The Ultimate Guide to Trust and Safety

Representing a significant departure from traditional security procedures, Trust and Safety offers innovative protective approaches to ensure a welcoming cyber environment where everyone can confidently join, engage, and interact with others without fear of harm or exploitation while also respecting the rules and rights of others. Such activity is especially critical as the dynamic online landscape attracts a rapidly expanding audience, transcending borders and boundaries. It gains prominence globally, presenting a burgeoning opportunity for seamless communication, collaboration, entertainment, education, business, and cross-cultural interaction.

The internet is a fundamental component of today’s information society. As of January 2024, there were 5.35 billion online users worldwide, constituting 66.2 per cent of the global population. Among them, 5.04 billion individuals were active on social media platforms, accounting for 62.3 per cent of the world’s population. Notably, in countries like Norway, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, internet usage reached 99 per cent of the population by April 2023. (Source: Statista)

Although it all represents a monumental step forward for humanity, facilitating unprecedented connectivity and globalisation, the digital presence also brings forth significant threats. Much like unethical practices, aggression, fraud, or more severe crimes in the physical universe, cybercrimes and violations can manifest in the virtual realm, impacting user well-being, compromising their safety, and damaging the reputation of online services. The scale and prevalence of the risks are reflected in various statistics, for instance:

from the year before.

In 2022, Microsoft saw 1,287 password attacks per second, totalling over 111 million daily and 3.4 billion annually, a 26% increase from 2018.

According to Statista, in early 2022, Facebook removed over 16 million pieces of terrorist propaganda, a record high for one-quarter.

At this moment, Trust and Safety emerges as indispensable in addressing vulnerabilities, extending its role to protecting individuals and communities from hate speech, harassment, cheating, and other forms of misconduct. Moreover, it addresses unfair practices, acts of terrorism, and organised illicit schemes. T&S also safeguards against potential privacy breaches and attacks on software or infrastructure. Nevertheless, this involves allocating appropriate talents, skills, and technology to confront key areas such as cybersecurity, data protection, content moderation, and regulatory compliance while strengthening collaboration among various stakeholders and constantly educating users to enhance virtual assurance and trust. Although these expenditures are necessary, the results can be impressive. With successful T&S strategies, organisations can effectively reduce dangers, minimise costs of harm, grow user databases and boost engagement, ensuring their digital ventures’ long-term sustainability and success.

Conversely, the absence or inadequate implementation of Trust and Safety can lead to severe consequences, including reduced user retention, legal or financial repercussions, brand damage, and business failure. For instance:

Before 2021, the largest fine for a data breach was imposed on Equifax, a multinational consumer credit reporting agency headquartered in Atlanta, United States. In 2019, they were fined due to hackers exploiting security vulnerabilities, affecting approximately 150 million people. Equifax had to pay at least 575 million U.S. dollars for the damage caused. (Source: Statista)

Protecting Your Brand: Trust and Safety Practices & Services Review

Trust and Safety typically encompasses a range of strategies and measures that craft a protective shield over the online environment while meeting its internal regulations, legal requirements, industry standards, and user expectations. This mainly includes practices or services, like:

1. Content Moderation

Content moderation is a cornerstone of Trust and Safety, crucial for monitoring and regulating user-generated materials to eliminate harmful, inappropriate, or illegal content. It is typically conducted through diverse methods and solutions. A fundamental option is manual reviewing when human moderators scan content – before it becomes public (proactive moderation) and after publication (reactive oversight) to identify and address potential violations or harmful materials. The process can also be supported with advanced filtering that automatically detects and removes potentially unacceptable information based on predefined criteria, as well as real-time automated screening and user- or community-driven moderation when individuals are encouraged to participate in the safety journey actively.

Here, it is essential to note that more than one type of moderation is often needed to address online threats effectively. Sometimes, it is necessary to use a combination of different methods, especially when dealing with a large amount of content in a fast-paced online environment. This can include balancing automated tools to identify issues faster, human agent contextual review of the flagged materials, and community-driven reporting mechanisms to ensure comprehensive coverage and timely response to emerging problems. In addition, ensuring a tailored content moderation strategy is also essential. This involves clearly outlining what aligns with the brand’s values and is deemed acceptable and what may be unacceptable, even if it is not immediately apparent. For instance, a platform dedicated to mental health support may need to monitor discussions about self-harm carrying for fragile user security closely. At the same time, a cooking forum might prioritise removing even the slightest hint of offensive language to maintain a friendly atmosphere that leaves a positive impression.

Another type of content oversight can be industry-focused moderation, tailored to sectors like social media or gaming. This requires a deep understanding of given communities and adapting to their specificities, such as real-time interactions, to ensure a positive gaming experience. However, the expected results are often highly effective when catering directly to sectors’ unique needs and dynamics.

