In den Veröffentlichungen der Weizenbaum Discussion Paper (vormals: Weizenbaum Series) werden Ergebnisse aus der laufenden Forschung des Instituts vorgestellt. Die Schriftreihe ist offen für unterschiedliche Publikationsformate wie Monografien, Technical Reports, Preprints, Arbeitspapiere und viele mehr.
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Auflistung Weizenbaum Discussion Paper nach Forschungsbereichen "Digitale Infrastrukturen in der Demokratie"
The growing use of machine learning (ML) in academic research has led to a rising demand for large, labeled datasets. While the field initially relied on the labor of students and research assistants to label data, as models grew larger and more complex, there was a shift towards relying on large-scale, low-cost platforms like Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) to label data at scale. However, this shift comes with serious ethical concerns. Now part of a massive industry, many data work companies exploit workers, leaving many workers facing low wages and precarious working conditions, with little institutional oversight or protection. Despite the centrality of this labor to modern research, ethical codes and guidelines from academic societies rarely address the implications of outsourcing data work to platform-based workers.
This paper advocates for the development of research ethics standards that ensure fair and responsible collaboration with data workers. We begin by defining the concept of “data work” and assessing how current ethical frameworks address it. We then highlight ongoing initiatives aimed at improving ethical regulation. Based on two focus groups and two expert workshops held at the Weizenbaum Institute in 2024, we propose a set of principles for academic data work requesters to guide ethical engagement with platform-based workers. Finally, we outline future steps for integrating these principles into scientific ethical codes and day-to-day research practices.
(Weizenbaum Institute, 2025-02) Iglesias Keller, Clara; Ohme, Jakob; Seiling, Lukas; Neuberger, Christoph
This paper examines recent changes in the content moderation practices of major social media companies. Digital platforms have become a defining feature of contemporary societies. As their infrastructures increasingly mediate commercial activity, political organization, cultural life, and more, the retraction of measures meant to uphold standards and trust in their influence over online speech raises significant concerns. This paper briefly analyzes these developments in the context of ongoing processes of democratic erosion, particularly in the U.S. The goal is to foster future research and public debate by offering key insights into the implications of the current scenario for Germany and the European Union.