We Had To Remove This Post

Description

'A superbly poised, psychologically astute and subtle novel of mental unravelling.' Ian McEwan, author of Atonement 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. It's gruelling work. Kayleigh and her colleagues spend all day watching horrors and hate on their screens, evaluating them with the platform's ever-changing moderating guidelines. 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? We Had To Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets is a chilling, powerful and gripping story about who or what determines our world view. Examining the toxic world of content moderation, the novel forces us to ask: what is right? What is real? What is normal? And who gets to decide? Translated from the original Dutch by Emma Rault. 'Fast paced and thrilling, violent and nightmarish and grief-stricken, but also tender and wildly moving.' Kristen Arnett, author of Mostly Dead Things 'This novel gives us an acid glimpse into a new form of labor existing today . . . Fascinating and disturbing.' Ling Ma, author of Severance

Hanna Bervoets is one of the most acclaimed Dutch writers of her generation. She is the author of several novels in her home country of the Netherlands, and she has also written screenplays, plays, short stories, and essays. She is the recipient of many literary awards, including the prestigious Frans Kellendonk Prize for her entire body of work. She was a resident at Art Omi: Writers at Ledig House, New York, and currently works and lives in Amsterdam with her girlfriend and two guinea pigs. We Had to Remove This Post has been translated into thirteen languages and is her first book to be translated into English.