Introducing Enhanced Content Safety Features on Openverse

We’re excited to announce a significant update to OpenverseOpenverse Openverse is a search engine for openly-licensed media, including images and audio. Find Openverse on GitHub and at https://openverse.org. – the introduction of new features to filterFilter Filters are one of the two types of Hooks https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Hooks. They provide a way for functions to modify data of other functions. They are the counterpart to Actions. Unlike Actions, filters are meant to work in an isolated manner, and should never have side effects such as affecting global variables and output. sensitive content. In addition to excluding known sensitive content, Openverse will now exclude media which contains sensitive textual content from search results by default. This helps ensure an accessible browsing experience for everyone, particularly young users and those in educational settings. This new text-based filtering feature aligns with our dedication to upholding WordPress’s Community Code of Conduct and creating a safe, inclusive, and accessible platform for all users.

Users can opt-in to view sensitive content through the “Sensitive results” and “Blur content” switches, easily accessible with the rest of Openverse’s search filters on both desktop and mobile devices. Sensitive content is now identified through automated detection of sensitive textual content, as well as through user reports. More information about the techniques used can be found on our website. These methods are only a starting point and we plan to implement continuous improvements and more robust filtering methods.

3 combined screenshots of Openverse on mobile. The first shows the filter sidebar open scrolled down to the safe browsing section to show the "sensitive results" and "blurred content" buttons. The second screenshot shows the results view for the search "bird" with some results blurred. The third screenshot shows the "sensitive content" warning screen when navigating to content.
New sensitive content controls

This update marks just the beginning of our journey towards enhancing content safety tools on Openverse. Your insights are invaluable in guiding our efforts to refine and improve our platform. Please share your thoughts by commenting on this announcement post or submitting an issue on our GitHub repository. Together, we will continue making Openverse a more inclusive and accessible search platform for everyone.

#sensitive-content