Lucas Dixon, Jigsaw Chief Scientist“Comments are a space where anyone can contribute, they represent the dream of the internet.”
Protecting Freedom of Speech Online
Perspective x NYT
Bassey Etim, NYT Community Editor“Human society is built around the spaces that we share, the internet was supposed to bring us all together.”
When was the last time you looked at the comments section of a website? What was that experience like? Alarming, full of vitriol and abusive language? Or perhaps the comments section simply didn’t exist anymore.
The facts are: comments spaces are quickly becoming irrelevant or worse non existent because they’ve largely been taken over by trolls, malevolent hackers, or extremists with political aims forcing many news agencies, publishers to simply switch them off!
Glenn Dixon, NYT Commentor
“They give us the ability to communicate with the world.”
No big deal you might say? But if you think a bit harder these comments spaces represent something much more significant…these comment spaces sort of represent our right to freedom of speech, democracy and good journalism. The ability to challenge, comment and disagree civilly with one another is a cornerstone of a functioning healthy democracy.
Working collaboratively alongside Google Brand studio, we uncovered the story of how The New York Times are actively bucking the dominant trend and building a community of active, diverse and respectful opinion through sheer hard work, dedication and a band of passionate moderators working in harmony with AI. In Perspective we bring together ‘the commenters’ from across America, 'the moderators' and programmers to tell this delightful story of how AI is helping restore the internet to its promise.