moderation
plyr.fm publishes moderation decisions from @moderation.plyr.fm. This page explains what those decisions mean.
labels are assertions, not deletions
Section titled “labels are assertions, not deletions”a label is a signed, public statement about a track — anyone can read them
through the AT Protocol
com.atproto.label.queryLabels
endpoint, and any client can subscribe to plyr.fm’s labeler and decide for
itself what to do with them.
what we do with a label on our own surfaces is a separate thing, and it is only binding on us. Another client reading the same label is free to render it differently.
two kinds of label, two different rules
Section titled “two kinds of label, two different rules”the difference is who gets to decide.
adult audio — sexual, porn
Section titled “adult audio — sexual, porn”a rendering default that you control. These are standard AT Protocol values, not plyr.fm inventions.
- hidden from discovery, search, recommendations, collections, queues, and Subsonic browsing unless you enable sensitive audio in settings
- never in shared radio, for anyone — radio is one synchronized stream, so no single listener’s preference can decide what everyone else hears
- still listed on the artist’s own page, and a direct link plays for anyone
see sensitive content for the settings.
copyright — copyright-violation
Section titled “copyright — copyright-violation”not a preference. plyr.fm stores and serves the audio, so acting on a credible copyright claim is our responsibility and no listener setting can waive it.
- removed from discovery and radio for everyone
- a direct link still plays. A fingerprint match is not a finding — covers, remixes, and an artist’s own catalogue all match — so being flagged does not break the uploader’s own link
- removal from plyr.fm is a separate, deliberate decision made by a person
where a label applies
Section titled “where a label applies”A label changes where a track surfaces, never whether you can reach something you went looking for. Two kinds of place:
- surfaces we choose for you — the home feed, search, recommendations, radio. Labels filter here.
- places you navigated to — an artist’s page, an album, a playlist, someone’s likes, your queue, a track’s own link. These show what is there.
this mirrors how the AT Protocol models moderation, where the same post can be hidden in a feed but visible when you open it.
the full picture
Section titled “the full picture”| where | adult (sexual, porn) | copyright |
|---|---|---|
| home feed, search, for you | hidden unless you opt in | hidden |
| radio | never, for anyone | never |
| artist page | shown | hidden |
| album, playlist | shown | hidden |
| someone’s likes | shown | hidden |
| your queue | shown | hidden |
| a track’s own link, and playback | plays | plays |
| your own uploads, in your portal | shown | shown |
| Subsonic browsing | shown | hidden |
| Subsonic shuffle | hidden | hidden |
| listening rooms (jams) | hidden unless you opt in | hidden |
radio and jams are shared, synchronized surfaces: one listener’s preference cannot decide what everyone else hears, so adult audio stays out.
two rules worth stating plainly
Section titled “two rules worth stating plainly”you always see your own adult-labeled tracks. On any surface, whatever your settings say. A label on your own upload never hides it from you — except in radio, which is shared, and except for copyright, which is not a preference.
a copyright label is not a preference. No setting reveals a copyright-labeled track, including for the person who uploaded it, because it is about what we are willing to keep serving rather than about what you would rather see. Playback from a direct link still works: a fingerprint match is not a finding, and covers and remixes match.
operator overrides
Section titled “operator overrides”sometimes we review a label and decide the behavior should differ from the default:
- allow — the label is right, and we are surfacing the track anyway. The usual outcome for a cover or a licensed remix. It lifts copyright filtering; it never overrides your adult-content preference, because what you are shown is your call, not ours.
- exclude — kept off shared surfaces with no label needed.
what gets published, and what does not
Section titled “what gets published, and what does not”the moderation account posts actions we took, never suspicions we hold.
published:
- a track removed
- a track removed from discovery and radio
- a label applied
- a label withdrawn
not published:
- a track being flagged by our copyright scanner
- a user report being filed
- a review that concluded no action was needed
the reason is the same in each case: announcing that something might be a problem, before anyone has decided whether it is, marks an uploader for something that may well turn out to be their own work. Posts never name the uploader and never mention a reporter.
if you think a decision is wrong
Section titled “if you think a decision is wrong”use the report control on the track, or email [email protected].
decisions are reversible and reversal is recorded the same way the original decision was. Two things can happen when we are wrong, and they mean different things:
- the label is withdrawn — the assertion itself was mistaken
- the label stands and the track is surfaced anyway — the match was real but not a violation, which is the usual outcome for a cover or a remix
federation
Section titled “federation”plyr.fm can remove a track from plyr.fm. It cannot remove it from other AT Protocol services that may have copies, and it does not delete anything from your own repository. Labels we publish travel to whoever subscribes to our labeler; what those services do with them is their decision, not ours.