Livestreaming app Periscope has debuted a new way for users to report abuse and spam during a broadcast. The Twitter-owned app now allows audience members of a real-time broadcast to determine whether a comment should be blocked.
“Comments are a vital part of the experience and we’ve been working hard on a system that still feels true to the live and unfiltered nature of our platform,” said Periscope in a blog post. “We’re rolling out a comment moderation system that empowers our community to report and vote on comments that they consider to be spam or abuse.”
The new feature lets users flag comments they find to be abusive or spam. Additionally, the app will also red flag messages that contain words or phrases that may be abusive. Once flagged, randomly selected viewers will receive the opportunity to vote and if the majority of voters are in consensus that the content is spam, the individual who posted the message will have chat privileges temporarily disabled.
“We’ve designed this system to be very lightweight – the entire process above should last just a matter of seconds,” said Periscope. “We’re committed to developing tools to keep Periscope a safe and open place for people to connect in real time.”
This moderation tool does have some loopholes. For example, the livestream host could opt to not have their broadcast moderated. And viewers can opt not to take part in the moderation. There is also no accountability for the fact that someone could report a harmless comment or voters choosing not to ban an abusive message.
The new moderation tool is yet another step taken by Periscope to keep the space safe for its users. “This system works in tandem with other tools that we have in place for our community,” said Periscope. “You can still report ongoing harassment or abuse, block and remove people from your broadcasts, and restrict comments to people you know.”