A prominent video game company, UBISOFT, improved its Trust and Safety plan by making a worldwide Code of Conduct. It tackles toxic behaviour, deters cheating, and ensures accountability through investigations. Emphasising security, UBISOFT advises against sharing personal information to foster a safe and inclusive gaming environment, promoting fair play and player well-being. (Source: Ubisoft.com)

2. Establishing Community Standards

This involves defining acceptable behaviour and integrating it into safety policies and guidelines for both moderators and users. Making these rules easily accessible additionally helps promote transparency and security.

3. Moderation Complementary Services

Besides the fundamental content moderation functionality, Trust and Safety offers diverse complementary services to enhance user wellness and platform integrity. Quality assurance is among the most common and critical, entailing continuous moderation process surveillance, leading to ongoing improvement. Additionally, overseeing how developers and advertisers adhere to regulations and policies, analysing user-generated content trends, and implementing special efforts on issues like detecting fraudulent activities, fake information, or misleading materials are also essential components of the T&S initiative.

4. Data Protection

This involves utilising safety measures to prevent unauthorised access, misuse, or theft of personal information collected, processed, and stored by online businesses. Caution should also be exercised against manipulative or invasive data-driven profiling, sharing data with third parties, and excessive data collection. Maintaining privacy and freedom of speech and expression is another crucial factor when safeguarding personal information.

5. Data Labelling and Annotation

Data annotation boosts the Trust and Safety initiative, enhancing the effectiveness of machine learning models by providing them with accurately labelled data. This process significantly improves T&S precision, empowers accuracy, and fortifies online safety measures. More than that, by better classifying and identifying content, data annotation minimises the risk of inappropriate material exposure, thereby fostering a safer online environment.

Facebook utilises data annotation to enhance user safety and trust. This global social media leader efficiently categorises content and improves speech recognition. Facebook’s dedicated solution streamlines the creation of high-quality training data, supporting various media types like images, audio, video, and 3D, thereby contributing to a more secure and reliable user experience. (Source: Meta.com)

6. Trust and Safety Compliance

T&S compliance involves monitoring user-generated content (UGC) to ensure adherence to platform terms and conditions. This includes enforcing policies, removing inappropriate materials, and updating guidelines to address emerging challenges. Additionally, it entails advising on and developing policies, managing risks, and providing strategic solutions. Furthermore, analytics and benchmarking are used to assess enforcement effectiveness, compare against industry standards, and enhance policies based on data-driven insights.

7. Cybersecurity Measures

Cybersecurity measures encompass solutions, tools, and technologies to create a secure digital environment by protecting users’ sensitive information and preventing cyber-attacks. Among numerous examples are encryption protocols to secure the transmission of sensitive information and multi-factor authentication tools, adding an extra layer of security. It is also necessary to conduct regular security audits of the platform infrastructure and keep all systems, software, and applications current.

8. Protection of Virtual Assets

Protection of virtual assets helps detect and prevent unauthorised transactions, regularly reviews user activity for suspicious behaviour, and secures the storage and transfer of virtual assets. These include digital wallets, blockchain technology, two-factor authentication, encryptions, and monitoring.

9. Moderator Well-being & Resilience

Ensuring the well-being of moderators is essential for maintaining a positive work environment and managing the difficulties of dealing with sensitive content. This involves establishing comprehensive support systems with resources, initiatives, and mechanisms for assistance, such as clear guidelines, counselling services, training, peer support networks, wellness workshops, anonymous reporting channels, health benefits, and feedback mechanisms.

The Impact of Trust and Safety Measures on User Experience

Trust and Safety play a crucial role in shaping the user experience on any platform, impacting it positively or negatively. Implementing security and privacy measures fosters loyalty and activity, leading to higher user retention rates, increased engagement metrics, and greater overall satisfaction. Conversely, inadequate digital protection can drive users away, resulting in a decline in the key performance indicators. Additionally, CX metrics can guide organisations in understanding how T&S measures influence visitor behaviour and identify areas for improvement. For instance, analysing customer lifetime value, net promoter score, or churn rate can help online services assess the effectiveness of their Trust and Safety efforts.

Building an Effective Team: Key Strategies

Building an outstanding Trust and Safety team requires careful planning, strategic hiring, and ongoing development. The first crucial step before starting the undertaking is to understand what needs improvement and why, determining the goals that a digital entity aims to achieve. This involves thoroughly assessing the platform’s current state, including its user base, content types, potential risks, and regulatory requirements. Additionally, it may require evaluating all the processes and technologies necessary to support the T&S initiative efficiently. Based on this, specific Trust and Safety team positions can be identified. Here are some key next steps to consider:

