Skip to main content

AI Content Moderation

Better Messages offers AI-powered content moderation to automatically detect and handle harmful content. Choose between two moderation providers depending on your needs.

Moderation Providers​

Better Messages Moderation AI​

Included with the WebSocket license at no additional cost. No third-party API keys required.

  • Powered by Better Messages Cloud
  • 23 content categories including extended categories not available in OpenAI
  • Custom moderation rules — define your own rules in plain text
  • Conversation context awareness — detect patterns split across multiple messages (e.g. phone numbers sent in separate messages)
  • Text and image moderation

OpenAI Moderation API​

Free to use with an OpenAI API key.

  • Requires an OpenAI API key configured in Integrations → OpenAI
  • Fixed set of content categories
  • Configurable confidence threshold
  • Text and image moderation

How it works​

When enabled, messages are analyzed by the selected moderation provider. You can choose between two actions when harmful content is detected:

  • Flag Only (Recommended) — Message is delivered normally but marked for admin review. Best for user experience since no AI is 100% accurate and legitimate messages won't be blocked.
  • Hold for Review — Message is held until an admin approves or rejects it. More strict, but may delay legitimate messages.

Moderators can review flagged and held messages in the admin Messages Viewer.

Content Categories​

Both providers support the following base categories:

  • Hate / Hate Threatening
  • Harassment / Harassment Threatening
  • Sexual Content / Sexual Minors
  • Violence / Violence Graphic
  • Self-Harm / Self-Harm Intent / Self-Harm Instructions
  • Illicit / Illicit Violent

Better Messages Moderation AI adds these extended categories:

  • Spam
  • Scam / Phishing
  • Minor Safety
  • Contact Sharing
  • Profanity
  • Impersonation
  • Doxxing
  • Drugs / Alcohol
  • Threats
  • Commercial Promotion

Selecting a parent category automatically covers its subcategories.

Better Messages AI — Additional Features​

Custom Rules​

Define your own moderation rules in plain text, one rule per line. For example:

Block contact info (phones, emails, social handles) and off-platform moves
Block promotions, affiliate links, recruitment

Custom rules and content categories work independently. You can use either one alone or combine both.

Conversation Context​

Set the number of previous messages to include for context (0–20). This helps detect patterns like phone numbers or emails split across multiple messages. Recommended: 5–10.

How to enable​

Navigate to WP Admin → Better Messages → Settings → Moderation.

  1. Select a Moderation Provider
  2. Enable AI Moderation
  3. Choose the Flagged Message Action
  4. Select Content Categories to detect
  5. Optionally enable Moderate Images
  6. Set Bypass Roles for trusted user roles
Data Privacy

Message content is sent to the selected provider for analysis. Better Messages Cloud does not store any message data — content is analyzed in real time and immediately discarded. If using OpenAI, please review OpenAI's data usage policy.

Requirements
  • Better Messages Moderation AI requires a WebSocket license
  • OpenAI Moderation API requires PHP 8.1+ and an OpenAI API key