Tackling Censorship and Building a Safer Community

Can we have a definition of "appropriate" and who is deciding what is "meaningful"? 

given their inability to stop simple spam bots in the rooms... maybe they could allow for community oversight or something? Maybe they need a community liason department, not just one overworked person?

…while allowing adults on the platform to have appropriate and meaningful conversations.

Can we have a definition of "appropriate" and who is deciding what is "meaningful"?

Responsible adults, as you call them, place rules for their rooms in room info, they also appoint their own room administrators who can take action and remove anyone who is not behaving according to the rules set for that room by the room owner. I’ve said that before and saying it again, if you want censorship do it in IMVU owned rooms. Yet I see almost every day f, n, b and tons of other insults in IMVU Hangouts rooms and no censorship at all.

Thank you for your continued feedback and concerns. Our moderation tool is a dynamic system designed to evolve over time. It is regularly assessed and fine-tuned to ensure it aligns with our community standards. We aim to foster a safe, positive environment while allowing adults on the platform to have appropriate and meaningful conversations.  

A friendly reminder: content allowed in AP (Access Pass) environments may not be suitable for GA (General Audience) settings, whether in public or private rooms. While we strive to avoid hindering meaningful connections, we understand that some words may occasionally be censored in error. If you come across such a situation, we encourage you to let us know.  

Please provide the following so we can investigate and make adjustments where necessary. 

• Censored word
• Sender username
• Recipient  username
• Room name or ID 

 If you'd prefer to share this information privately, feel free to message me (Meeows) directly on IMVU. Your input is vital in helping us strike the right balance between safety and meaningful engagement.

IMVU seems to delight in irritating their core customers. If they don't care about the VIP customers, then where does their money come from?

Maybe the Better Business Bureau needs to be involved, because pretty sure IMVU has no idea how customer service works, anymore.

Or VIP customers cancel their VIP in protest, on massive scale. Do you think they might actually listen or care then?

this is my example of being censored ... silly, since I was in a private room with my husband ...

@Raz105 - that's what I said to their VIP "support" (because, let's be honest, support sucks even more, now), and got a "change how you say things" as an answer - for a conversation about whether or not I should have spicey chicken irl for dinner... 

I haven't left VIP, but when I do, I'll be off the platform. I'm not sticking around if I don't have my room slots.

IMVU has already shown how much they "care" about their customers.

And if censoring is reintroduced in my AP rooms again (and over such stupid mundane things as food choices), then that'll be it for me.

Censoring has been an issue twice in one year. Ever play baseball, IMVU? You've got two strikes, now.

If you guys wanted everyone to stop using IMVU just say so lol.  Seriously though, censorship is the easiest way to lose your entire community.  As someone who has had different accounts over the last 15 years, this is making me want to just walk away for good.  

This is complete and utter nonsense to be using such a glitchy tool in an ACTIVE PLACE..I say get rid of the annoying tool. We're Adults in AP rooms being chaperoned by some machine...Its STUPID

@Crassa - in agreement here. I don't want censoring on vu, either.

@doompixie that is good to know but I don't understand why the chat client needs any form of censorship??? How do they expect to keep customers if they do this? I've been on imvu since 2007, I come and go. Most of the people I knew back then have left.

@Crassa - this was impacting us in classic client, but we agree 1000%, otherwise 

When it comes to unnecessary censorship impact matters more than intent. There is zero need, zero need to censor the chats people are having while using the client. Does this censorship only apply to the web client or new client? Are people like me who still use the classic client exempt from this censorship?

It's out of hand. My husband and I can't even have convo sometimes without being censored and we're in our pc shared or married room. Keeps getting worse too, random stuff bleeped for what. 

EPIC. IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN. THANKS IMVU.

We should not be having this debate at all...if we are in out own room then we should be able to say w.e we want...if someone dont like it they can leave the room any time...their should be no word restriction in out own room..been off imvu for a few weeks and to come back to this after like 14yrs on imvu...nope go filter public rooms instead...

@Doompixie 

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us. I want to reassure you that we deeply value the feedback from our community, as it plays a vital role in shaping our decisions and priorities. We understand that some recent updates have felt frustrating, and while our execution may not always be perfect, please know that our intention is genuinely to create a safe and positive experience for all of our users.

We’re actively working to address both current issues and longer-standing ones, including improving moderation tools and tackling the challenges posed by spam bots. Our focus remains on balancing proactive measures with community-driven changes, and feedback like yours is crucial in guiding these efforts.

Please continue to share your honest insights as we listen closely to what our community has to say. We’re committed to learning from this feedback and growing in ways that make a meaningful difference. Thank you for your patience and for being part of the IMVU community. Your voice truly matters to us.

Answer this @Meeows:

if the room is actively monitored, by a moderation team that already reports/kicks people for violating these rules, why are we having AI (and VERY poorly trained and calibrated AI) at all? Actively and well monitored rooms don't need it, don't want it, and - in fact - you are going to be actively driving away an already shrinking customer base.

Add in the spam bots to take people to sites where they can stalk other people's presence on IMVU, and it makes customers even more irritated. You can break our legitimate conversations (and not for the first time!), but you can't proactively stop these spam bots?

IMVU's idea of "customer service" has become a joke. I started here almost 4 years ago, and VIP support then actually meant something. Now? I'm not so sure and it isn't worth my money being spent to support your product, when you're barely even supporting it, yourselves.

This entire "issue" is ridiculous. You're bleeding customers and keep adding new functions (hello, useless AP+) and still aren't fixing existing problems that are driving your users away.

I won't be buying credits again. Period. When IMVU starts to take customers seriously, and fixing some of the long backlog of issues that affect the quality of service, I might reconsider. Whether I cancel VIP in the next month or two really depends on whether IMVU and their staff actually does anything more than throw gifts and irrelevantly tell us how yummy our dinner choices were, especially when the customer is already irritated.

Just our two cents, IMVU. Don't waste them. You're not going to get many more, at this rate, from me. :)

/rant off

This is infringement upon our rights and shouldn't be censoring our PRIVATE conversations.

IMVU can be "safe" without my money. No more VIP for these lunatics.

Thank you all for your feedback and reports regarding content restrictions. We have made adjustments to address this issue, and we encourage you to let us know if you continue to experience any problems. Our main goal is to maintain a respectful environment while also allowing for diverse expressions. We appreciate everyone’s input in helping us achieve this balance.

I am being censored alone in my own private AP room. This is completely outrageous. IMVU have known about this for over a month and have not fixed the issue. Why are private chats in private rooms of AP users even subject to the filter? 

I got censored for saying "splice", VU really?

really VU, i got censor for saying the word " Splice" oh what am I missing?

In all the 14+ years I have been here on IMVU, and the countless amount of money I have invested in this, and I can't talk about food choices? and I have to use a second language (which didnt get censored as you can see) to relay my message to the people in the room. I see why people leaving, this is out of hand, and as a long-time User I dont want excuses and water-down apologies! FIX IT!!!

@ Sylaraia and Doompixie. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. This is certainly not something we intend to censor, and we will review the moderation tool to improve its settings. 

On a lighter note, that menu sounds delicious! :)

I feel like filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau over this.