Helping you stay safe on PlayStation Network: 3 things you need to know about safety and moderation

Continuing our series on helping you stay safe on the PlayStation Network, this week I want to provide a bit more clarity on how everything works with regard to reporting and moderation.

We strive to ensure that all players enjoy their time on PlayStation Network. To ensure that PSN remains a welcoming place for all we have a range of systems set up to protect you and your fellow gamers online.

We’ve noticed a few common misconceptions about how Safety & Moderation operates, so to debunk those – and to help you understand how our processes work -read on!

1. Reporting someone multiple times doesn’t mean they’re automatically banned

In fact, reporting someone many times without cause can actually result in the reporter being punished, so it’s important to bust this one right off the bat.

Every single report that PlayStation receives is looked at by a human moderator who’s an expert in the language and culture of the player whose content is reported, and we have moderators looking at reports 24/7, 365 days a year.
We try to make sure our players understand the result of the report they submitted, so we’ll let you know via system messaging once we’ve made a decision.

Don’t get discouraged if we don’t take action on your report though – it may just be that we couldn’t find or don’t have evidence of what you’re trying to tell us about (and to help us with that, please make use of the free-text explanation box available during the report process) or that we understand your issue but it just doesn’t violate our Code of Conduct in this case.

But we do also look into users who continually abuse the report function. This makes it harder for our moderators to get to the genuine reports quickly, so you may find yourself on the receiving end of a warning, suspension or possibly even permanent account ban if you persist in doing this.

2. If we have to take action, we’ll message you and explain why

If ever we have to take action against your account for a Code of Conduct violation, we’ll let you know via email and/or system messaging.

Sometimes we’ll just send a warning if the offence is minor, but be aware that persistent offences of this kind can lead to temporary or even permanent suspension of your account.

PSA: Safety Mythbusters

The messages we send you will always include an explanation of the Code of Conduct violation in question, so please pay attention to these warnings and try to stick to the Code of Conduct in the future.

If for some reason you don’t think you’ve received an email about this, check your junk or spam filters and ensure emails from PlayStation are added to safe senders going forward.

3. Help us by reporting the specific problem, rather than the player’s ID

You can report a player’s Online ID from their profile if the name they’ve chosen is offensive, abusive or otherwise violates the Community Code of Conduct.

But be aware that this is only intended to be used for the actual ID itself – that is, the text of the name they’ve chosen to be known by on PlayStation Network. It is not intended as a way to tell us about everything that person has ever done on PlayStation Network.

PSA: Safety Mythbusters

If it’s not the Online ID you wish to report, remember to always report the specific Code of Conduct violation in question – so, for example, report the message the player’s sent, the image they’ve posted to Communities, or use the report option in the game where you think they’re being abusive.

Read more in our “Helping you stay safe on PlayStation Network” series:

 

The post Helping you stay safe on PlayStation Network: 3 things you need to know about safety and moderation appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.

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