COMMUNITY-LED MODERATION IN ‘THE RUINS’ OF TWITTER/X: A CASE STUDY OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC FELLA ORGANIZATION (NAFO)

Abstract

Recent developments in platform governance point to community-led moderation as an increasingly preferred solution by mainstream social media platforms when dealing with problematic content. While research has shown the benefits of involving online communities in content moderation efforts, this type of moderation is also prone to limitations, such as leaving volunteer moderators on their own heuristics to decide upon complex categories of content. Using Anna Tsing's (2015) metaphor of 'life among ruins', in this paper we examine an online community called the North Atlantic Fella Organization (NAFO) that had to turn to volunteer governance in face of increasing failures of centralised content moderation on Twitter/X. Its members, also known as ‘fellas’, have been active on the platform since May 2022 by debunking and ridiculing online falsehoods spread by highly visible Russian government accounts and pro-Russian actors, reporting problematic behaviour, as well as fundraising on behalf of Ukraine. We identify three types of moderation practices relevant to the collective – ‘soft-’, ‘hard-’, and ‘self’-moderation. While, for our participants, Russia’s war on Ukraine warranted such efforts, this community-led moderation required a high emotional and time investment on their behalf. Our findings attest to the ability of such practices to fill platform governance gaps, while also recognising the need for self-moderation and ongoing care for the community as vital for sustaining such practices.