My First Job, at the Stanford Internet Observatory

Like a zillion other bright-eyed Stanford undergrads, I was drawn to work at a place that promised I’d “learn about the abuse of the internet in real time,” writes Julia Steinberg. (Photo by David Madison/Getty Images)
The research center, which is shutting its doors, was supposed to tackle “misinformation.” Instead, they hired a bunch of interns to flag social media posts.
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The Stanford Internet Observatory—a research center tasked with rooting out “misinformation” on social media—is shutting its doors. Chances are if you’ve heard of the SIO it was in a scathing piece from Michael Shellenberger or Matt Taibbi, who have accused the center of being a key node in the censorship-industrial complex.
It was also my first employer…
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