  Online community moderators are on the front lines of combating problems like
hate speech and harassment, but new modes of interaction can introduce
unexpected challenges. In this paper, we consider moderation practices and
challenges in the context of real-time, voice-based communication through 25
in-depth interviews with moderators on Discord. Our findings suggest that the
affordances of voice-based online communities change what it means to moderate
content and interactions. Not only are there new ways to break rules that
moderators of text-based communities find unfamiliar, such as disruptive noise
and voice raiding, but acquiring evidence of rule-breaking behaviors is also
more difficult due to the ephemerality of real-time voice. While moderators
have developed new moderation strategies, these strategies are limited and
often based on hearsay and first impressions, resulting in problems ranging
from unsuccessful moderation to false accusations. Based on these findings, we
discuss how voice communication complicates current understandings and
assumptions about moderation, and outline ways that platform designers and
administrators can design technology to facilitate moderation.
