Title: Substack Introduces ‘Reply Rules’ to Empower Creators with Comment Control

On Wednesday, Substack unveiled a new tool dubbed “Reply Rules,” aimed at granting writers more authority over audience interactions. This feature allows creators to set distinct parameters for how readers can engage via comments on posts, Notes, or Chat messages. These guidelines can range from practical demands, such as prohibiting profanity or AI-generated content, to whimsical constraints, like requiring all responses to be written in haiku.

The system is designed to be adaptive, learning from user behaviors such as hiding replies to automatically filter out content that conflicts with the creator’s stated preferences. While these comments are hidden from public view, creators retain full visibility and can choose to unhide them if their stance changes. Initially, the Reply Rules feature is available exclusively to English-language publications.

This addition aligns with Substack’s longstanding philosophy of decentralized moderation, placing the responsibility for community management squarely on individual writers. Creators already possess a suite of tools to manage their spaces, including the ability to delete comments, lock threads to stop further discussion, and ban or suspend users. The new automated filtering is expected to lessen the manual burden of sifting through every single reply.

However, Substack has previously drawn criticism for its moderation standards, particularly concerning the hosting of far-right newsletters. Detractors argue that the platform’s hands-off approach enables harmful rhetoric to flourish. In its announcement, Substack appeared to address these concerns by reaffirming its dedication to supporting diverse online communities, acknowledging the complexity of this mission.

“Since its founding, Substack has sought to create the best possible conditions for cultures of many varieties to flourish online,” the company stated. “Achieving this often involves difficult trade-offs, but alongside our core model—where we only earn when writers, artists, journalists, musicians, and others earn—we’ve managed to carve out a unique path relative to other platforms.”

This release follows a year of significant platform updates for Substack. Earlier this year, the company introduced a built-in recording studio, enabling creators to produce and publish pre-recorded videos. Additionally, a new TV app was launched, allowing subscribers to view video posts and livestreams on their living room screens.

Source: TechCrunch Generated at: 2026-06-03 19:08:55 UTC