Dave Willner
@dwillner.bsky.social
Co-Founder at Zentropi. Formerly Head of Trust & Safety at OpenAI, of Community Policy at Airbnb, and of Content Policy Facebook. Strictly cold takes.
Pinned
Dave Willner
@dwillner.bsky.social
· Jul 31
For 17 years working in trust and safety, I've watched talented people burn out on impossible tasks. The problem isn't the people, it's the systems. Traditional moderation requires months of retraining for every policy change. Only big companies can afford it, and even then it works poorly. 🧵 1/9
Reposted by Dave Willner
A small (personal) example of this book’s intellectual dishonesty:
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
December 24, 2025 at 7:00 PM
A small (personal) example of this book’s intellectual dishonesty:
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
Reposted by Dave Willner
In this companion piece I have to painstakingly explain how Matt Taibbi
1) gets our research backwards in an incomprehensible way
2) points to emails chains we weren’t on as evidence of things we did
3) imputes plans between tech & govt that happened 6mo before our election project existed, to us
1) gets our research backwards in an incomprehensible way
2) points to emails chains we weren’t on as evidence of things we did
3) imputes plans between tech & govt that happened 6mo before our election project existed, to us
And here is a supplementary companion piece on my Substack in which I include Matt Taibbi's 1800+ word response to questions in full, in the interests of fairness. (Note: this one is for the nerds)
www.jamesrball.com/p/disinforma...
www.jamesrball.com/p/disinforma...
Disinformation Wars: The Extended Edition
Want to see several people argue over *extremely granular* detail? This is your lucky day!
www.jamesrball.com
December 11, 2025 at 12:20 AM
In this companion piece I have to painstakingly explain how Matt Taibbi
1) gets our research backwards in an incomprehensible way
2) points to emails chains we weren’t on as evidence of things we did
3) imputes plans between tech & govt that happened 6mo before our election project existed, to us
1) gets our research backwards in an incomprehensible way
2) points to emails chains we weren’t on as evidence of things we did
3) imputes plans between tech & govt that happened 6mo before our election project existed, to us
Reposted by Dave Willner
Your Job Was Stopping CSAM? Trump Says No Visa For You!
You want to see actual government censorship in action? And have it done by people claiming they’re doing it to stop censorship? Check out last week's revelation (originally reported by Reuters) that the US State Department will now start…
You want to see actual government censorship in action? And have it done by people claiming they’re doing it to stop censorship? Check out last week's revelation (originally reported by Reuters) that the US State Department will now start…
Your Job Was Stopping CSAM? Trump Says No Visa For You!
You want to see actual government censorship in action? And have it done by people claiming they’re doing it to stop censorship? Check out last week's revelation (originally reported by Reuters) that the US State Department will now start denying H-1B visas for anyone who has anything to do with trust & safety, fact checking, content moderation, or mis- or disinformation research.
www.techdirt.com
December 8, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Your Job Was Stopping CSAM? Trump Says No Visa For You!
You want to see actual government censorship in action? And have it done by people claiming they’re doing it to stop censorship? Check out last week's revelation (originally reported by Reuters) that the US State Department will now start…
You want to see actual government censorship in action? And have it done by people claiming they’re doing it to stop censorship? Check out last week's revelation (originally reported by Reuters) that the US State Department will now start…
Reposted by Dave Willner
Wrote about the ridiculous new Trump visa rules that will stop those who worked in trust & safety from getting visas at the same time MAGA folks are demanding more trust & safety work.
Your Job Was Stopping CSAM? Trump Says No Visa For You!
You want to see actual government censorship in action? And have it done by people claiming they’re doing it to stop censorship? Check out last week's revelation (originally reported by Reuters) that the US State Department will now start…
You want to see actual government censorship in action? And have it done by people claiming they’re doing it to stop censorship? Check out last week's revelation (originally reported by Reuters) that the US State Department will now start…
Your Job Was Stopping CSAM? Trump Says No Visa For You!
You want to see actual government censorship in action? And have it done by people claiming they’re doing it to stop censorship? Check out last week's revelation (originally reported by Reuters) that the US State Department will now start denying H-1B visas for anyone who has anything to do with trust & safety, fact checking, content moderation, or mis- or disinformation research.
www.techdirt.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Wrote about the ridiculous new Trump visa rules that will stop those who worked in trust & safety from getting visas at the same time MAGA folks are demanding more trust & safety work.
Reposted by Dave Willner
Which is also what we desperately needed in 2021
Early 2029 will be like a post-conflict society starting a campaign of de-Trumpification.
