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The Cleaners

.
Moritz Riesewieck Hans Block 2018

Enter a hidden third world shadow industry of digital cleaning, where the Internet rids itself of what it doesn’t like: violence, pornography and political content. Here we meet five “digital scavengers” among thousands of people outsourced from Silicon Valley whose job is to delete “inappropriate” content off of the net. In a parallel struggle, we meet people around the globe whose lives are dramatically affected by online censorship. A typical “cleaner” must observe and rate thousands of often deeply disturbing images and videos every day, leading to lasting psychological impacts.
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Running Time:
95 min.
Spoken Languages:
English
Directors:
Moritz Riesewieck Hans Block
Producers:
Christian Beetz & Georg Tschurtschenthaler
Editors:
Philipp Gromov, Hansjörg Weißbrich, Markus CM Schmidt
Current Affairs
Human Rights
Internet
Law and Justice
Media
Society
Technology

Press

  • VIDEO LIBRARIAN
    The Cleaners
    (2018) 95 min.
    With the rising proliferation of false, inflammatory, and pornographic material in social media postings, this disturbing documentary by filmmakers Moritz Riesewieck and Hans Block raises the pressing question of whether the poisonous effect can be removed or at least mitigated, and if so who should lead that effort. The film takes us to Manila, where Filipino workers are engaged (through intermediary firms) by such Internet giants as Facebook and Google to scan submissions to their sites and “ignore” or “delete” them according to self-imposed rules regarding content. These workers, most from poor backgrounds, endure a daily diet of questionable postings and must make split-second decisions about whether or not to allow them, often prompted not just by company policy but also by personal beliefs, such as their Catholic faith. The pernicious effect on these “cleaners” is one of the film’s major concerns—one worker committed suicide after constantly watching grisly videos—but larger geopolitical issues are also addressed, often through interviews with former tech executives. The questions are whether powerful companies should be permitted to outsource their responsibility to police material that can incite ethnic violence against minorities or pervert democratic processes, and if broader governmental intervention is called for. The Cleaners offers no easy answers—indeed, the film suggests there might be none—but it does a useful service in addressing the extent of the problem. Recommended. Aud: C, P.
    F. Swietek
  • The Verge
    "The Cleaners is a riveting documentary about how social media might be ruining the world"
    Brian Bishop
  • The Hollywood Reporter
    "Stylish doc exposes must-discuss issues regarding the companies who dominate the internet"
    John DeFore
  • Variety
    "This thorough, yet conflicted globe-trotting documentary thriller meets the social media censors struggling to save the web"
    Amy Nicholson
  • The Cleaners - IMDB page
    "When you post something on the web, can you be sure it stays there? Enter a hidden shadow industry of digital cleaning where the Internet rids itself of what it doesn't like - violence, pornography and - political content. Who is controlling what we see and what we think?
    Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion

Festival Participation

  • Sundance - 2018
    World Premiere
  • IFFR - 2018
    European Premiere
  • FIFDH - 2018
    Winner- Gilda Vieira De Mello Award

Toolkit Guide

Additional Materials

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