Safety is [REDACTED]

This week, I sit down with Christine Weber, CTO of Twitch, to talk about what it takes to build safety at scale for live streaming. Christine walks through how Twitch approaches moderation across millions of live streams every month, the creator-first tools like Shield Mode and AutoMod that put real control in streamers' hands, and why Twitch has deliberately kept humans in the loop with AI. She a...

This week I am joined by Rob Lewington, SVP of Trust and Safety at TP. We dig into what it actually means for players to thrive in games, why safety is a prerequisite and not a tradeoff, and how the structural design advantages of games give builders more room to shape healthy communities than purely social platforms ever could. They also dig into how to measure community health beyond operational...

Should you build your trust & safety stack in-house or partner with a provider? Matt and Hill Stark break down how to make the call—covering partner fit, testing with your own data, policy-specific moderation, and the real cost of building and maintaining a safety program internally. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our next episode features Savannah Badalich of Discord, who dives into the power of gaming, her history with games, and how to build safety through thriving. In time for Safer Internet Day, this week Discord has announced that teen-by-default and age assurance is rolling out globally on the platform as another way to help make Discord a safe place for users. Read More about Discord’s Global Teen-B...

Dr. Elizabeth Milovidov, Global Head of Parent Advocacy at Roblox and longtime digital parenting expert, unpacks what it means to raise kids in a gaming-first and online world. Dr. Milovidov dives into why conversations matter more than controls and how to use behavior (not just minutes) to gauge whether screen time is healthy. Further, she  shares practical ways to co-play games like Roblox...

Welcome to our first live recording of the 'Safety is Sexy' podcast. This week I am joined by Weszt Hart, Head of Player Dynamics at Riot Games, to discuss prosocial behavior in online gaming. Weszt shares insights from his extensive experience emphasizing the importance of creating game environments that encourage building trust and fostering positive player interactions. We delve into the defini...

Safety is Sexy is back with a special TrustCon 2025 episode! This week Matt sits down with the insightful Alice Hunsberger to dive into what makes TrustCon such a meaningful gathering for the trust and safety community. From practical conference tips and awkward networking moments to fashion debates and session previews, Matt and Alice bring warmth, humor, and wisdom as they gear up for another in...

In this episode of Safety is Sexy I speak with Joel Silk, a former Air Force intelligence officer with extensive experience in cybersecurity and trust and safety. Joel discusses his transition from military intelligence to cybersecurity and then to trust and safety. We discuss: The importance of protecting users and systems, how collaboration between cybersecurity and trust and safety teams can si...

Fact checking, community notes, and regulation, oh my! In this episode of 'Safety is Sexy,' featuring Yee Carter, the focus is on misinformation and disinformation in the digital landscape and the role of regulations and community efforts. Yee Carter, a multilingual risk and compliance professional who discusses her experience at Google and working on regulatory compliance and risk mitigation. We...

In this episode of Safety is Sexy , I dive into Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's 2025 policy shifts for Facebook and Instagram, shaped by political climates and regulatory pressures. I explore Meta's decisions influenced by U.S. political leadership and the addition of Dana White to its board. I discuss Meta's focus on freedom of expression under the UN Human Rights Framework, declining social media use...

In this episode of 'Safety is Sexy', I discusses my favorite tech and safety podcasts. My goal is to provide you with valuable resources to stay informed on trends in tech, policy, and online safety. Highlighted podcasts include 'Artificial Intelligence and Equality', 'Data and Society', 'Pivot', 'The Sunday Show', 'Technically Human', 'Trust in Tech', and more. It’s important to take in a range o...

This episode of Safety is Sexy features Bethany Smith. From her beginnings at Twitter as a tech policy fellow to managing trust and safety issues at various platforms, Bethany discusses the challenges and nuances of the field, including content moderation, community management, and policy enforcement. She recounts navigating high-pressure situations, such as the Christchurch incident, which unders...

