Hi everyone!
There have been a few new changes this month for SpeakBits! Most of the changes have been behind the scenes to help with moderation but there are a couple that might be interesting for non-moderator users.
Style changes
Not sure how noticeable these might be to people but the light theme colors have been updated to not be as blindingly white and spacing between posts has been increased to feel a little less packed together. I hope these are welcome changes but I’m not opposed to changing them if there is overwhelming negative feedback to them.
Moderation
CSAM Scanning and Reporting
The automatic CSAM flagging and reporting system has been developed and implemented to scan all images that are uploaded to the site. The automatic portion has two parts to it:
- Scan each image on upload with Microsoft’s PhotoDNA and verify if the image matches any hashes in their databases. The image is silently rejected and the username, IP address, time, and image are immediately reported to the NCMEC.
- Any images that may not have matched on upload run through the Cloudflare CSAM Scanning Tool whenever they are accessed and checked for any matches. If any of these match, the url is blocked and all information about the request is reported to the NCMEC.
If the automated portion of this system still fails to catch an image or video, I hope that the report button under every post and comment will come in handy to prevent the spread of any CSAM on the site.
Removal Reasons
Each group is now able to create a list of removal reasons and explanations that are to be used by moderators when removing a post or comment. Selecting one is required as the removal reason description is used as a comment to the user to explain why their post or comment was removed. I hope this will lead to moderators being transparent about why something was removed from their community.
Moderation Logs
Each group now contains a moderation log that is publicly viewable by default. Groups are able to decide if they want this to be publicly viewable by turning the option on or off when creating the group or changing it in the settings of their group. This is accessible by clicking the list icon next to the group name in the sidebar or by going to “/group/[groupName]/about/log”.
Groups
Banners have been introduced for each group to add, if desired. This is optional and up to each group to decide what they would like to display if they use it. Banners appear at the top of the list of posts in each group and are limited to 120px in height.
Posts
Users are now able to upload images directly into their posts and immediately inline them into the text. There is a limit of 20 pictures per upload, same as for gallery posts. I’m hoping this will be useful for any long form posts that might want to display something next to the text they are writing, as seen in this post, where having the gallery above the text part of their post isn’t the best option. This new upload tool can be found in the toolbar when posting.
I am planning on keeping these update posts to about once a month. The site is being worked on almost daily and features are released as soon as I think they are ready so don't be surprised if you come across something new before I post something about it!
That is all for the updates! As always, I welcome any kind of feedback so we can make this site the best it can be!