Pluralistic: 08 May 2021

Abstract

Automated copyright filtering systems deployed by major online platforms systematically facilitate wage theft and censorship by favoring bad-faith claimants over independent content creators. Because algorithmic filters cannot reliably discern subjective legal doctrines such as fair use or identify public-domain material, they generate false positives at scale. This structural vulnerability is routinely exploited by opportunistic actors and major media conglomerates, who use automated claims to expropriate monetization revenues or suppress legitimate speech. Conversely, the procedural mechanisms designed to appeal erroneous claims are prohibitively complex, slow, and asymmetric, imposing severe legal and administrative burdens on creators. Legislative efforts to mandate automated removal—such as the European Union’s copyright and content directives—fail to address the fundamental impossibility of automating nuanced legal judgments, instead reinforcing platform power and expanding corporate control over public discourse. Reforming digital content moderation requires dismantling overly intricate private enforcement architectures in favor of transparent frameworks that adequately protect creators from automated exploitation. – AI-generated abstract.