Mapping the Landscape of Content Moderation: A Bibliometric Perspective

Rapid technological advancements have intensified user-content interactions, leading to complex regulation mechanisms such as A.I. filtering and user moderation. This study conducts a bibliometric analysis of 202 publications from 2016 to 2023, sourced from the Web of Science and Scopus databases, to explore contemporary topics in content moderation research. It identifies influential authors, institutions, countries, journals, funding agencies, keyword networks, and co-authorship patterns. The findings indicate that the Queensland University of Technology is the most influential institution, while the United States, England, and Australia are the most productive countries. The National Science Foundation and European Research Council are key funding bodies. New Media & Society, Social Media + Society, and Big Data & Society are leading journals in this field. Research primarily focuses on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, with a thematic shift from transparency to hate speech and misinformation. Since 2016, there has been a steady increase in academic publications on content moderation, suggesting continued growth in this area across various disciplines.