The Checkstep blog

In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, user-generated content has become the lifeblood of online platforms, from social media giants to e-commerce websites. With the surge in content creation, content moderation has become a critical aspect of maintaining a safe and reputable online environment. As the volume of user-generated content continues to grow, manual content moderation…

It is not that long since online dating was considered taboo, something that people rarely talked about. But in the last decade it has changed hugely.  Now the global dating scene is clearly flourishing. Over 380 million people worldwide are estimated to use dating platforms, and it is an industry with an annualised revenue in…

Legal Disclaimer This handbook is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. While efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, regulatory requirements may evolve. Readers should consult with qualified legal counsel to assess specific obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Online Safety Act (OSA). 1. The Converging Regulatory…

The pace of change in Trust & Safety isn’t slowing down. In the past six months alone, we’ve seen new compliance obligations land in the EU and UK, AI-generated threats become more complex, and budget pressure mount across moderation teams. That’s why we’ve been heads-down shipping updates to help platforms stay compliant, reduce operational costs,…

Hi, I'm Justin, Sales Director at Checkstep. In September, I had the opportunity to attend the Global Dating Insights Conference 2024, where leaders in the dating industry gathered to discuss emerging trends, challenges, and the evolving landscape of online dating. This year's conference focused on how dating platforms are adapting to new user behaviors, regulatory…

Today, protecting our online privacy has become increasingly important. One of the most concerning threats we face is doxxing. Derived from the phrase "dropping documents," doxxing refers to the act of collecting and exposing an individual's private information, with the intention of shaming, embarrassing, or even endangering them. This malicious practice has gained traction in…

Content moderation is the strategic process of evaluating, filtering, and regulating user-generated content on digital ecosystems. It plays a crucial role in fostering a safe and positive user experience by removing or restricting content that violates community guidelines, is harmful, or could offend users. An effective moderation system is designed to strike a delicate balance…

As digital platforms and online communities continue to grow, content moderation becomes increasingly critical to ensure safe and positive user experiences. Manual content moderation by human moderators is effective but often falls short when dealing with the scale and complexity of user-generated content. Ready or not, AI is coming to content moderation operations, revolutionizing the…

What will EU regulation of AI-based products and services look like? As the hype around artificial intelligence continues to grow, the European Union takes a crucial step towards the world’s first attempt at AI regulation. The European Parliament has approved the current draft of the legislation known as the AI Act. This is our first…

Platforms which allow users to message other users directly might want to moderate those interactions for safety purposes. However, most types of private message scanning is illegal in Europe under the e-Privacy Directive and in some cases is directly prohibited by encryption. This can pose a risk to your users and your platform — especially…