What happened in the Tech Policy Space in Jan 2023? [Part Three]
The Final Scoreboard for Jan 2023 is: Google 7, Twitter 6, Meta 2, TikTok 2, Apple 1, Doordash 1, Lyft 1, Match 1, Netflix 1, Tencent 1, Weibo 1
This post is part three of a series documenting policy changes and feature improvements introduced by platforms in January 2023. You can find part one and part two here. These changes reflect the dynamic nature of platform ecosystems and the need for platforms to remain responsive to evolving user needs and preferences.
TL;DR →To curb behaviors that are considered socially or politically unacceptable, TikTok enhanced audience control functionalities to avoid age-inappropriate content, Weibo bans users for personally online attacking health experts, YouTube partially rolled back a “swear-word” policy which affected videos uploaded years ago, Netflix intends to profit from password sharing, Match Group rolls out scamster screening services, Lyft adds waiting fees if a rider delays beyond 2 minutes and Twitter blocks sharing links to “prohibited” platforms and increases the use of “less severe actions” against rule-breaking accounts.
To extract surplus from a subgroup of platform users, twitter considers reversing political ad bans, plans to sell usernames and sells annual subscription of blue tick mark, and DoorDash enables package return pickups.
Table of Content
TikTok Gives Creators Age-Based Control
Weibo Cracks Down on Online Attacks Against Health Experts
YouTube Relaxes Restrictions on Mild Profanity
Netflix Plans to Monetize Password Sharing Behavior
Match Group Introduces ML Powered Alerting Policy Against Dating Scammers
Lyft Implements New Policy to Reduce Driver Wait Time
Twitter Enforces New Blocking Policy to Stop Harmful Content
Twitter Moderation Policy Replaces Bans with Milder Actions
Twitter Reverses Ad Policy, Sells Usernames, and Discounts Subscriptions
Doordash Offers Package Pickup to improve Deliverer Utilization
Policy Changes to curb behaviors that are considered socially or politically unacceptable
There have been several recent announcements regarding policy changes on various platforms, aimed at curbing instances and behaviors that are considered socially or politically unacceptable.
TikTok Gives Creators Age-Based Control
TikTok recently unveiled an initiative to end inadvertent violations of age-related guidelines and safeguard its users by introducing enhanced audience control functionalities. Specifically, this policy change empowers content creators to restrict their audience based on age. The primary aim of this measure is to support conscientious creators who wish to prevent underage users from accessing content that may be unsuitable for their age bracket, such as discussions on sexuality or alcohol. This update will curb the strategic exploitation of teenage audiences by content creators who previously pretended to be incapable of limiting their viewership for the sake of achieving virality (link).
Weibo Cracks Down on Online Attacks Against Health Experts
Weibo, which is the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, announced a temporary to permanent ban on over 1000 accounts, some of which had millions of followers. This move was in response to the accounts engaging in “personal online attacks” against Chinese health experts and Beijing's Covid-19 policies. The ban was issued following a stern warning from security officials who emphasized a zero-tolerance policy for those who use the pandemic to disrupt social order. Weibo reviewed tens of thousands of posts that criticized experts and academics and concluded that hurling insults at them was unacceptable. This update to Weibo's censorship policy demonstrates the platform's commitment to adhering to the letter and spirit of the rules of the country (link).
YouTube Relaxes Restrictions on Mild Profanity
YouTube has recently made a partial rollback of a policy that it announced in November. The policy involved demonetizing or restricting advertisements on videos that contained swear words within the first 15 seconds. This policy applied to all videos, including those that were uploaded several years ago, which sparked an outcry from many popular YouTubers, including ProZD and Cr1TiKaL. YouTube has acknowledged that the policy was too strict and inconsistent and has now relaxed its restrictions to allow mild swearing, as long as it is not excessive or hateful. However, it still expects creators to bleep out strong profanities, which seems reasonable. This policy change and its subsequent rollback serves as an example of a well-intentioned policy that was enacted haphazardly, as creators cannot go back and bleep out swear words in older videos (link).
Netflix Plans to Monetize Password Sharing Behavior
Most of us agree that most Netflix users share their account passwords, even including Nick Young from Crazy Rich Asians. In an effort to monetize this behavior, Netflix plans to charge a slightly higher fee to users who share their account with people outside of their household (reports say 2.99$ per extra home). The company is fully aware of the potential consequences of this policy change, including an influx of angry users who may cancel their subscriptions in the short term. However, Netflix has impressively taken steps to develop tools that will help users who previously shared accounts to transition into an individual account. This policy change seems surprising, especially considering the intense competition from other streaming platforms and the tight margins in the industry. However, it demonstrates that Netflix has recognized that many consumers will pay a premium of $2.99 for password sharing over an ad-supported version (link).
