At Xbox, we put the player at the center of everything we do – and this includes our practices around trust and safety. With more than 3 billion players around the world, vibrant online communities are growing and evolving every day, and it is our role to foster spaces that are safe, positive, inclusive, and inviting for all players, from the first-time gamer to the seasoned competitor.
Today, we are releasing our first-ever Xbox Transparency Report, which puts clear numbers and explanations behind the work we do to protect our players and moderate content on the platform. We commit to releasing a report every six months, where we will share updates on progress we’ve made. In Microsoft’s last Digital Civility Index, it was noted that 9 out of 10 respondents identified a need for increased education on how to make the digital world safer – and as we all know, gaming is one of the largest digital environments. Publishing this report is part of our long-standing commitment to online safety, addressing the learnings and doing more to help people understand how to play a positive role in the Xbox community. This report compliments the continued review of our Community Standards, making it easier for all players to understand what is and isn’t acceptable conduct; continued investment in moderation tools; and ongoing partnership with industry associations, regulators, and the community.
We know that Xbox is a special place for all of you. We believe everyone should have the opportunity to experience the joy of gaming, free from fear and intimidation, and within the boundaries you set. Over the past several years, we have invested in features and capabilities that help to make the player experience safer, such as the Xbox Family Settings App that gives parents and caregivers a convenient way to manage their children’s experience on Xbox, and acquiring community management leader, Two Hat, bringing its Community Sift technology and dedicated language and culture specialists into our safety portfolio. But we also acknowledge that negative activity can and has taken place. We do not condone any conduct or content that goes against our Community Standards. What’s important to us is taking a moment to pause and reflect on where we are in this journey and sharing that with you. We’ll continue to learn, improve and invest so you can have the best experience when you play.
Among the key takeaways in the report:
- We are taking action to offer better experiences. The Xbox team issued more than 4.33M proactive enforcements against inauthentic accounts, representing 57% of the total enforcements in the reporting period. Inauthentic accounts are typically automated or bot-created accounts that create an unlevel playing field and can detract from positive player experiences. Our proactive moderation, up 9x from the same period last year, allows us to catch negative content and conduct before it reaches players. We continue to invest and improve our tech so players can have safe, positive, and inviting experiences.
- Players are stewards of the community. Player reporting is a critical component in our safety approach. Alongside our increased proactive safety measures, investments in scanning and filtering technologies, and education from the Xbox Ambassador community, reporting helps us improve the work that we do to better protect our players. Our players provided over 33M reports this period, with communications (46%) and conduct (43%) accounting for the majority of player concerns. Content moderation agents are on-staff 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to make sure the content and conduct found on our platform adheres to our Community Standards.
- Players are in control. Every player is different and preferences on content and experiences are not one-size-fits-all. We offer many ways for players to customize settings, from message filters to parental controls, at any point in your Xbox experience. These settings allow players to manage the type of content they see and experience across all the ways they play, whether on PC, console, or anywhere with Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta). It’s up to you, the players, friends, and family members to take control and implement the settings that are right for you.
How can you help? The Xbox community is only as strong as its community members, and the feedback and reporting that you provide helps us continue improving by bringing new features, settings, and opportunities that help us shape the platform. We want you to feel confident that we are listening and acting upon your comments, so please share feedback with us via the Xbox Insiders program or on the Xbox Support website. Together, we are able to help shape a space where we can uphold our Community Standards and create spaces where everyone can have fun.
In addition to our safety team, I want to thank the incredible community of more than 150,000 Xbox Ambassadors, some of whom previewed and helped shape the Xbox Transparency Report. Xbox Ambassadors represent a worldwide network of gamers who celebrate the uniqueness of everyone and are on a mission to make gaming an enjoyable experience for every player.
And lastly, sharing some additional resources:
