Learning from EFF’s report on censorship and online platforms

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has shifted its annual "Who Has Your Back Report" focus from government requests for user information to government requests for content takedowns, highlighting increased online censorship efforts. As governments find it challenging to censor content directly due to the prevalence of HTTPS and social media, they increasingly rely on platforms to enforce censorship. EFF evaluates major platforms hosting user-generated content on five criteria, including transparency in reporting takedown requests, user notification and appeals, and geographically limited censorship. GitHub stands out by meeting all criteria, emphasizing transparency, user notification, and minimal censorship to maintain community trust. Companies scoring well in the report are seen as examples of robust content moderation policies, and GitHub aims to contribute to industry best practices by open-sourcing its policies, thereby encouraging startups and other companies to adopt effective content moderation strategies.