Could not be more contrary to American traditions. A gold-bedecked White House with a massive gilded ballroom and a government-created personality cult around the president complete with giant banners of his face on government buildings and official celebrations of his birthday.
December 7, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Which is also what we desperately needed in 2021
Reposted by Dave Willner
Don't let anyone tell you that the Commission's DSA enforcement against X is about speech or censorship.
That would, indeed, be interesting. But this is just the EU enforcing some normal, boring laws that would get bipartisan support in the U.S. (I bet similar bills *have* had that support.) 1/
That would, indeed, be interesting. But this is just the EU enforcing some normal, boring laws that would get bipartisan support in the U.S. (I bet similar bills *have* had that support.) 1/
December 5, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Don't let anyone tell you that the Commission's DSA enforcement against X is about speech or censorship.
That would, indeed, be interesting. But this is just the EU enforcing some normal, boring laws that would get bipartisan support in the U.S. (I bet similar bills *have* had that support.) 1/
That would, indeed, be interesting. But this is just the EU enforcing some normal, boring laws that would get bipartisan support in the U.S. (I bet similar bills *have* had that support.) 1/
Reposted by Dave Willner
*Taps the sign*
Always Listen to Daphne Keller
Always Listen to Daphne Keller
Don't let anyone tell you that the Commission's DSA enforcement against X is about speech or censorship.
That would, indeed, be interesting. But this is just the EU enforcing some normal, boring laws that would get bipartisan support in the U.S. (I bet similar bills *have* had that support.) 1/
That would, indeed, be interesting. But this is just the EU enforcing some normal, boring laws that would get bipartisan support in the U.S. (I bet similar bills *have* had that support.) 1/
December 5, 2025 at 5:03 PM
*Taps the sign*
Always Listen to Daphne Keller
Always Listen to Daphne Keller
Reposted by Dave Willner
Join me and @noupside.bsky.social *IN FIVE MINUTES* to talk about what the European Commission's decision means for X's pocket book, Europe's ongoing access to X, JD Vance's tweets, and whether this decision really is about censoring American tech companies.
At 11am, watch @klonick.bsky.social and @noupside.bsky.social discuss the European Commission's announcement that they are fining X 120 million Euros for impersonation scams with “verification,” broken advertising transpaency system, and blocking researchers from its platform.
LIVE SOON: Lawfare Live: The EU Fines X 120 M Euros - What Comes Next?
Starting Dec 5 at 11:00 AM EST
open.substack.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Join me and @noupside.bsky.social *IN FIVE MINUTES* to talk about what the European Commission's decision means for X's pocket book, Europe's ongoing access to X, JD Vance's tweets, and whether this decision really is about censoring American tech companies.
Reposted by Dave Willner
Bellingcat’s contact email has always been a magnet for people with fairly unusual views; paranoid delusions, sprawling conspiracies, the works. But recently, the pattern has shifted, we’re seeing more and more emails clearly written with ChatGPT.
November 19, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Bellingcat’s contact email has always been a magnet for people with fairly unusual views; paranoid delusions, sprawling conspiracies, the works. But recently, the pattern has shifted, we’re seeing more and more emails clearly written with ChatGPT.
Reposted by Dave Willner
this administration, and its congressional allies, are free speech phonies. not warriors. phonies. censors. propagandists.
Just wanna re-up in simple terms that when Biden talked to platforms, Jim Jordan launched years of investigations into everybody involved, said it was tyranny, censorship, etc.
And now they just straight up acknowledge that they talk to platforms too.
www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/3...
And now they just straight up acknowledge that they talk to platforms too.
www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/3...
DHS playing 'whack-a-mole' shooting down made-up ICE stories
The Department of Homeland Security is stepping up efforts to combat fake news, viral AI videos, and misinformation on ICE and Border Patrol.
www.washingtonexaminer.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:55 AM
this administration, and its congressional allies, are free speech phonies. not warriors. phonies. censors. propagandists.
Reposted by Dave Willner
Just wanna re-up in simple terms that when Biden talked to platforms, Jim Jordan launched years of investigations into everybody involved, said it was tyranny, censorship, etc.
And now they just straight up acknowledge that they talk to platforms too.
www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/3...
And now they just straight up acknowledge that they talk to platforms too.
www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/3...
