{{Short description|2023 browser game}} {{Infobox video game | image = Moderator_Mayhem_title.jpg | alt = Moderator Mayhem Title Screen | developer = Copia, Leveraged Play | publisher = Engine | engine = Vue.js | platforms = web browser | released = May 2023 | genre = Casual | modes = Single-player }} '''''Moderator Mayhem''''' is a casual web-based video game designed by Engine, Randy Lubin, and Mike Masnick of Techdirt targeted towards policymakers.<ref name=pcmag/><ref name=verge/> It was published in May 2023. The game is about the challenges of content moderation of user-generated content on social media.<ref name=verge/><ref name=nyt/>
According to Cory Doctorow, the video game is based on a card game Masnick used to teach people about the difficulties of content moderation.<ref name=doctorow/>
It is designed for mobile phones but can also be played on personal computers.
A followup entitled ''Trust & Safety Tycoon'' was published in October 2023.
==Gameplay== The player acts as a content moderator for a fictional social media company and requires decision making under time pressure,<ref name=Sinclair/><ref name=twig/>{{rp|11:44}} getting feedback from a manager character along the way.<ref name=pcmag/> In later rounds, the player is required to judge appeals, or rely on the advice of an AI-based content moderation system.<ref name=pcmag/><ref name=doctorow/> The gameplay is primarily swipe-based.<ref name=verge/><ref name=doctorow/>
While the gameplay describes the topics content moderators encounter in real life, it does not display prohibited content.<ref name=pcmag/>
==Reception== ''Moderator Mayhem'' was recognized as a way to better understand content moderation and the effect of policy thereon. The hosts of ''This Week in Google'' podcast said the game demonstrates how policies affect people, and that the game itself is an example of journalism.<ref name=twig/>{{rp|12:38}} Doctorow suggests it as important to discussions of content moderation, because of the impact of technology regulation on people's lives.<ref name=doctorow/> ''Business Punk'' magazine suggests it may help the player appreciate the difficulty of the task of content moderation,<ref name=punk/> while Rob Pegoraro of ''PC Magazine'' said the game showed him he did not want a job as a content moderator.<ref name=pcmag/> Columbia Global Freedom of Expression noted the game's relevance to discussions of legal compliance, media safety and free speech.<ref name=GFE/>
''Der Standard'' compared the game, as well as the followup ''Trust & Safety Tycoon'' to the border guard simulator ''Papers, Please''.<ref name=DerStandard/>
Brendan Sinclair of GamesIndustry.biz appreciated both games' portrayals of the difficult choices moderators face but also wrote, "I'm a little concerned the takeaway people will have from it is that moderation is difficult so it's unreasonable to ask these companies to get it right."<ref name=Sinclair/>
== ''Trust & Safety Tycoon'' == In October 2023, Masnick, Lubin, and Leigh Beadon published a followup game titled ''Trust & Safety Tycoon''.<ref name=Pierce/><ref name=Robertson/> Players are tasked with hiring moderators and deciding what to automate, simulating real social media platforms.<ref name=DerStandard/> According to David Pierce of ''The Verge'', it "is like a corporate training manual... but a good and useful one."<ref name=Pierce/> The developers interviewed trust and safety workers as research for the game.<ref name=Lima/>
Unlike ''Moderator Mayhem'', ''Trust & Safety Tycoon'' does not rely on time pressure. Instead, players have to "juggle ... user growth, ad revenue, moderator speed, and team morale."<ref name=Sinclair/>
==References== <references>
