Algorithmic folk theories and peer review: on the importance of valuing participant expertise (commentary)

Through this brief commentary piece, I discuss the challenges and opportunities of submitting academic work on hidden forms of content moderation such as shadowbanning and malicious flagging, and the difficulty of balancing dated notions of academic rigour with investigating an issue that is often connected with an absence of data from powerful stakeholders. In doing so, I address how peer review can inadvertently reinforce the inequalities of content moderation, aiding platform companies in the discrediting, victim-blaming and gaslighting of their users by replicating unequal and patriarchal behaviours adopted by various authorities when victims come forward to report violence and injustice, while also rejecting the benefits of taking user experience into account when designing and governing social media.