In this episode of Safety is Sexy, I'm joined by Agnes Everard to discuss how she transitioned from teaching to a career in Trust and Safety, We explore the intersection of tech, education, and policy development. Her career includes pivotal roles in crisis management at Airbnb, and shaping policies at Patreon. She delves into the complexities of policy development related to hate speech, misinfor...

In this episode of Safety is Sexy, I speak with youth safety expert Vaishnavi J to discuss the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act (KOSPA) and its implications. We discuss the duty of care, default privacy settings, and regulations on data collection, as well as the challenges companies face in implementing these regulations, the broader implications of youth online safety across various online pla...

In this episode of Safety is Sexy I speak with Louis Victor, CEO and Co-Founder of Tremau, about the role of trusted flaggers as outlined by the Digital Services Act (DSA). We discuss the significance of transparency, regulatory implications on trust flaggers, and the balance between user safety and freedom of expression. We also cover the responsibilities of Digital Service Coordinators, the oper...

If you work in trust and safety, you have heard phrases like "it's just a joke" or "I was trying to be funny" A LOT! However, as we look at the data, we can see that microaggressions, a statement, action, or incident regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group such as a racial or ethnic minority, happen A LOT! In this episode...

This week we delve into the critical topic of risk assessments within the evolving landscape of online safety regulations. I’m joined by Agne Kaarlep from Tremau, exploring how various regulatory frameworks like the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the UK Online Safety Act (OSA) are implementing risk assessments to improve platform safety and governance. We discuss the necessity of continuous and cy...

In this episode, I dive into my work with Anne Collier whom I worked with on the Social Media Helpline for schools. We go into the history of trusted flaggers and their relationship to industry. We also break down some of the helplines models we followed for starting our helpline in the US. We also dive into the challenges of identifying and reporting content that violates a platform’s community g...

This week I am joined by Eric Han as we discuss incident management and emergency response in online platforms. Eric is a Trust & Safety Veteran with 16 years of experience across giants like Google, Yahoo, Twitter, Uber, and TikTok. Everything that can happen will happen on a platform at an exponential rate, and now, it can happen text, photo, image, DM, livestream, or ecommerce. All of it is...

This week, I’m speaking with Pearlé Nwaezeigwe, the Yoncé of Tech Policy. We discuss all things tech policy from platform policy, implementing policy, and how regulation is impacting policy development and decisions. We also discuss career advice, how to make yourself stand out and build up your network, and how to make plans and strategize your career growth.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/...

In the digital age, the importance of content moderation in fostering safe, healthy, and thriving online communities cannot be understated. But despite the consensus among both players and industry professionals that moderation is essential, the current but outdated model of content moderation on games platforms has proven insufficient. In order to do this, we need systems and procedures that scal...

The easiest way to make decisions is to automate the process. I first learned this as a teach building classroom policies. On average, a teacher makes about 1500 decisions a day. In order to streamline that process and make my life easier, I developed a system of procedures to make those decisions fluid and automatic so I didn’t wear myself out having to think about every thing that happened on a...

Trustcon 2024 has come and gone, and the mission of trust and safety goes forward. In this episode I reflect on my time and experience at Trustcon, the professionals who make online safety possible, and the topics that are driving industry forward. As the industry matures, this is the time to look at our professional practices and standards when it comes to keeping users safe online. Hosted on Aca...

Special Bonus Episode this week! Trustcon is coming! This is most likely one of the largest gatherings of trust and safety professionals in US. I’ve heard a few descriptions, I refer to this conference as my Disneyland as some of the coolest people, experiences, and conversations are happening there. I’ve also heard analogies to Trustcon being the Trust and Safety Summer camp for professionals. Wh...

I LOVE to read! On any given day I’m scanning through multiple articles, a book, and some research. The biggest question, how do I know what is relevant and up to date? Newsletters are a great way to stay on top of that. In this episode I list some of the professionals I’ve come across that consistently share informative and consistent content. This saves me some work when it comes to setting Goog...