<ref name=pcmag> {{cite news | last = Pegoraro | first = Rob | date = May 15, 2023 | title = Think You Can Be a Content Moderator? Test Your Skills With This Game | url = https://www.pcmag.com/news/think-you-can-be-a-content-moderator-test-your-skills-with-this-game | work = PCMag | access-date = 2023-07-05 }} </ref> <ref name=verge> {{cite news | last = Robertson | first = Adi | date = May 11, 2023 | title = I am going to win content moderation, something that is both normal to want and possible to achieve. | url = https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/11/23720012/i-am-going-to-win-content-moderation-something-that-is-both-normal-to-want-and-possible-to-achieve | work = The Verge | access-date = }} </ref> <ref name=twig> {{cite podcast | url= https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google/episodes/716?autostart=false | title=This Week in Google 716: It's Pronounced Papyri | website= twit.tv | publisher= TWiT.tv | host1 = Leo Laporte | host2 = Jeff Jarvis | host3 = Stacey Higginbotham | host4 = Ant Pruitt | date= May 17, 2023 | time= 7:24-13:52 (11:44, 12:17, 12:38, 13:13) | access-date= 2023-07-05 }} </ref> <ref name=punk> {{cite web | url = https://www.business-punk.com/2023/05/bei-diesem-spiel-koennt-ihr-eure-faehigkeiten-als-content-moderatorin-testen/ | title = Bei diesem Spiel könnt ihr eure Fähigkeiten als Content-Moderator:in testen | author = ((Business Punk Redaktion)) | date = May 15, 2023 | website = {{ill|Business Punk|de}} | access-date = 2023-07-05 }}</ref> <ref name=GFE> {{cite web | url = https://us8.campaign-archive.com/?u=5b024e7a0c16e2779164ac24d&id=ba310ff561 | title = South African Supreme Court of Appeal affirms gratuitous displays of the old national flag constitute hate speech | department = Newsletter Archive | date = June 2, 2023 | website = Columbia Global Freedom of Expression | via = campaign-archive.com | access-date = 2023-07-07 }}</ref> <ref name=doctorow> {{cite web | url = https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/13/four-bar-linkage/ | title = Revenge of the Linkdumps | last = Doctorow | first = Cory | date = May 13, 2023 | website = Pluralistic | access-date = 2023-07-09 }} </ref> <ref name=nyt>{{cite news | last = Hill | first = Kashmir | date = July 29, 2023 | title = An Internet Veteran’s Guide to Not Being Scared of Technology | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/29/technology/mike-masnick-techdirt-internet-future.html | work = New York Times | location = Redwood City, California | access-date = 2023-08-20 }}</ref> <ref name=Pierce>{{cite news | last = Pierce | first = David | date = Oct 22, 2023 | title = Mario and Spider-Man are both back in a big way | url = https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/22/23925495/super-mario-bros-wonder-oneplus-open-spiderman-2-installer-newsletter | work = The Verge | access-date = 2023-10-25 }}</ref><ref name=Robertson> {{cite news | last = Robertson | first = Adi | date = Oct 17, 2023 | title = Consider the bronies. | url = https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/17/23920771/consider-the-bronies | work = The Verge | access-date = 2023-10-25 }}</ref> <ref name=DerStandard>{{cite news | date = 20 October 2023 | title = Browserspiel simuliert den Wahnsinn von Social-Media-Plattformen | department = Game zum Nachdenken | url = https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000191845/browserspiel-simuliert-den-wahnsinn-von-social-media-plattformen | language = German | work = Der Standard | access-date = 2023-10-25 }}</ref> <ref name=Sinclair>{{cite news | last = Sinclair | first = Brendan | date = Oct 27, 2023 | title = Why is Trust and Safety so hard? {{!}} This Week in Business | url = https://www.gamesindustry.biz/why-is-trust-and-safety-so-hard-this-week-in-business | work = GamesIndustry.biz | access-date = 2023-11-02 }}</ref> <ref name=Lima>{{cite news | last = Lima | first = Cristiano | last2 = DiMolfetta | first2 = David | date = October 17, 2023 | title = Think you could make a safer social media site? This game lets you try | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/17/think-you-could-make-safer-social-media-site-this-game-lets-you-try/ | work = The Washington Post | department = The Technology 202 | access-date = 2023-12-06 }}</ref>
</references>
==External links== * [https://www.engine.is/news/category/moderator-mayhem Announcement by Engine] * [https://moderatormayhem.engine.is/ ''Moderator Mayhem''] * [https://trustandsafety.fun/ ''Trust & Safety Tycoon'']
Category:2023 video games Category:Browser games Category:Browser-only games Category:Casual games Category:Fiction about social media Category:Simulation video games Category:Content moderation Category:Business simulation games