A software company in Kelowna is going up against online negativity in a major way.
Community Sift, which was founded in the city in 2012 and has been part of the market for about two years, hopes to put an end to the problem of cyber bullying.
Karen Olsson, chief operating officer at Community Sift, said their software allows web companies, like social media sites, to implement their policy guide regarding online conduct.
The tool uses a combination of software rhythm and human reviewed data markers to filter and moderate online language.
Information flows through the system and is evaluated based on risk, context and sentiment of the conversation.
Olsson said, for example, the word ugly could be used to describe a website or the weather, which wouldn’t necessarily hurt anyone.
“But if there’s somebody who posts a picture of themselves to their social network, and somebody says ‘You’re ugly,’ that can have a different context to it,” she said.
People try and avoid the filter system but Olsson said it’s smart enough to get around those people, keeping up with technological advancement and modern slang.
One site that has purchased the software is Medium, a social blogging platform, which Olsson said is becoming very popular globally for sharing long form text.
“Out tools moderate their forum and their discussion points,” she explained.
Their system can be dialed up or down according to the policy guide that the websites want to implement depending on what they think is OK and what isn’t. It can be used on various online tools, apps and websites.
Right now, Olsson said they have ongoing communications with Facebook and Twitter which she said they plan to continue.
She said their goal is to keep the online communication both positive and engaging, in hopes of putting a stop to online bullies.
“I think it’s a really big issue,” said Olsson. “I think the internet is a still a bit of a Wild West.”
Olsson said when email was really new, people got viruses often. Since then, it’s become very common to buy antivirus software to prevent them.
That’s how they see online hate speech and their software.
“We see ourselves along that line of being a layer on the internet and information passes through our system and is moderated and managed according to whatever organization they’re running that data through,” she said.
Olsson said the anonymity on the internet gives people the opportunity to engage in more negative interactions without the consequences they would normally have in day to day conversation.
“You wouldn’t probably run up to somebody on the street and start saying really terrible things to them, or harassing them, or bullying them, so why should you be allowed to do it behind a computer and a keyboard?”
While she acknowledges that people have the right to say what they want, she said everybody also has the right to hear what they want.
“Freedom of speech and hate speech are two different things,” said Olsson. “Nobody has the right to hate speech.”
She said they want to create an environment for discussion and differing views, put in a more positive way.
“We don’t think abuse needs to be part of that.”
