Glossary
Content Moderation
Content moderation evaluates whether something already posted or submitted is appropriate to keep visible, according to a set of standards about acceptable content — a judgment made after the fact, about the content itself. Authorization answers a different, earlier question: whether the actor was permitted to take the action in the first place, independent of whether what resulted from it later turns out to be appropriate.
The two get conflated because both sometimes result in the same visible outcome — something being removed or blocked — but they fail differently and need different remedies. A permitted actor can post content moderation later flags as inappropriate; correct authorization and correct moderation are both necessary, and neither is a substitute for the other.