Masnick's Impossibility Theorem

"Content moderation at scale is impossible to do well." Named after Mike Masnick of TechDirt, the theorem is that moderating user generated content such as on social media, video services, websites, blogs, etc. and the comment sections therein is inherently difficult to do correctly all the time, and becomes increasingly difficult at large scales. As a result, at large scales sites will increasingly make incorrect moderation decisions.

Facebook's suspension of a prominent journalist's account for posting a news article is an example of Masnick's Impossibility Theorem.

Masnick's Impossibility Theorem by nmslanon January 4, 2023