Hiring a community moderator Role, vetting, written rules and a crisis playbook

A community moderator looks after the group where a creator's fans talk to each other: a Discord server, a Telegram channel or a Reddit community. Good moderation keeps the space safe and calm, and it protects the creator's privacy. Poor moderation can leak a creator's real name. This guide covers the role, how to vet people, what to put in writing and what to do when something goes wrong.

In short

Hire for judgement and discretion, not only for time online. Give the moderator a written role, written rules and a written plan for the worst cases: a leak, a doxxing attempt, a minor in the group, a legal threat. Start with a short paid trial, give them access only to what they need and look after their wellbeing.

What does a community moderator do?

A moderator does five things.

• Enforces the community's written rules, calmly and the same way for everyone.
• Welcomes new members and answers simple questions.
• Removes content and members that break the rules.
• Escalates serious cases to a named manager instead of deciding alone.
• Reports patterns to the team, such as repeated complaints or a new kind of spam.

A moderator does not chat as the creator, sell content or handle money. If you also need a person to write to fans, that is a chatter, and our guide to hiring chatters covers it.

How should you split the role?

A small community can run on one person. Larger spaces usually need a split.

• A lead, who owns the rules, the team and the escalation path.
• A moderator per platform, because Discord, Telegram and Reddit each have their own tools.
• An on-call person for off-hours and for the worst cases.

Decide the split by how many hours the community is active, in which time zones, and how many things go wrong in a week, not by a fixed formula. Start with fewer people than you think you need and add when you see gaps.

What does the platform itself require?

Each platform has rules that bind you as the owner of the space. Read them before you write yours.

Discord's Community Guidelines, last updated on 29 August 2025, set several rules that matter for adult creators. Users must be 18 or older to view or take part in adult sexual content. Server owners must apply an age-restricted label to any channel with sexually explicit content involving adults. Explicit content is not allowed in places that cannot be age-restricted, such as avatars, bios, server icons, emoji and stickers. Sexual conduct with anyone under 18 is prohibited. Sharing, or threatening to share, someone's personal information without consent is prohibited, and so is sharing sexually explicit content of people without their consent. Discord also says it discourages vigilantism.

That last point matters for a moderator. If a member is exposed or accused of something, the moderator should report and remove, not run an investigation or name people in the group.

For Telegram and Reddit, read each platform's own rules and the rules of the specific community.

How do you vet a candidate?

Treat the moderator as a trusted person. They will see private messages, reports and sometimes personal data.

1. Ask for a short written scenario answer. "A member posts what looks like a creator's home address. What do you do in the first five minutes?" You want a calm, ordered answer that includes removing it, saving evidence and telling a manager.
2. Check references from earlier community or support work.
3. Have a video call with the person they will report to.
4. Sign a confidentiality agreement before they get any access.
5. Run a paid trial with a defined end date and clear tasks. Do not run an unpaid trial that lasts weeks.
6. Confirm that they are an adult and that they understand the 18+ rule of the community. Do this through the contract and a conversation, not by collecting ID before an offer.

Never ask a candidate for access to a creator's accounts or for their own ID before an offer is made. Our guide to account security explains how to keep the creator's logins out of the moderator's hands.

What should the written rules say?

Write the rules in short sentences and pin them where members see them first. They should cover at least:

• 18 and over only. Anyone who appears to be under 18 is removed and reported.
• No sharing of anyone's personal information, including the creator's, other members' or the team's.
• No leaking, reposting or trading of the creator's paid content.
• No contact attempts outside the space, no pressure on the creator or staff, and no requests for personal meetings.
• No harassment, hate or threats.
• What happens when a rule is broken: a warning, a timeout, a removal, a permanent ban, and who can reverse it.

Write a second document for the team only: what the moderator may do alone, and what needs a manager. Keep a short log of every removal, with the date, the reason and the person, so decisions stay consistent.

What access should a moderator have?

Give only what the task needs, and set it up so you can take it back.

• Use the moderator permissions each platform offers, not the owner login.
• Keep the owner account with the agency or the creator, with two-step verification on.
• Never share a creator's platform password with a moderator.
• Remove access on the same day when someone leaves, and change any shared channel links.
• Keep moderator accounts separate from personal accounts.

What is your crisis playbook?

Write the playbook before you need it, and share it with everyone who may be on call. A short version covers these cases.

A leak of paid content. Remove the post, save the evidence, close the channel the content came from if needed, tell the creator and the manager, and follow the platform's reporting steps. Send takedown requests where the content is hosted.

A doxxing attempt. Remove the post at once, do not repeat the information in any reply, tell the creator, and report to the platform. Discord prohibits sharing personal information.

A person who appears to be under 18. Remove them from adult spaces, do not engage in conversation and escalate to the manager. If any sexual content involving a minor appears, report it through the platform and check which authority takes such reports where you live. Do not share or forward the material.

A coordinated attack, such as a raid of new accounts. Lock new joins, slow the chat, remove the accounts and save logs for the platform report.

A legal threat. Do not reply in the group. Pass it to the manager and save the message.

Name an owner for each case and a way to reach them at any hour.

How do you look after moderators?

Moderators read what other people would rather not see. Plan for that.

• Set shift limits and fixed days off.
• Rotate the hardest tasks, such as reviewing reports.
• Give moderators a person to talk to after a bad incident, and time to step away.
• Never ask them to deal alone with threats or distressing material.
• Tell them what support is available through the team or your country's services.

A moderator who burns out leaves, and takes their knowledge with them.

What should you pay?

Pay in the currency stated in the contract, on a fixed date, and put the rate in writing before the first shift. Say whether the person is a contractor or an employee, and who is responsible for tax. Be careful with unpaid "volunteer" arrangements for work that earns the agency money, and check the rules where you live. Look up market rates for the role in the country where the person lives, and do not copy a number from a job ad.

How does this work on Crewvale?

Crewvale is a free marketplace for the OnlyFans and webcam industry: creators and cam models compare OnlyFans and webcam agencies on their published terms, agencies meet creators looking for representation, and agencies hire staff on its jobs board.

Agencies on Crewvale can post a community moderator job on the jobs board. The job names the agency and states the pay, and applicants apply without an account. Crewvale never charges job seekers, is free for agencies, and no agency can pay to rank higher. Applications are deleted after 180 days. Crewvale is not an agency and does not handle payments.

Learn how to hire on Crewvale, and read our guide to hiring when job boards refuse adult roles.

Sources

Discord Community Guidelines, last updated 29 August 2025, read on 25 October 2026.

Last reviewed: 25 October 2026.