Substack’s Reply Rules give creators more control over comments
▼ Summary
– Substack launched “Reply Rules,” a feature allowing creators to set comment guidelines, such as banning AI slop or requiring haiku replies.
– The system learns from creators’ actions, like hiding replies, and automatically filters out non-compliant comments while letting creators review and unhide them.
– Reply Rules are currently available only for English-language publications.
– The feature builds on Substack’s existing decentralized moderation tools, including comment deletion, locking posts, and banning users.
– Substack has faced criticism for its lenient moderation of harmful content, but it reaffirmed its commitment to fostering diverse online communities despite trade-offs.
Substack has introduced a new moderation tool called Reply Rules, giving creators more authority over how their audience engages in discussions. Announced Wednesday, the feature allows writers to set custom guidelines for comments on their posts, Notes, and Chat threads. These rules can range from banning AI-generated spam and profanity to more playful requests, such as requiring all replies to be written as haikus.
The system works by learning from a creator’s behavior. When a user hides a reply that violates their preferences, the tool automatically filters out similar comments in the future. Creators can still view these hidden replies and choose to unhide them if they reconsider.
For now, Reply Rules are available exclusively for English-language publications. This update aligns with Substack’s longstanding approach to decentralized moderation, where individual writers police their own communities. Creators already had access to features like locking threads, deleting comments, and banning or suspending users. The new tool aims to reduce the manual effort of sifting through every response.
Substack has faced ongoing criticism over its content moderation policies, particularly regarding far-right newsletters. Detractors argue that the platform’s lenient stance allows harmful rhetoric to flourish. In its announcement, Substack acknowledged these challenges and reaffirmed its commitment to fostering diverse online communities. The company stated, “Since its founding, Substack has sought to create the best possible conditions for cultures of many varieties to flourish online. Achieving this often involves difficult trade-offs, but alongside our core model,where we only earn when writers, artists, journalists, musicians, and others earn,we’ve managed to carve out a unique path relative to other platforms.”
This year, Substack has rolled out several other updates, including a built-in recording studio for pre-recorded video and a TV app that lets subscribers watch video posts and livestreams on their living room screens.
(Source: TechCrunch)
