As we reflect on Safer Internet Day, an annual global initiative that emphasizes the importance of online safety and encourages responsible use of technology, we reaffirm our dedication to creating a safer gaming environment for our PlayStation community. Supporting Safer Internet Day aligns with our commitment to fostering player safety and wellness across PlayStation.
Updates in the past year
As part of our commitment, we continue to advance on our three pillars of Online Safety, ‘Control’, ‘Shield’, ‘Enforce’, using player feedback to guide ongoing improvements to our products, tools, and services. Here are just a few examples of progress we’ve made.
- Empowering tools for parents – We introduced the PlayStation Family app to help families build healthier, safer digital habits together. Designed to give parents a peace of mind while supporting kids’ growing independence, the app makes it simple to set age‑appropriate controls, manage playtime, approve requests instantly, and stay informed with activity insights all from the mobile device. By giving families better visibility and simple tools to guide online play, the PlayStation Family app supports more balanced gaming routines and encourages ongoing conversations about digital safety. Since launch, the app has surpassed one million downloads across iOS App Store and Google Play, and we are pleased to support families in managing responsible play.
- Educating parents and families – I recently joined Canadian podcast hosts Cat & Nat for a thoughtful conversation on how families can navigate technology today and build healthier, more confident habits around gaming. We discussed practical tools and approaches that can help parents set clear expectations, encourage healthy play, and give kids the space to explore responsibly.
- Automated moderation technology enhancement – This past year, we enhanced our collection of automated safety tools by leveraging machine learning text analysis alongside image detection capabilities. These technologies look for and flag content that may violate our Code of Conduct to promote safer experiences across PlayStation.
- Updated alliance for safer gaming industry – Online safety is a shared responsibility and we are proud to reaffirm our shared online safety principles for safer gaming with Nintendo and Microsoft.
- Expanding safety features – Since our trial-launch, we’ve been thrilled by the positive impact of the Nudge feature. Starting this month, players in applicable regions will be given a second chance to review and edit their messages as we expand the Nudge feature globally to all English-language conversations on the PlayStation app. With the Nudge feature, we will empower players to pause and reconsider, while educating them about content that may violate our Hate Speech policy before it is sent.
Accessing wellness resources
- Global support can be reached via playstation.findahelpline.com, or by using the ‘Find A Helpline’ web tool, which has been recently integrated into our support site in most regions. The web tool allows users to find the right resource quickly without leaving our support page.
- Users in Japan can reach out through https://playstation-circle.ibashochatwellness.jp/.
- For anyone in the US in need of support, you can reach out to Crisis Text Line by texting ‘CIRCLE’ to 741741 to connect with a live volunteer Crisis Counselor.
Continuing the Journey Toward Safe and Joyful Play
At Sony Interactive Entertainment, online safety is essential to our mission to create incredible gaming experiences. We are committed to creating safe, age-appropriate experiences for players and families while respecting privacy and giving players and parents meaningful control over how they engage with gaming.
In the year ahead, we will continue to iterate on online safety measures to ensure the best experience on PlayStation. For example, in recent years, we have piloted age verification in select markets to better understand how these tools can support families. As we continue to learn from these pilot markets, we plan to thoughtfully expand our age verification capabilities over time.
As play continues to bring people together, we look forward to another year of supporting safe, joyful experiences on PlayStation. Thank you to our players for being part of this journey as we continue to prioritize safety, well-being, and joy.
Here’s to another year of safe and inclusive play!
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source sonyinteractive.com ’
