Twitter employs less than 2,000 moderators worldwide

Despite its success, Twitter does not employ more than 2,000 moderators worldwide, according to information revealed by BFM on Thursday. This only represents one moderator for 200,000 users. This data appears in a document sent by the social network to the Paris Court of Appeal, which BFM has consulted. The social network is indeed
accused in France of breaches concerning moderation hateful and racist content. Several associations, including SOS Racisme, SOS Homophobie or the Licra.

Twitter was convicted in July 2021 for the breaches and has appealed. To defend itself, the American company sent to the judicial authorities documents proving its effective moderation. The number of moderators comes from a report already sent to the National Audiovisual Council (CSA) and published in September.

The human less efficient than the algorithm

Twitter explains that its moderation system is mainly based on algorithms, considered to be more efficient. “We will not solve the challenge of large-scale moderation with only more human resources”, we can read in the document. “We are much more efficient […] by making more use of technology and proportionately increasing our teams. “

Twitter is not the only social network in the sights of justice and associations for its lack of moderation. Facebook, widely criticized on this subject, employs 15,000 moderators in total, notes BFM. The giant with 2.9 billion users, this represents a moderator for 190,000 Internet users.