Moderating chat

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A chat full of young players

Shard Garden has chat in co-op gardens, and many players are 10 to 12. Moderation keeps that chat safe: clear rules, automatic filters, and people who review what the filters miss.

How Roblox filters chat

On Roblox, "Filtered chat is the default standard". The filter "Blocks personal information and instructions on how to move off the platform."

"Players aged 12 and younger have their posts and chats filtered both for inappropriate content and to prevent personal information from being posted."

Quick check

Why does a filter for young players block "add me on another app"?

  1. Moving to another app takes a child away from the game's protections
  2. Every other app is dangerous
  3. It wastes space in the chat
Show the answer

Moving to another app takes a child away from the game's protections

Off the platform, there is no filter, no report button and no moderator. That is where grooming often moves.

Filters, then people

Filters catch most problems in milliseconds. Reports go to trained human moderators, who see context a filter can't.

Google Play requires apps with user content to "implement robust, effective, and ongoing UGC moderation".

Safer by design

The youngest players in public gardens pick from preset phrases. Free text is for friends a parent has approved. Filters are on by default.

Roblox also lets account owners "limit or disable who can chat with them".

Design the chat

Kai designs chat for players under 13 in public gardens. Which design is safest?

  1. Preset phrases, with free chat only between approved friends
  2. Free chat with everyone, filtered
  3. Free chat with everyone, unfiltered, so it is fast
Show the answer

Preset phrases, with free chat only between approved friends

Preset phrases can't carry an address or a link. Free text goes only to people a parent has approved.

What moderators need

A moderator needs the reported message with the messages around it, the player's history, and clear written rules to apply. Reading harmful messages all day is hard, so Priya limits shifts and gives moderators support.

Quick check

With a good enough filter, Shard Garden doesn't need human moderators.

Show the answer

False

People invent new spellings and tricks faster than filters learn them. Reports and moderators catch what filters miss.

Try a filter

Knowing what to block is a skill.

Bolt says: Next: filter a chat yourself.

Fact-checked 12 October 2026