Sarah Scheffler, Princeton University

Abstract

End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is increasingly adopted in all kinds of communication, including secure messaging, video, audio, email, file sharing, and web browsing.  As E2EE systems expand and grow, so too do the needs and challenges for content moderation in these systems.  This talk describes a systemization of knowledge of content moderation under E2EE.  We will first taxonomize general content moderation approaches and extract some key design choices for content moderation in E2EE services.  We then survey the current cryptography literature on content moderation in end-to-end encryption, which focuses mainly on (1) detecting rule violations by private content scanning, and (2) authenticity in user reporting.  We conclude by proposing some fruitful areas of future research that are under-explored in the current literature.

[Video]

Bio:

Sarah Scheffler is a postdoctoral research associate at Princeton University's Center for Information Technology Policy, studying topics at the intersection of cryptography and law.  Her recent works focus on content moderation in end-to-end encryption, compelled decryption, and zero-knowledge proofs.  She received her Ph.D. in computer science from Boston University in 2021, working with Prof. Mayank Varia.