Andrew Selepak, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Media Production, Management, and Technology lecturer and coordinator of the online master’s program with a specialization in social media, is quoted in “Critics Question Why People Shared ICON Park Accident Video on Twitter, Other Sites” published in the Orlando Sentinel on March 30.

The article focuses on a video showing the final moments of 14-year-old Tyre Sampson’s life before falling off the Orlando Free Fall ride. The video, which surfaced online hours after the tragedy, was reposted on all major social media platforms from numerous accounts.

According to Selepak, “While users may do their best to try to shield themselves and others from the sensitive and graphic images, social media companies are under no legal responsibility to remove them. There’s no rule, no law that requires social media companies to censor anything or determine what is even too sensitive.”

“They have the ability to moderate that kind content, but we don’t know who is making the determinations to get rid of those posts or even what criteria goes into making those decisions,” he said.

He adds, “Sensitive content will not be removed or censored until reviewed by a moderator —a job that is severely overwhelmed by oncoming content and not enough staffers to keep up. Social media companies, like Meta and Twitter, do have artificial intelligence technology to help moderators find these posts, but AI isn’t as great at discovering sensitive material as most people think it is.”

Posted: March 31, 2022
Category: College News
Tagged as: Andrew Selepak