Trust and Safety Future Initiatives

Highrise

Sep 5, 2025

Hey people ,

SubjectiveGravity here. I manage Trust & Safety at Highrise.

We’re talking today about something at the heart of any great community: Trust, Safety, and Player Support. Over the past few weeks, we ran surveys and listened to feedback, and it’s clear we have work to do. The rest of 2025 (and into 2026) is about making real improvements together.

Our shared goals moving forward:

Protect our community from real harm.
Ensure support feels helpful and responsive.
Rebuild trust in Player Support systems.

Survey Insights

More than 3,400 players across 9 countries filled out our recent Trust & Safety survey. Here’s what we learned:

In most regions, over 60% of players say they feel safe in Highrise and that it’s easy to report when needed.
Trust that moderation actions (warnings, suspensions, and bans) are fair and not overly harsh ranks lower, varying between 50% and 59%
Finally, the speed at which we analyze reports shows the most variation, ranging from 45% to 65%.

These results give us a clearer picture of what’s working and what still needs attention. You can see the raw data at the end.

What’s Already Improved

Before diving into the future, here’s what we’ve done recently.

Cutting Down on False Reports

One of the biggest challenges we face is false reports. Around 60% of the reports we receive are unfounded. They may be empty, obviously fake, or about something that isn’t actually a problem. That creates noise and slows down real cases.

To address this, we built an advanced report filter that automatically detects and sorts out bad reports, freeing up human moderators to focus on the ones that matter.

Although the initial impact may not have been immediately noticeable, we’re tuning it constantly with live data and feedback. As it improves, so should our response speed.

Improving Communication

This year, we ran two month-long outreach campaigns on the Highrise feed:

In April, we talked about Trust & Safety in general.
In June, we focused on how to report properly.

This is part of a continuous communication initiative. That way, we can build a shared understanding of community values and raise awareness on where to find help.

Future Improvements

Here’s where we’re focusing next:

Revamped Trust & Safety Resources

We’re doing a full pass on everything we provide to the community, from Community Guidelines to tutorials, in-app tips, and weekly updates. Better resources mean clearer expectations, and better support for players trying to do the right thing.

More Transparent Report Outcomes

One thing that came through loud and clear in feedback: players want to know what happens after they report. We’ll be improving transparency so players will know when their report leads to action.

Clearer Punishments (and Pathways Back)

When someone does cross the line, the goal isn’t just punishment. It is also clarity. Players should know exactly what behavior caused the issue, and have guidance on how to avoid repeating it.

Looking Forward

We’re proud of the progress so far, but Trust & Safety will always be ongoing work. We’ll keep publishing updates, checking in with feedback, and listening to sentiment across regions to stay on track.

And most importantly: thank you. Every time someone welcomes a new player, reports harmful behavior, or chooses kindness, they are building the culture of Highrise. We’re here to support that, and to keep making this community safer and fairer together.

More updates soon