• 1,200 content moderators at Inke are hired to censor content like smoking, tattoos and bikinis.
  • They are given around 15 seconds to decide if the content breaches China’s strict rules.
  • Inke already spends about R166 million a year on cracking down on illegal content using big data and artificial intelligence technologies.
  • For more, go to Business Insider SA.

Content moderators in China have been tasked with the job of censoring unsuitable content such as smoking, tattoos and bikinis, the South China Morning Post reports.

While AI is used to remove banned content, many decisions are taken by humans, especially if they involve context.

Hence the reason why Inke, one of China’s largest live-streaming companies with 25 million users, has hired almost 1,200 content moderators to censor content that falls afoul of the country’s stringent government regulations.

They are given around 15 seconds to decide whether the two-piece swimwear on their screens breaches rules governing use of the platform.

The company estimates it spends 80 million yuan (R166 million) a year on cracking down on illegal content just using big data and artificial intelligence technologies, such as image and voice recognition, reported China Daily.

As of the end of last year, almost 400 million people in China had done the equivalent of a Facebook Live and live-streamed their activities on the internet.

"...after plenty of reports criticized the inappropriate content shown on many apps on the market, authorities have issued a series of regulations to supervise the industry," said Inke CEO Feng Yousheng to China Daily. "We are working on promoting 'green' live-streaming experiences on our app."

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