Media Appearances

Sarah T. Roberts, Ph.D. 

Assistant Professor, Department of Information Studies, Graduate School of Education & Information Studies at UCLA

SUMMARY:Expert in commercial content moderation (CCM), social media moderation, social media policy, social media and society. Frequent commenter on Facebook, Google and other major online platforms.

Longer bio available here as PDF.

High-res headshots available here:

2016 headshots (medium, large and x-large resolution)

 2019 headshots (print and web resolution) as zip files.

Contact for comment and/or appearances here

Print and Online Media

2019 The Verge, “Moderating content doesn’t have to be so traumatic,” interviewed for story.

2019 The Verge, “Facebook says it fired leaker for participating in conservative bias ‘stunt’,” interviewed for story.

2019 CNN, “Moderating the internet is hurting workers. How can companies help them?”  Interviewed for story.

2019 Wall Street Journal, interview for story on YouTube “evaluators.”

2019 The Economist, interview for forthcoming story on commercial content moderation.

2019 NBC, interview for forthcoming story on threats to commercial content moderators.

2019 CNN, “We tested Tumblr’s ban on porn. It needs work,” interviewed for story.

2018 Estreme conseguenze (Italy), “I Piccoli Fratelli,” featured interview.

2018 Financial Times (UK), interview for upcoming article on Facebook’s appeals process.

2018 BBC News,  “An online decency moderator’s advice: Blur your eyes,” interviewed for story on content moderation.

2018 Newsweek, interview for ongoing investigation on commercial content moderation.

2018 Ars Technica, “Ex-Facebook moderator sues Facebook over exposure to disturbing images,” interviewed for article.

2018 Wired, “QAnon is trying to trick Facebook’s Meme-reading AI,”  interviewed for article.

2018 VICE Motherboard, “The impossible job: Inside Facebook’s struggle to moderate two billion people,” interview for feature article.

2018 The Verge, “Browser plug-ins that spot fake news show the difficulty of talking the ‘Information Apocalypse,’” interview for feature article.

2018 Vanity Fair Italia, “Chi sono gli <<spazinni> del web”, interview for feature on commercial content moderation.

2018 Wired, “How will Microsoft handle Github’s controversial code?,” interview for article.

2018 Fortune, “Facebook’s fix-it team,” interviewed for feature.

2018 The Verge, “Who is responsible for taking down Nazi GIFs?,” interview for feature article.

2018 The Washington Post, interview for forthcoming story on commercial content moderation.

2018 CBC (Canada), “Everything you’ve ever posted publicly on Facebook has probably been harvested. So what?,” interview for article.

2018 Associated Press, “Watch it, Facebook: New EU data rules may have broad impact,” interview for article.

2018 Wired, “A window into how YouTube trains AI to moderate videos,” interview for article.

2018 Engadget, interview regarding Facebook and Cambridge Analytica.

2018 The Nikkei (Japan), article on Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, interview for article.

2018 The Independent (UK), “Cambridge Analytica scandal: This is what happened when we went to Facebook headquarters seeking answers,” interview for article.

2018 The Guardian (UK), “Data scandal is huge blow for Facebook – and efforts to study its impact on society,” interview for article.

2018 Columbia Journalism Review, “The new ‘billion-dollar problem’ for platforms and publishers,” quoted in article.

2018 The New York Times, “Bumble dating app bans gun images after mass shootings,” interview for news article.

2018 Society (France), interview for forthcoming article on YouTube.

2018 The Washington Post, “YouTube’s mistaken ‘purge’ highlights new peril for video giant,” interview for news article.

2018 The Guardian (UK), “YouTube promotes conspiracy videos attacking Florida’s shooting survivors,” interview for news article.

2018 UCLA News, “Professor featured in  documentary that premiered at Sundance Film Festival,” interview for feature.

2018 Wired, “YouTube’s latest shakeup is bigger than just ads,” interview for article.

2018 The Guardian (UK), “Facebook declines to say why it deletes certain political accounts, but not others,” interview for article.

2018 Wired,  “The Logan Paul video should be a reckoning for YouTube,” interview for article.

2018 Buzzfeed, “The Logan Paul suicide video shows YouTube is facing crucial turning point,” interview for article.

2018 NME (UK), “We need to talk about…YouTube. Here’s why  the platform needs to get with the programme,” quoted in article.

2018 Il Fatto Quotidiano (Italy), “Senza di loro la rete sarebbe un mare di fango ingestibile,” interview.

2017 The Observer (UK), “Who’s doing Google and Facebook’s dirty Work?” quoted and featured.

2017 Logic, “Engine failure,” featured interview.

2017 Wall Street Journal, “The worst job in technology: Staring at human depravity to keep it off Facebook,” interview for article.

