Substack’s new ‘Reply Rules’ feature lets creators control how people respond
Substack has introduced a new feature called 'Reply Rules' to enhance creators' control over audience responses. This feature allows creators to set specific guidelines for comments, which the system learns from user interactions. While it aims to streamline moderation, Substack continues to face criticism regarding its content moderation practices.
- ▪Substack's 'Reply Rules' feature enables creators to establish guidelines for audience comments.
- ▪The system learns from user actions and filters out comments that do not align with the creator's preferences.
- ▪Substack has faced criticism for its content moderation practices, particularly concerning far-right newsletters.
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| Original publisher | TechCrunch |
| Canonical URL | https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/03/substacks-new-reply-rules-feature-lets-creators-control-how-people-respond/ |
| Publication time | Wed, 03 Jun 2026 19:08:55 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-06-03T19:26:58.109Z |
| Last seen | 2026-06-03T19:26:58.109Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
| Excerpt source | publisher body |
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| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
| Citation coverage | Summary is a WeSearch-generated derivative; primary citation is the original publisher URL. |
| Cluster | DuT9BfGN4HM0 |
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| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
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| Retrieval / RAG | May the content be exposed for third-party retrieval-augmented generation? | Not asserted |
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| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Substack announced on Wednesday a new feature called “Reply Rules,” designed to give creators greater control over how their audiences are able to respond. With the feature, creators can establish specific guidelines for comments on their posts, in Notes, or in Chat. These guidelines might include requests to eliminate AI slop or profanity, or something silly like only requiring replies in haiku form. Substack explains that the system learns from users’ actions, such as when they hide replies, and will automatically filter out comments that don’t match the creator’s preferences. Creators maintain visibility over these hidden replies and have the option to unhide them if they change their minds. Currently, Reply Rules are available for all English-language publications.
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