and moderator errors on the sustainability of communication.

Keywords: user-generated content; content moderation; creator economy; media platforms; misinformation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D83 L82 L86 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 45
Date: 2025-08, Revised 2025-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dcm and nep-mic
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2025_698v2

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