directed by: Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck, year: 2018
actors: Anonymous content moderator (Manila), Anonymous content moderator (Manila), Hans Block, Moritz Riesewieck

The Cleaners is a 2018 documentary that follows several real-life content moderators in Manila as they review vast streams of online material. Through intimate conversations and unseen labor, the film exposes the human toll, psychological strain, and ethical ambiguities of moderating content for global platforms. It probes how automated tools clash with human judgment, explores censorship versus expression, and asks who is responsible when online life bleeds into real-world harm.

Media Spectacle, Documentary, Nonfiction, Social Issues, Digital Ethics, Content Moderation, Internet Governance