Match Group Introduces ML Powered Alerting Policy against Dating Scammers
Match Group, the company that owns multiple popular dating apps such as Tinder or Hinge, has rolled out a screening policy via a feature called Scam Alerts. This policy rollout is designed to protect users from scammers, who use dating websites to solicit money by notifying users if suspicious patterns are detected. Users who receive an alert can then use their own discretion to report and block the suspicious user. The Scam Alerts policy is a multi-million-dollar project that employs advanced machine learning and human moderation to weed out suspicious profiles based on language, images, and activity patterns. This policy change represents an effort to reduce the burden of screening for scammers in an already “difficult-to-screen” dating market (link).
Lyft Implements New Policy to Reduce Driver Wait Time
Lyft has implemented a new policy that charges passengers additional waiting fees if they keep Lyft drivers waiting after their arrival. The waiting fee applies after 2 minutes for regular services and 5 minutes for Lux Black and Lux Black XL rides, and is similar to Uber's charges, which have been in place for 7 years. The policy appears to be considerate of situations that may require more time, such as Shared, Access, Assisted, and Car Seat rides or for riders with disabilities. While this policy may help drivers improve their efficiency and encourage users to be more mindful of the driver's time, it would be beneficial for Lyft drivers to have the option to indicate whether there are any legitimate reasons for delay. For instance, would it be possible for a passenger traveling with an infant and carrying luggage to load all their belongings, stroller, and personal car seat within 2 minutes? Asking for a friend 😊 (link)
Twitter Enforces New Blocking Policy to Stop Harmful Content
Twitter has a new policy to prevent the spread of harmful content and misinformation by blocking users who share links to “prohibited platforms”. The policy states that users attempting to share links from these platforms will receive a “content may be unsafe” warning. All existing links to these sites will be removed from previous posts. The recent downsizing of Twitter's content moderation team may have necessitated this blanket ban policy to stem misinformation from platforms like Parler and Gab, which are known to have content that is unsuited to the general audience. However, some may argue that this policy contradicts Twitter's commitment to free speech, particularly as it targets competing social media platforms (link).
Twitter Moderation Policy Replaces Bans with Milder Actions
Twitter has also announced a policy to rely on milder actions such as limiting the visibility of tweets or asking users to delete their tweets, instead of banning the accounts. Starting February 1, anyone can now appeal suspensions. Given Twitter’s commitment to free and open speech, this is a welcome change from erstwhile harsh bans. But given that Twitter’s content team has been downsized significantly, Twitter may have to use innovative ways such as algorithms or deep learning to implement this policy. (link)
Policy Changes to extract surplus from a subgroup of users who value premium access on the platform.
There have been several recent announcements regarding policy changes to extract surplus from a subgroup of users who value some specific features on the platform.
Twitter Lifts Political Ad Ban, Auctions Usernames, and Offers Subscription Discount
Twitter announced three major changes in January to increase its revenue. First, it decided to lift the ban on political ads that it imposed in 2019. It plans to align its ad policy with other media outlets “in coming weeks” (link). Next, it announced an idea to auction off inactive usernames, presumably the ones claimed early in Twitter’s lifetime, but are now dormant. Apparently, there is a major black market for premium abandoned usernames and Twitter wants to make it official (link). Third, it announced an annual subscription option for the blue tick-mark that costs $84 and saves $12 compared to monthly payments. This is Twitter’s way of boosting its short-term revenue and retaining customers. This may further benefit users who subscribe to Twitter from iOS store who already pay 30% more than the rest (link)
Doordash Offers Package Pickup to improve Deliverer Utilization
Doordash has been experimenting with creative ways to use their deliverers. Their latest policy change is to allow deliverers to pick up the prepaid packages from their home and drop them off at a USPS, UPS or FedEx. For someone who holds a DashPass, the service comes at a 40% discount. This pickup service could be a good complement to the drop-off service and might increase the utilization of deliverers since they can now pick up packages from customers or nearby places where they just delivered food. (link).
This is the final part of the 3-part post. You can find part one and part two here. If you know someone who enjoys these kind of posts, please share it with them :)
Research contributions of Anantesh Mohapatra, Divy Tandon, Yiran Liu (Thanks a ton, folks!)