Comment Sections Moderation

The moderation problem

Comment sections attract pile-ons, targeted insults, and coordinated harassment, but they also host strong, legitimate disagreement. The challenge is separating a heated-but-fair opinion from an attack on another commenter.

Why a word list isn't enough

A profanity list flags someone passionately swearing about a politician (fair game) the same as someone swearing at another commenter (abuse). It can't see who the target is.

How The Profanity API handles it

Use context `comment`, which requires multiple static matches before auto-flagging in standard contexts, with `balanced` mode so the engine distinguishes venting about a topic from abuse directed at a person.

const res = await fetch("https://api.theprofanityapi.com/v1/check", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": "Bearer " + process.env.PROFANITY_API_KEY,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({ text, context: "comment", mode: "balanced" }),
});

const { flagged, intent, score } = await res.json();