• Recruiting Top Talent: This involves hiring individuals with diverse skill sets and relevant experience who demonstrate strong analytical skills, problem-solving abilities, and a commitment to upholding ethical standards.
• Defining Clear Roles and Responsibilities: It specifies tasks, objectives, and performance metrics and continuously educates employees to ensure each team member understands their roles and responsibilities.
• Promote Collaboration and Communication: The action helps foster a collaborative work environment where team members can openly share ideas, cooperate on projects, and communicate effectively.
• Invest in Training and Development: It provides ongoing training and development opportunities to keep employees abreast of emerging trends, technologies, and best practices in trust and safety.
• Empower Decision-Making: The initiative empowers team members to make informed decisions and take ownership of their work. It encourages autonomy, creativity, and innovation while providing guidance and support when needed.
• Foster a Positive Culture: By doing so, it is possible to cultivate a positive, inclusive work culture that values diversity, integrity, and respect. Recognising and rewarding team members for their contributions further supports professional growth and advancement opportunities
• Stay Agile and Adaptable: It entails continuous monitoring and assessment of the effectiveness of T&S to identify areas for improvement while enabling the necessary adjustments to enhance team efficiency and satisfaction.

Challenges in Implementation

Building a modern Trust and Safety framework presents multifaceted challenges, underscoring the complex and dynamic nature of Trust and Safety implementation in the digital age.

1. Higher Vulnerability to Cyber Crimes

The digital world has evolved significantly, attracting diverse users with varying ethical values and intentions. This broader audience brings increased risks of unfair practices, violations, and cyber threats, which are more complex and persistent today, often driven by advanced AI capabilities. Therefore, more sophisticated proactive risk management strategies are essential to maintaining today’s healthy online environment.

2. Keeping Pace with New Technologies

Another critical issue is the need to stay at the forefront of technological development and carefully adapt T&S to ensure robust and secure operations, meet evolving regulations, and deal with the ever-changing nature of virtual threats. Constant trend monitoring and understanding fresh solutions are vital to aligning advancements with strategic objectives. Essential innovations in Trust and Safety include artificial intelligence, cybersecurity tools, privacy measures, automated content moderation, image and video recognition, blockchain, user authentication, online risk monitoring, and regulatory compliance software.

3. Constant Rise of User-generated Content

As more user-generated content is shared online, including text, images, videos, and podcasts, it presents opportunities and difficulties for websites and brands. While it can boost popularity and success, it also increases the chances of harmful content like abuse, harassment, and offensive speech. This calls for advanced moderation techniques that balance technology and human insight, tailored to fitthe digital space’s rules, user preferences, languages, and cultural backgrounds.

4. Talent Shortage

What else becomes the key T&S obstacle is finding skilled professionals with the right expertise. The increasing demand for Trust and Safety services results in a significant shortage of qualified individuals. This ongoing issue limits organisations’ ability to recruit and retain the necessary talent, including specialists in content moderation, legal compliance, T&S infrastructure and solutions, and leadership.

5. Legal Considerations

Navigating legal aspects is another big challenge in Trust and Safety, as numerous new regulations have been introduced across regions, shaping the digital landscape and emphasising the importance of online safety on a larger scale. Evolving law primarily focuses on enhanced digital privacy and protection, fostering transparency and adapting to changing technologies while holding the platforms accountable for ensuring a safe environment free from virtual abuse.

Global Regulations and Their Influence

Recent new Trust and Safety legislative initiatives demonstrate efforts by various countries and regions to address online safety challenges and protect users. This is an ongoing trend, showing that when running a digital business primarily related to social media, news, or e-commerce, it is a necessity to take care of compliance with regulatory requirements, safeguarding users’ rights and well-being, and ensuring a safe and secure digital environment for both present and future generations.

Key legislative initiatives introduced globally in the last years include, for example:

• The UK Online Safety Bill: The document holds social media platforms responsible for the content they host, aiming to promptly address online harms and protect users, especially children, in the UK.
• The Digital Services Act and the Code of Practice on Disinformation: These legislations demonstrate the EU’s commitment to creating a safer and more transparent cyber environment free of misleading content.
• The US Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (CAADCA): These acts focus on improving online safety for children in the US, emphasising age-appropriate content and design standards.
• Singapore’s Online Safety Bill: The document reflects a global trend of countries enacting laws to tackle digital safety challenges and safeguard users.

In addition, considerations for Data Privacy and Protection are vital. Major standards like the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules System (CBPR) must be respected and considered in the Trust and Safety strategies of virtual entities operating worldwide.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Trust and Safety plays a crucial role in making the internet safer for all users, regardless of age, gender, nationality, beliefs, or affiliations. Today, it is not just voluntary action or a responsibility driven by awareness and care. It is also an obligation mandated by governments, and this trend will likely continue. As technology evolves and online threats become more complex, ensuring T&S remains a top priority for businesses and policymakers. Lastly, understanding and being familiar with the services that efficiently support Trust and Safety is critical, as this can be a good start to boost security measures, enhance user protection, and maintain a trustworthy online platform.