Keeping people safe and informed is at the core of what Citizen does. We take this critical mission very seriously when delivering billions of public safety notifications to phones across the US every year. The list of lives helped by this real-time information grows longer every day. However, any platform delivering public safety information must recognize that certain information can do more harm than good.
As an example, let’s take a look at user-generated content.
When a man’s tragic death was live-streamed to a popular social media platform last year, it was left unmoderated for hours before being taken down. In that time, the video had been reposted to other platforms, taking the form of a viral piece of clickbait. Social media platforms have struggled to meet video moderation demands for years – and this often means that, in the case of public safety, the privacy of witnesses and victims is compromised, and users are exposed to traumatizing content.
Like many video-first social media platforms, our team understands the value of user-generated content. It increases user engagement and often provides invaluable context that allows users to make more informed decisions about their own safety. And because Citizen measures success through users we’ve helped – not simply engagement – we have strict moderation guidelines to ensure the app is being used appropriately
To enforce these standards, Citizen’s trained moderators review all user-generated videos and written incidents before they appear in-app. Our moderators are focused on providing users the best visual and contextual representation of public safety situations. But their extensive training means that they never glorify trauma, air pernicious content, or compromise the identities of witnesses, victims or first responders.
For example, if a user submits a video on Citizen that reveals a bystander’s name, home address or other personal information, our moderators would reject the video on the grounds that it revealed sensitive information. Similar policies apply to user-generated comments.
Ensuring the accuracy and usefulness of the content Citizen produces is our top priority when promoting safety. We are continually refining our editorial guidelines with both our users and first responders in mind. As Citizen grows, we will continue to do our part to create a safe and trusted community.