Moderating your user generated content

This guide will go through the API calls that can be used to create moderation flows for the content in your game.

Report an item

Players can report an item by calling the ReportItem API from a client. An item Id or AlernateId must be provided. Additional optional parameters can be added. These include:

• ConcernCategory: A category of concern for the report
• Reason: A free text input for the report

Here is a sample request body:

{
  "Id": "3f5dd8d4-4ee1-4748-8855-56a8a0277bf9"
  "ConcernCategory": "Profanity",
  "Reason": "There was swearing in the description."
}

If not specified, ConcernCategory will default to None. The valid ConcernCategory values are as follows:

• None
• OffensiveContent
• ChildExploitation
• MalwareOrVirus
• PrivacyConcerns
• MisleadingApp
• PoorPerformance
• ReviewResponse
• SpamAdvertising
• Profanity

Calling the ReportItem API will only fire a PlayStream event under the Event Name, item_reported. This can be queried using the Data Explorer in the Game Manager. Example queries can be seen below:

The following query returns The total number of reports by ConcernCategory per ItemId in the last 3 days

['events.all']
| where Timestamp > ago (3d)
| where FullName_Name == "item_reported"
| project ItemId = tostring(EventData.Payload.ItemId), ConcernCategory = tostring(EventData.Payload.ConcernCategory)
| summarize TotalReportCount = count() by ItemId, ConcernCategory
| sort by TotalReportCount desc
| render columnchart kind=stacked

The following query returns All submitted reports against a specific ItemId in the last 3 days

['events.all']
| where Timestamp > ago (3d)
| where FullName_Name == "item_reported"
| where EventData.Payload.ItemId == "3f5dd8d4-4ee1-4748-8855-56a8a0277bf9"
| project Timestamp, ItemId = tostring(EventData.Payload.ItemId), ConcernCategory = tostring(EventData.Payload.ConcernCategory), Reason = tostring(EventData.Payload.Reason), ReportingPlayer = Entity_Id
| sort by Timestamp

Change the moderation status of an item

You can change the moderation status of a published item using the SetItemModerationState API. An item that is any state other than Approved will not be accessible on the public catalog for all players. The item creator can still access the item using the GetItem and GetDraftItems API. Title entities and Admins will be able to see Non-Approved items through SearchItems, GetDraftItems, and GetItem.

This API can only be called by the title entity. An item Id or AlernateId and a Status must be provided. An optional Reason free text parameter can also be added. As a service call, that looks something like this:

{
  "Status": "AwaitingModeration",
  "Reason": "User reports over threshold",
  "Id": "3f5dd8d4-4ee1-4748-8855-56a8a0277bf9"
}

By default, a published item will not have a moderation status. Republishing the draft item will not change the moderation status. The valid Status values are as follows:

• AwaitingModeration
• Approved
• Rejected

The following query returns All items currently in the AwaitingModeration status in the last 3 days

let TimeRange = ago(3d);
['events.all']
| where Timestamp > TimeRange
| where FullName_Name == "item_moderation_state_changed"
| project Timestamp, ItemId = tostring(EventData.Payload.ItemId)
| summarize MaxTimestamp = max(Timestamp) by ItemId
| extend TimeAndId = strcat(MaxTimestamp, "|", ItemId)
| join kind = leftouter (
    ['events.all']
    | where Timestamp > TimeRange
    | where FullName_Name == "item_moderation_state_changed"
    | project Timestamp, ItemId = tostring(EventData.Payload.ItemId), TargetStatus = tostring(EventData.Payload.TargetStatus), Reason = tostring(EventData.Payload.Reason)
    | extend TimeAndId = strcat(Timestamp, "|", ItemId)) on TimeAndId
| project Timestamp, ItemId, TargetStatus, Reason
| where TargetStatus == "AwaitingModeration"

Delete an item

An item can be deleted by calling the DeleteItem API. This call will remove an item from the draft catalog and corresponding item from the public catalog (if it has been published). An item Id or AlernateId must be provided.

{
  "Id": "852a2d2b-7754-427e-9ad4-fce2b24a4cef"
}