Trailer for The Cleaners.
The images and content on social media are censored based on more relative decisions than one may think. Who is behind what is considered “inappropriate”? Silicon Valley outsources hundreds of anonymous “digital janitors” in Manila who screen tens of thousands of posts while using their often personal filters to determine what we can and cannot see. In dark rooms and behind computer monitors, their fingers hover over the delete button as they ponder what is more offensive—a naked painting of President Trump, or a photo of a Libyan refugee child who drowned crossing the Mediterranean? From war zone photography to pornography, these ghostly content controllers make decisions about what could have societal psychological impacts, what could cause political destabilization and what could incite terrorism. An eerie story of control and censorship, this powerful film explores the lives of the cleaners and the individuals and organizations who have been negatively impacted by their questionable decisions to delete.