Inside Soul Zhang Lu’s Battle Against Cyberbullying and Online Fraud
The digital world has been in a constant state of flux, and the advent of AI has added to the pace of this radical transformation. The CEO of Soul, Zhang Lu was among the first batch of industry leaders who recognized both the benefits and the security risks that this evolutionary process has inadvertently brought along.
As one of the leading social networking platforms in China, Soul has been consistently investing its resources into creating a safe and welcoming platform for its 30 million plus monthly active users. Through the 2024 Q4 Ecosystem Security Report, Soul Zhang Lu’s team offered insights into how they are dealing with issues such as online fraud, cyberbullying, and improper social etiquette to ensure safe user experiences.
Overall, the platform’s team is using a blend of community-led initiatives, advanced technology, and strategic partnerships with various agencies to effectively neutralize threats to their bustling online digital environment.
For instance, the risk of online fraud is a significant threat to digital communities across the world. To mitigate this issue, Soul Zhang Lu’s engineers acted proactively and created a strong defense system which has helped them to contain the problem and prevent it from turning into an issue for the platform itself and its users.
Typically, fraudulent activities peak at the tail end of the year because engagement levels are high owing to the festive season. To protect the platform’s users, Soul’s engineering team made use of smart detection technology.
The advanced smart models that power these detection tools allow for the quick and accurate identification of suspicious behaviors as well as fraudulent content. This technological innovation makes it possible to detect fake profiles as well as to recognize scam messages. Once a message or a profile is flagged, users are sent alerts that help them to take timely action and prevent potential harm.
The results of this multipronged approach have been phenomenal. According to the Q4 report, the platform saw a 20% reduction in fraud-related reports and a 150% increase in the detection of fake images, with an impressive 90% accuracy rate.
But, Soul Zhang Lu’s team wanted to do more than just safeguard the interests of the app’s users. So, the social app actively collaborated with law enforcement agencies to weed out as many instances of online fraud as possible. The combined efforts led to couple of major crackdowns on cybercrime. Plus, Soul’s assistance helped the police in handling 24 cyber fraud-related investigations.
Through it all, the Soul team also stayed true to its goal of creating and maintaining a safe, friendly, and respectful online space for the platform’s users. To achieve these goals, Soul’s engineers have used more than just technological measures. In fact, the realization hit the team early on that a cultural shift toward positive social interactions is needed to foster a generally pleasant online environment.
Hence, Soul App has taken significant steps to foster this shift by promoting social etiquette and encouraging community participation. To keep issues such as online harassment and inappropriate content in check, Soul Zhang Lu’s team introduced over 30 new governance strategies in 2024. These measures included anti-harassment tools that protect more than 15,000 users daily and message management features that help users organize their interactions more efficiently.
A robust content moderation system was also put into place and this system successfully intercepted 4.36 million pieces of violating content in the last quarter of 2024 alone. But, the security team of Soul Zhang Lu had a clear idea that content moderation alone would not be effective. For a long-standing solution, offending accounts would have to be identified and dealt with.
For this, the engineers put into place a device identification system that allows the platform to blacklist offenders through their device identities and not just through usernames. Through this system, Soul Zhang Lu’s team was able to identify and suspend over 8,500 accounts and remove nearly 140,000 pieces of harmful content, which was enough to successfully combat the menace of paid dating services which was rearing its ugly head on the platform.
The cyber security team was also quick to accept that fostering a clean and positive environment on the platform would require a joint effort. Hence, Soul Zhang Lu encouraged her team to seek help from the platform’s thriving community.
This standout approach of including community-driven governance in the platform’s overall security strategy saw the participation of 61,000 members who have offered their assistance as content recommendation officers and discipline committee members. These members review and vote on reported content, handling more than 32,000 cases daily. As such, they play a vital role in maintaining community standards.
Furthermore, Soul Zhang Lu’s team has also diligently addressed other pressing issues that impact user experience and security on social platforms, such as online violence and cyberbullying. To do so, