From Moderators to Strategists: The Trust & Safety Evolution
Sharon Fisher, Global Head of Trust & Safety at Keywords Studios, shares her career journey from early moderation work at Club Penguin to leading a 250-person T&S team. She explains how she combined human expertise with AI to improve online safety, protect children, and enhance moderator wellbeing. Sharon addresses global privacy law challenges, the role of T&S as a strategic business driver, and the urgent need to guide parents in teaching children online safety.
From Moderators to Strategists: The Trust & Safety Evolution EPISODE 02 Sharon Fisher Global Head of Trust & Safety Keywords Studios
What’s Inside [21:02] Full Podcast Episode [2:51] Highlights Video [5:55] Introduction to Sharon Fisher [3:39] Integrating AI in Trust & Safety Through Human Intelligence [3:36] Why Trust & Safety is a Strategic Business Driver [3:08] Designing Safer Games to Protect Children and Companies [3:21] How Trust & Safety Boosts Player Retention and Reputation [2:28] Why Developers Need Trust & Safety as a Partner [2:33] Balancing Data Insights with Player Privacy [1:58] Why Moderator Wellbeing Is a Business Priority [1:58] The Leadership Proactivity in AI and Trust & Safety [0:59] Short - Why Trust & Safety is a Strategic Business Driver [0:49] Short - How Trust & Safety Boosts Player Retention and Reputation
A Podcast with Sharon Fisher Sharon Fisher, Global Head of Trust & Safety at Keywords Studios, shares her career journey from early moderation work at Club Penguin to leading a 250-person T&S team. She explains how she combined human expertise with AI to improve online safety, protect children, and enhance moderator wellbeing. Sharon addresses global privacy law challenges, the role of T&S as a strategic business driver, and the urgent need to guide parents in teaching children online safety.
Full Episode "We are translators and connectors within the company, talking to lawyers about priorities, advising developers on steps that could reduce harmful content, and guiding moderation on text, images, and voice integration. The Trust & Safety landscape is developing, but it's impacting more and more within the organization.” - Sharon Fisher
Highlights Video (2:51)
Introduction to Sharon Fisher (5:55) "We were very successful in creating a team of around 250 superheroes, bringing awareness to the well-being of people who look at the worst of the worst and how their well-being sometimes is undermined."
Integrating AI in Trust & Safety Through Human Intelligence (3:39) "Soon, rather than seeing AI as something that’s just going to take over the world while we sit at home wondering what to do, let’s take a closer look. I’d say we should think three steps ahead and figure out how to turn these superheroes into superhumans by utilizing this AI."
Why Trust & Safety is a Strategic Business Driver (3:46) "Many times, Trust & Safety is seen as a cost, but the big shift is recognizing it as a strategic function."
Designing Safer Games to Protect Children and Companies (3:08) "There’s a disconnect between creating a game and what happens at the end of it. All these horrible cases continue to increase, and if it’s as easy to prevent them by simply having a talk, starting a conversation, and setting a good framework, then it’s totally worth it."
How Trust & Safety Boosts Player Retention and Reputation "We now have more signals about the user, and understanding who your user is becomes very important not only for safety reasons, but also for marketing purposes, especially when launching a game. You want to know what your community is saying, and that information is crucial while you’re still developing." (3:21)
Why Developers Need Trust & Safety as a Partner (2:28) "It’s so important to be more open about the fact that we’re not here to dictate what’s allowed and what’s not, or what goes and what doesn’t. Moderators need to share with us what they want to do so that, when the time comes, we can make their lives even easier."
Balancing Data Insights with Player Privacy (2:33) "Data is gold. There’s a fine line between getting excited about the insights we can gain from users and being intrusive with their privacy. The Trust & Safety team works closely with the other teams to figure out the line where we make sure that the data that our users are sharing is either hashed or it's not considered for us to market to people."
Why Moderator Wellbeing Is a Business Priority (1:58) "The elephant in the room is how do we sit down with the C-levels, after all these statements have been made, and tell them that what we are doing is still important."
The Leadership Proactivity in AI and Trust & Safety (1:50) "That proactivity on not taking humans out of the picture, but giving them more tools to manage technology, and sitting down to figure out how it’s going to impact not only your business but also real-life work, is a big responsibility we have today as leaders."
YouTube Short: Why Trust & Safety is a Strategic Business Driver "Many times, Trust & Safety is seen as a cost, but the big shift is recognizing it as a strategic function.” - Sharon Fisher
YouTube Short: How Trust & Safety Boosts Player Retention and Reputation "We now have more signals about the user, and understanding who your user is becomes very important not only for safety reasons, but also for marketing purposes, especially when launching a game. You want to know what your community is saying, and that information is crucial while you’re still developing.” - Sharon Fisher
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