We Had To Remove This Post

Does what you see change who you are? Kayleigh is broke. Out of options, she takes a job as a content moderator, reviewing horrors and hate online and deciding which posts need to be removed. Kayleigh is good at her job, and in her colleagues she finds a group of friends, even a new girlfriend. For the first time in her life, the future seems bright . . . But soon the job begins to shift Kayleigh’s world in alarming ways. In the glare of the screen, how long can Kayleigh hold on to her humanity? Hanna Bervoets' stunning novel We Had To Remove This Post is translated from the Dutch by Emma Rault. ‘This novel gives us an acid glimpse into a new form of labor existing today . . . Fascinating and disturbing’ - Ling Ma, author of Severance

Does what you see change who you are? Kayleigh is broke. Out of options, she takes a job as a content moderator, reviewing horrors and hate online and deciding which posts need to be removed. Kayleigh is good at her job, and in her colleagues she finds a group of friends, even a new girlfriend. For the first time in her life, the future seems bright . . . But soon the job begins to shift Kayleigh’s world in alarming ways. In the glare of the screen, how long can Kayleigh hold on to her humanity? Hanna Bervoets' stunning novel We Had To Remove This Post is translated from the Dutch by Emma Rault. ‘This novel gives us an acid glimpse into a new form of labor existing today . . . Fascinating and disturbing’ - Ling Ma, author of Severance

'The dank underside of social media, its cruelty and delusions . . . superbly poised, psychologically astute and subtle' - Ian McEwan, author of Atonement 'A glimpse of the foetid underbelly of the internet' - The Times We Had To Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets is a chilling, powerful and gripping story about who or what determines our world view. To be a content moderator is to see humanity at its worst - but Kayleigh needs money. That's why she takes a job working for a social media platform whose name she isn't allowed to mention. Her job: reviewing offensive videos and pictures, rants and conspiracy theories, and deciding which need to be removed. Kayleigh and her colleagues spend all day watching horrors and hate on their screens. Yet Kayleigh is good at her job, and in her colleagues she finds a group of friends, even a new girlfriend - and for the first time in her life, Kayleigh's future seems bright. But soon the job seems to change them all, shifting their worlds in alarming ways. How long before the moderators own morals bend and flex under the weight of what they see? Examining the toxic world of content moderation, the novel forces us to ask: what is right? What is normal? And who gets to decide? Translated from the original Dutch by Emma Rault. 'Taut as a thriller, sharp as a slug of ice-cold vodka' - Irish Times 'Fast paced and thrilling, violent and nightmarish' - Kristen Arnett, author of Mostly Dead Things 'An acid glimpse into a new form of labor existing today' - Ling Ma, author of Severance

'The dank underside of social media, its cruelty and delusions . . . superbly poised, psychologically astute and subtle' - Ian McEwan, author of Atonement 'A glimpse of the foetid underbelly of the internet' - The Times We Had To Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets is a chilling, powerful and gripping story about who or what determines our world view. To be a content moderator is to see humanity at its worst - but Kayleigh needs money. That's why she takes a job working for a social media platform whose name she isn't allowed to mention. Her job: reviewing offensive videos and pictures, rants and conspiracy theories, and deciding which need to be removed. Kayleigh and her colleagues spend all day watching horrors and hate on their screens. Yet Kayleigh is good at her job, and in her colleagues she finds a group of friends, even a new girlfriend - and for the first time in her life, Kayleigh's future seems bright. But soon the job seems to change them all, shifting their worlds in alarming ways. How long before the moderators own morals bend and flex under the weight of what they see? Examining the toxic world of content moderation, the novel forces us to ask: what is right? What is normal? And who gets to decide? Translated from the original Dutch by Emma Rault. 'Taut as a thriller, sharp as a slug of ice-cold vodka' - Irish Times 'Fast paced and thrilling, violent and nightmarish' - Kristen Arnett, author of Mostly Dead Things 'An acid glimpse into a new form of labor existing today' - Ling Ma, author of Severance

For readers of Leila Slimani's The Perfect Nanny or Ling Ma's Severance : a tight, propulsive, chilling novel by a rising international star about a group of young colleagues working as social media content monitors--reviewers of violent or illegal videos for an unnamed megacorporation--who convince themselves they're in control . . . until the violence strikes closer to home. Kayleigh needs money. That's why she takes a job as a content moderator for a social media platform whose name she isn't allowed to mention. Her job: reviewing offensive videos and pictures, rants and conspiracy theories, and deciding which need to be removed. It's grueling work. Kayleigh and her colleagues spend all day watching horrors and hate on their screens, evaluating them with the platform's ever-changing terms of service while a supervisor sits behind them, timing and scoring their assessments. Yet Kayleigh finds a group of friends, even a new love--and, somehow, the job starts to feel okay. But when her colleagues begin to break down; when Sigrid, her new girlfriend, grows increasingly distant and fragile; when her friends start espousing the very conspiracy theories they're meant to be evaluating; Kayleigh begins to wonder if the job may be too much for them. She's still totally fine, though--or is she?

For readers of Leila Slimani's The Perfect Nanny or Ling Ma's Severance : a tight, propulsive, chilling novel by a rising international star about a group of young colleagues working as social media content monitors--reviewers of violent or illegal videos for an unnamed megacorporation--who convince themselves they're in control . . . until the violence strikes closer to home. Kayleigh needs money. That's why she takes a job as a content moderator for a social media platform whose name she isn't allowed to mention. Her job: reviewing offensive videos and pictures, rants and conspiracy theories, and deciding which need to be removed. It's grueling work. Kayleigh and her colleagues spend all day watching horrors and hate on their screens, evaluating them with the platform's ever-changing terms of service while a supervisor sits behind them, timing and scoring their assessments. Yet Kayleigh finds a group of friends, even a new love--and, somehow, the job starts to feel okay. But when her colleagues begin to break down; when Sigrid, her new girlfriend, grows increasingly distant and fragile; when her friends start espousing the very conspiracy theories they're meant to be evaluating; Kayleigh begins to wonder if the job may be too much for them. She's still totally fine, though--or is she?