2017 The Atlantic, “‘The Basic Grossness of Humans’,” featured in article.

2017 Wired (UK), “Drug safety YouTubers face a quiet crisis at the mercy of algorithms,” interview for article.

2017 Quartz,”Naming abusers online may be ‘mob justice,’ but it’s still justice,” interview for article.

2017 The New York Times, “Facebook’s ad-targeting problem, captured in a literal shade of gray,” interview for article.

2017 Associated Press, US tech giants may find their future shaped by Europe, interview for article.

2017 The Daily Mirror (UK), “Inside minds of online moderators who view horrific content so you don’t have to,” featured in article.

2017 The Los Angeles Times, “Mark Zuckerberg built Facebook into a behemoth whose power he underestimates,” interview for article.

2017 NRC Handelsblad (Netherlands), “De psychische tol van online puinruimen,” interview for article.

2017 The Guardian (UK), interview for upcoming article on Google.

2017 Rolling Stone, “The human cost of monitoring the internet,” interview for feature.

2017 Wired, “Google drops firm reviewing YouTube videos,” interview for article.

2017 Psychology Today, interview for article on CCM.

2017 Globe and Mail (Canada), “Users face consequences as Facebook struggles to filter hate speech,” interview for article.

2017 New Republic, “Why Urban Dictionary is horrifically racist,” interview for article.

2017 Wired, “Filtering your world is understandable – but it’s not helpful,” interview for article.

2017 Le Monde (France), “Facebook affirme qu’il n’a pas de rôle editorial, mais les documents attestent du contraire,” featured interview.

2017 The Economist, “Artificial intelligence will create new kinds of work,” interview for article.

2017 The Verge, “How do you fix Facebook’s moderation? Figure out what Facebook is,” consultation and interview for article.

2017 TechCrunch, “Facebook’s content moderation rules dubbed ‘alarming’ by child safety charity, quoted in article.

2017 The Guardian (UK), “Revealed: Facebook’s internal rulebook on sex, terrorism and violence,” interview for investigative report.

2017 Asahi Shimbun (Japan), featured interview.

2017 The Times (UK), “Meet the internet moderators,” interview for article.

2017 News Corp Australia, “Facebook hires thousands of monitors to stop murderers streaming online killings,” interview for article.

2017 Ars Technica, “Will Facebook actually hire 3,000 content moderators, or will they outsource?” referenced in article.

2017 CNN, “Facebook adding 3,000 reviewers to combat violent videos,” interviewed for article.

2017 LA Daily News, interview for article.

2017 The Washington Post, “The work of monitoring violence online can cause real trauma. And Facebook is hiring.,” interview for article.

2017 The Daily Beast, “Web’s worst job? Facebook hires 3,000 to watch for murders so you don’t have to,” interview for article.

2017 Thompson-Reuters, “Facebook tries to fix streaming violence problem with 3,000 new workers,” interview for article.

2017 The Verge, “Don’t blame users when violence on Facebook goes unreported,” interview for article.

2017 The Guardian (UK), “Live and death: Facebook sorely needs a reality check about video,” interview for article.

2017 Morning Consult, “People hold users, social platforms responsible for policing content,” interview for article.

2017 De Tijd/L’Echo (Belgium), “Eerst de technologie, dan de morale,” interview for article.

2017 Ars Technica, “The secret lives of Google raters,” interview for article.

2017 The Guardian (UK), “Facebook killing video puts moderation policies under the microscope, again,” interview for article.

2017 Wall Street Journal, “Cleveland Murder Video Forces Scrutiny at Facebook,” interview for article.

2017 L’Humanité (France), “De quoi cauchemardent les nettoyeurs invisibles de la toile?”  featured interview.

2017 The Guardian (UK), “I can’t trust YouTube any more’: creators speak out in Google advertising row,” interview for article.

2017 CNN, “Facebook on murder video: ‘We know we need to do better’,” interview for article.

2017 Le Monde (France), interview.

2017 Usbek & Rika (France), “Les éboueurs du Web, modérateurs invisibles des réseaux sociaux,” featured interview.

2017 L.A. Weekly, “Are tech companies using the Muslim ban to woo customers?” interviewed and quoted in article.

2017 CNN, “When your job is viewing child porn and bestiality online, it takes a toll,” quoted in report.

2017 The Guardian, “Facebook lets rightwing site repost torture video after it was removed,” quoted in report.

2016 Wall Street Journal, “Central Role of Facebook, Twitter Among Electorate Gets Mixed Reviews,” provided background and quoted.

2016 Hiese.de (Germany), “Arbeit 4.0: Wie die “Müllabfuhr des Internets” soziale Medien säubert, featured article.

2016 Morganavisen Jyllands-Posten (Denmark), September, interview in an article.

2016 USA Today, “Facebook’s videos are a powerful tool for social change – if uncensored,” interviewed and quoted in article.