DHS playing 'whack-a-mole' shooting down made-up ICE stories
The Department of Homeland Security is stepping up efforts to combat fake news, viral AI videos, and misinformation on ICE and Border Patrol.
www.washingtonexaminer.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Just wanna re-up in simple terms that when Biden talked to platforms, Jim Jordan launched years of investigations into everybody involved, said it was tyranny, censorship, etc.
And now they just straight up acknowledge that they talk to platforms too.
www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/3...
And now they just straight up acknowledge that they talk to platforms too.
www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/3...
Reposted by Dave Willner
We just wrote an in-depth post about Toxic Content labeling. It presents a new way of defining toxic speech online-- and illustrates the importance of observable features for accurate language model interpretability. Would love to hear how YOU define toxicity, too! blog.zentropi.ai/observations...
Observations on Toxicity
We've published Zentropi's toxicity labeler (toxicity-public-s5), which you can integrate with your platform instantly using the Zentropi API. Browse the full policy to see how defining observable fea...
blog.zentropi.ai
November 13, 2025 at 10:47 PM
We just wrote an in-depth post about Toxic Content labeling. It presents a new way of defining toxic speech online-- and illustrates the importance of observable features for accurate language model interpretability. Would love to hear how YOU define toxicity, too! blog.zentropi.ai/observations...
I’ve had a very “text-oriented” view of content labeling for a long time, and used the opportunity of our recent launch to lay out some of those ideas in the context of the idea of “toxicity”
Interested to know what others think!
blog.zentropi.ai/observations...
Interested to know what others think!
blog.zentropi.ai/observations...
Observations on Toxicity
We published a novel toxicity labeler (toxicity-public-s5), which you can integrate with your platform instantly using the Zentropi API. Browse the full policy to see how defining observable features ...
blog.zentropi.ai
November 13, 2025 at 10:56 PM
I’ve had a very “text-oriented” view of content labeling for a long time, and used the opportunity of our recent launch to lay out some of those ideas in the context of the idea of “toxicity”
Interested to know what others think!
blog.zentropi.ai/observations...
Interested to know what others think!
blog.zentropi.ai/observations...
Content policies are usually private, one-off efforts. You build yours, I build mine, we don't share much about what works or why. This makes sense given products can (and should) set different policies based on their communities, but it leaves us reinventing the wheel. 🧵 1/5
November 10, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Content policies are usually private, one-off efforts. You build yours, I build mine, we don't share much about what works or why. This makes sense given products can (and should) set different policies based on their communities, but it leaves us reinventing the wheel. 🧵 1/5
Reposted by Dave Willner
*whispers* you can continue to read me, the pundit who insisted the other pundits were wrong about these conclusions
basically every 2024 truism is dead. Trump did not build a lasting multiracial coalition or turn young men into committed Republicans. You don’t need to cave on trans rights to win. The pundits have nothing left to tell you.
November 5, 2025 at 3:06 PM
*whispers* you can continue to read me, the pundit who insisted the other pundits were wrong about these conclusions
Reposted by Dave Willner
Picture of the East Wing demolition of the White House taken on my flight out of DCA.
October 23, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Picture of the East Wing demolition of the White House taken on my flight out of DCA.
I am forgetful about it self-promotion, so dropping a last minute link to note that I’m giving a talk Berkman Klein today. Come check it out if you’re free, or catch the recording later:
cyber.harvard.edu/events/autom...
cyber.harvard.edu/events/autom...
Automating Content Policy
AI is no longer just moderating individual posts — it is learning how to interpret and enforce policy itself. Dave Willner — who has led trust and safety teams at Facebook, Airbnb, and OpenAI — joins ...
cyber.harvard.edu
October 22, 2025 at 4:08 PM
I am forgetful about it self-promotion, so dropping a last minute link to note that I’m giving a talk Berkman Klein today. Come check it out if you’re free, or catch the recording later:
cyber.harvard.edu/events/autom...
cyber.harvard.edu/events/autom...
I feel like some of the difference in reactions here also rests on on frequently you have to do a somewhat complex, but very repetitive, task. Taking the time to get these sort of workflows really dialed in is most useful for stuff you do over and over.
A thing that I keep finding with AI experiments is that the more context and direction you give a tool, the more benefits it gives in return. So many of the complaints about AI seem focused on just trying to use it cold without additional context. Skills seems like useful context.
Claude Skills are awesome, maybe a bigger deal than MCP
simonwillison.net/2025/Oct/16/...
simonwillison.net/2025/Oct/16/...
