Volunteer moderators, and how to report a message

Chat is where Malta Living happens: private chats, groups, club chats and the chat inside a friend's home. Since 20 October, volunteer moderators help our admins keep it kind. They're players like everyone else, invited because they're trusted, and they work with tools that have limits built in. Here's what they do, how to report a message, and what happens if you're on the other end of a decision.

Report a message

Press and hold any message someone else wrote, tap 🚩 Report, pick what's wrong and tap Send report. The choices are:

• Rude or hateful
• Bullying
• Spam or scam
• Sharing real-life info
• Sexual content
• It involves a child
• Something else

The report carries the message and the five either side of it, exactly as you saw them, so nobody has to guess what led up to it. Those messages are kept until the report closes, even if the chat's usual clean-up would have removed them.

"It involves a child" never goes to a volunteer. It goes to admins only, alerts every one of them at once and is held as evidence until an admin has reviewed it. If anyone is in danger right now, call 112 first.

What a moderator can do

A moderator opens a report in the Moderation app on their phone and picks one action, with a reason from a fixed list:

• Hide the message. It's kept as evidence, out of sight.
• Mute in chat for an hour or for a day.
• Ban from chat for up to three days.
• Move someone out of a place for an hour.
• Ask for a new username, when the name itself is the problem (more in the name filter post).
• Send it to the admins, when it's serious or might be a crime.

Mutes sit on the account, not the character, so starting a new life doesn't get round one.

What a moderator can never do

The limits are checked by the server on every action, not left to good intentions:

• No more than 40 actions in a Malta day.
• Never act on an admin, another moderator or themselves.
• Never see who made a report.
• Never see a child-safety report, or one already sent to the admins.
• Never read beyond the reported message and the five either side.
• Never touch money, homes, items or accounts. Only admins can pause an account.

Admins see every action in a log, with who took it, and can undo any of them in one tap. If one moderator mutes more than ten people in an hour, admins are warned.

What you see if it's you

A moderator's name is never shown. Every action reads as "Malta Living Team", with the reason and until when, in your Updates and above the message box. Think it was wrong? Tap Ask the team, or write to Malta Living Team in Messages with the reference: an admin who didn't take the action looks at it, and if they undo it, you're told.

Who the moderators are

Admins invite players they trust, with a written reason; there are no applications for now. Anyone with a chat mute, ban or account pause in the last 90 days can't be invited, and nor can an admin. The invited player sees the Moderation app on their phone, reads an eight-point code of conduct and taps I agree. Their tools start only then.

Volunteers stay ordinary players. They win prizes, their game money is theirs, and they don't carry a Staff mark or a badge: nobody can tell who they are, which keeps them from being pestered. Admins can thank them and step them down at any time, and a moderator can step back by writing to the team.

Moderation is a lot of small, careful calls, and research on content moderation keeps finding the same thing: people closest to a community spot problems first. That's why we asked players to help, and why we wrapped their tools in limits.

The rest of the safety work is in how we keep Malta Living safe. For chat, clubs and friends, read clubs, friends and Gossip. Or play Malta Living free and say Bonġu to someone. New here? Start with what Malta Living is.

Questions people ask

How do I report someone in Malta Living?

Press and hold one of their messages, tap 🚩 Report and pick what's wrong. You can also block them from the ··· on their card.

How long can a moderator mute me?

An hour or a day. A chat ban lasts up to three days. Only admins can pause an account.

Can I become a moderator?

Not by applying, for now. Admins invite trusted players, and you can't be invited with a mute, ban or pause in the last 90 days.

What if a moderator gets it wrong?

Tap Ask the team on the notice, or write to Malta Living Team with its reference. An admin who didn't take the action looks again and can undo it.