Managing online safety is an important part of ensuring that. We believe that it’s critical that gamers be able to quickly and accurately report abuse or harassment if they experience it while on PlayStation Network. As part of this initiative, we’ve been preparing to roll out a new feature on the PlayStation 5 console that enables gamers to report verbal harassment through a new Voice Chat reporting function. Its sole purpose is to help in reporting of inappropriate behavior, including actions that violate our Community Code of Conduct. Please note that this feature will not actively monitor or listen in on your conversations—ever—and it’s strictly reserved for reporting online abuse or harassment.

PlayStation gamers learned about this new function in an unexpected way following the recent PlayStation 4 8.00 system update. We didn’t clearly communicate this feature or explain why we were introducing it, and we apologize for that. When the PlayStation 5 console launches in November, PlayStation 5 users will be able to chat with PlayStation 4 users—which is why we needed to include an advisory with the latest PlayStation 4 system update.

We should have more clearly explained why this function was being rolled out, along with details on how it will work on the PlayStation 5 console, so let me walk you through that now.

Once the PlayStation 5 console launches, if a PlayStation 5 player needs to file a harassment report, they will be able to include up to a 40 second-long Voice Chat clip in their report—20 seconds of the main conversation with the other player, plus an additional 10 seconds before and after the conversation selection. Only the most recent five minutes of a Voice Chat will be available for a player to use for this reporting function.

These reports can be submitted directly through the PlayStation 5 console, and will be sent to our Consumer Experience team for moderation, who will then listen to the recording and take action, if needed. Some submitted reports won’t be valid, and our team will take this as an opportunity to provide guidance and education. There won’t be an option to opt-out of this Voice Chat recording function because we want all users to feel safe when playing with others online, not just those who choose to enable it.