2016 The Verge, “The Secret Rules of the Internet,” April, interviewed and consulted for report.

2016 Wired, “Facebook’s plan to stop people from livestreaming sex? You.” interviewed and consulted for article.

2016 Al Jazeera America, February, interview in article.

2015 Politiken (Denmark), September, interview.

2015 Information (Denmark), September, Interview.

2015 Wired, August, interviewed for article.

2015 La Repubblica (Italy), June, Interview.

2015 Expo Magazine (Sweden), July, quoted in and consultation for article.

2015 Al Jazeera America, May, interview in article.

2014 The Telegraph (Kolkata, India), December, interviewed in article.

2014 The Awl, October, interview.

2014 Wired, October, featured in article.

2015 Los Angeles Times, May, quoted in news report.

2014 London Free Press (Canada), March, news article.

2014 Western News (Canada), March, news article.

2013 The Atlantic, November, news article.

2013 London Free Press (Canada), October, news article.

Radio and Television

2018 BBC Newsnight (UK), “Is Facebook a destabilising force?,” on-air guest interview.

2018 The National, CBC (Canada), interview for feature story on commercial content moderation.

2018 It’s Tricky: A Podcast about the Thorniest Problems in Journalism, “Please Don’t Read the Comments,” featured interview.

2018 KCBS, interview for story about YouTube.

2018 Marketplace Tech, “Does YouTube’s revenue model encourage crazy stunts?” featured interview.

2018 Radiolab (WNYC), interview for forthcoming program.

2018 Project 10 Podcast (Ireland), “Trial by social media,” featured on program.

2017 BBC World Service, “Moderators: The Internet’s Most Gruesome Job?”, interview for radio program.

2017 RAI (Italy), “Kudos,” interview for television program on CCM.

2017 BBC Radio 4, “The Digital Human: Sin Eaters,” interview for documentary on CCM.

2017 BBC Radio 4, “The Media Show,” radio interview.

2017 WYNC, “Note to Self: Meet the Humans Who Protect Your Eyes,” featured program guest.

2017 TVO (Canada), “The Agenda with Steve Paikin,” May 24, television interview.

2017 BBC World Service, May 24, radio interview.

2017 BBC (UK), “Outside Sources,” May 22, live television interview.

2017 BBC Radio (UK), “Today,” May 22, live radio interview.

2017 BBC Scotland, May 22, live radio interview.

2017 KUOW NPR, “The Record,” radio interview.

2017 Al Jazeera English, “The Listening Post,” interview for featured report.

2017 TRT World News (Turkey), May 8, live television interview.

2017 BBC News (UK), May 4, live television interview.

2017 RT, “America’s Lawyer with Mike Papantonio,” May 3, television interview.

2017 KPFA Radio, “Upfront,” April 21, radio interview.

2017 W Radio (Colombia/Miami), April 20, radio interview (in Spanish).

2017 CBC National News (Canada), April 19, television interview.

2017 Austrian Radio FM4, “Reality Check,” April 18, radio interview.

2017 KCBS, April 17, in-studio television interview.

2017 KCBS, April 17, interview for television news story.

2017 CBS Evening News, background for story.

2016 Al Jazeera Nightly News, November 5, television interview.

2016 Al Jazeera Nightly News, October 4, television interview.

2016 TRT World (Turkey), “The Newsmakers,” October 3, television interview.

2016 Al Jazeera Nightly News, September 16, television interview.

2016 ZDF (Germany), April, television interview.

2016 RBD (Germany), “Stillbruch,” April, television interview.

2016 TVO (Canada), “The Agenda with Steve Paikin,” March, television interview.

2015 CBC Radio (Canada), “Spark,” October, Radio interview for forthcoming story.

2015 “Facebookistan,” November. Danish documentary film appearance featuring interview and my talk. Worldwide television distribution forthcoming.

2015 DR (Danish National Radio), “Harddisken,” September, radio interview and article.

2015 BBC (UK), February, Television interview.

2014 CBC Radio (Canada), “Q,” October, Radio interview and consultant.

2014 CBC (Canada), “Ontario Morning,” April, radio interview.

2013 National Public Radio (NPR), “All Things Considered Weekend Edition,” November, radio interview.

Media Consultation

2018 Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO, March.

2016- 2018 Gebrüder Beetz film production. Consultant, feature-length documentary film project. “The Cleaners.” Official Sundance selection, 2018.

2017 Simple Booth, July.

2017 Dragonfly Productions (UK), July.

2017 Reuters, June.

2017 Center for Investigative Journalism, May.

2017 CNN, May.

2017 Delerio Films, March.

2017 Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC), March.

2017 The Guardian, February.

2017 BBC, February.

2017 The Daily Beast, January.

2017 Politiken (Denmark), January.

2017 CNN, January.

2016 Financial Times, September.

2016 Thomson Reuters, September.

2016 Wall Street Journal, July.

2016 The Hollywood Reporter, July.

2016 BBC News, January.

2015 VICE News, September.

2015 SHOWTIME, April.

2015 Netflix, February.

2015 Radiolab (WNYC), February.

2015 VICE Media.

2015 El Mundo (Spain), February.

2014 Wired