October 17, 2025 at 10:00 PM
I feel like some of the difference in reactions here also rests on on frequently you have to do a somewhat complex, but very repetitive, task. Taking the time to get these sort of workflows really dialed in is most useful for stuff you do over and over.
Reposted by Dave Willner
Tyranny is brittle.
We live in a country where the government honors insurrectionists who sacked the Capitol, and defines peaceful protest, even before it occurs, to be terrorism.
They know their position is weak, they know they are unpopular, which is why they are seeking to stamp out dissent.
They know their position is weak, they know they are unpopular, which is why they are seeking to stamp out dissent.
Mike Johnson: "We're so angry about it. I mean, I'm a very patient guy, but I've had it with these people. The theory we have right now -- they have a hate America rally that's scheduled for October 18 on the National Mall. It's the pro-Hamas wing and antifa people ... "
October 10, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Tyranny is brittle.
So, the first part of this is plainly false, both historically and currently. I don’t think it’s a good thing in most cases…but it’s plainly the case that pressuring the people in charge of moderation to either ban (or not ban) people works *All The Time*. It is why people do it!
Harassing the mods into banning someone has never worked. And harassing people in general has never changed their mind.
October 3, 2025 at 3:03 PM
So, the first part of this is plainly false, both historically and currently. I don’t think it’s a good thing in most cases…but it’s plainly the case that pressuring the people in charge of moderation to either ban (or not ban) people works *All The Time*. It is why people do it!
Reposted by Dave Willner
New Ctrl-Alt-Speech: Moderating is Such Sweet Sorrow with guest host @dwillner.bsky.social who is entirely responsible for bringing up Shakespeare as part of this discussion. (@benwhitelaw.bsky.social will be back next week!)
podcast.ctrlaltspeech.com/2315966/epis...
podcast.ctrlaltspeech.com/2315966/epis...
Moderating is Such Sweet Sorrow - Ctrl-Alt-Speech
In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike is joined by Dave Willner, founder of Zentropi, and long-time trust & safety expert who...
podcast.ctrlaltspeech.com
October 1, 2025 at 11:25 PM
New Ctrl-Alt-Speech: Moderating is Such Sweet Sorrow with guest host @dwillner.bsky.social who is entirely responsible for bringing up Shakespeare as part of this discussion. (@benwhitelaw.bsky.social will be back next week!)
podcast.ctrlaltspeech.com/2315966/epis...
podcast.ctrlaltspeech.com/2315966/epis...
While terrible, this is entirely unsurprising. If you hold serious safety efforts in contempt, this sort of thing is inevitable.
This is horrific and feels like it should be a bigger deal. Business Insider reports that people who have worked at xAI have seen Grok create images and written material with child sex abuse material.
www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-gr...
www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-gr...
Behind Grok's 'sexy' settings, workers review explicit and disturbing content
Workers say they've faced sexually explicit content while xAI has marketed Grok to be deliberately provocative. Experts say the company should be cautious.
www.businessinsider.com
September 23, 2025 at 4:59 AM
While terrible, this is entirely unsurprising. If you hold serious safety efforts in contempt, this sort of thing is inevitable.
Reposted by Dave Willner
Disney/ABC have a responsibility to refuse to participate in corruption.
Kimmel must be reinstated. If Disney/ABC agree to this extortion then perhaps creatives + workers should consider collective action to push back. Same w/buying park + cruise tickets if they bow.
People have power. Ask Target
Kimmel must be reinstated. If Disney/ABC agree to this extortion then perhaps creatives + workers should consider collective action to push back. Same w/buying park + cruise tickets if they bow.
People have power. Ask Target
September 20, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Disney/ABC have a responsibility to refuse to participate in corruption.
Kimmel must be reinstated. If Disney/ABC agree to this extortion then perhaps creatives + workers should consider collective action to push back. Same w/buying park + cruise tickets if they bow.
People have power. Ask Target
Kimmel must be reinstated. If Disney/ABC agree to this extortion then perhaps creatives + workers should consider collective action to push back. Same w/buying park + cruise tickets if they bow.
People have power. Ask Target
Reposted by Dave Willner
No one who agrees to this is a journalist.
NEW: The Pentagon told journalists it will require them to pledge they won’t gather any information — even unclassified — that hasn’t been expressly authorized for release, and will revoke the press credentials of those who do not obey. @washingtonpost.com
Pentagon demands journalists pledge to not obtain unauthorized material
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is imposing strict new rules that would severely limit the ability of journalists to report on the Pentagon.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 20, 2025 at 12:27 AM
No one who agrees to this is a journalist.