Challenge
When a beloved global toy brand created an online app just for kids, its moderation and engagement team knew it needed to take special care. The company knew that in a safe social space, children learn important communication and relationship tools at a pivotal stage in development. Alternatively, in an unsafe online community, they are exposed to online harms, which puts their wellbeing at risk.
So when setting out to build an app aimed at young children, the company knew it had to guarantee the safety and wellbeing of its young users. Its app was designed to be a child’s first digital experience, and a supremely positive one at that.
From day one, the brand put in place rigorous controls to ensure a continuously monitored, safe space for children. However, as the app exploded in popularity, the company had to find new ways to scale its child protection measures, especially during pandemic lockdowns as app use surged.
Solution
The global brand partnered with Resolver to protect its community’s safety from online harms with fast, actionable risk intelligence. Working with team members from the brand, Resolver monitored, reviewed and accepted/rejected all community-created content. Using its industry-leading Platform Risk Intelligence solution, Resolver delivered the nuance and accuracy necessary to keep the app community free of any bad behavior, such as bullying or grooming.
Resolver also processed risk signals on each individual item, like photos and comments, and rated them on a scale to determine behavior, from acceptable to inappropriate. For example, a user’s behavior may have required a warning, but not an immediate action. In other cases, a user was timed out of the app for an inappropriate post or banned immediately, all depending on the severity of the risk.
Last year, Resolver reviewed more than four million items and rejected over 500 thousand harmful comments and images within 15 minutes of them being posted. Resolver also sent over 5,000 high-priority alerts in real time. This fast, actionable risk intelligence stopped harmful content from infiltrating the app 24/7/365. The result is a safe and compliant digital world to inspire and release children’s creative potential without risk of online harms.
Outcome
The app has expanded to dozens of countries and many languages since launch. Resolver has become an integral part of the toy company’s privacy-first practice. As the app grew in popularity, the volume of items submitted for posting steadily rose YOY. In fact, as pandemic lockdowns were introduced in 2020, items reviewed per month spiked significantly. And yet, feedback from app store users remained overwhelmingly positive with many commenting positively on the safety of their children.
Resolver also enables the brand’s team to proactively update its rules to include new types of online behavior to watch out for. For example, Resolver identified a phenomenon called “chat claiming.” This occurred when users were trying to claim official brand posts as their own in order to promote their own personality. Resolver alerted the brand’s team of the use case and recommended new policies to manage its young user base.
Today, the partnership between Resolver and the toy company goes beyond the brand’s app. Platform Risk Intelligence provided by Resolver enables the company to quickly and safely launch new online communities. Together, Resolver and the company are creating safe, child-friendly digital environments where everyone can play well.
