The Moderation Landscape
This project was presented at The Big Brother Awards of Bits of Freedom - 2024
To what extent can AI-driven decisions in social media content
moderation be considered
reliable
and
fair compared to
human moderation?
Story
This physical data visualisation was created for Bits of Freedom, an organisation that stands for internet freedom in the Netherlands. It's built on the DSA Transparency Database, a dataset they made available.
Four vases tell the story of four years of content moderation on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and
TikTok, and the shift from human to AI decisions.
Plastic represents automated moderation and moss stands for the human approach. Each centimetre in
height equals 10.6 million removed videos, while drops mark those taken down by mistake and later
restored.
Together, they form a layered picture of the shifting balance between human and AI moderation and the impact that shift has on our online spaces.
The journey
Research
While exploring the dataset, I was drawn to the contrast between AI and human moderation. I
dove deep into the numbers, mapping out patterns. From there, this strong idea took shape:
the vase and the use of materials. A concept was formed.
Development
I began designing and experimenting with materials. In Blender, I explored different vase
forms, and besides I tested natural and synthetic elements. Prototypes helped me refine the
balance, both in form and in story, to make the visualisation feel complete and layered.
- Blender
- Illustrator
Reflection
This was my final project for the Meaningful Data Design minor and the only one I worked on by
myself. It became a journey of learning to trust my own creative process: from translating abstract
numbers into something physical, to letting materials carry meaning. The result is a piece that
blends data, design, and narrative into a single, tactile experience.
"Turning numbers into something you can feel, not just read."
- Project manager / Designer - Lieke Kaspers
- Avans Hogeschool Den Bosch
- Bits of Freedom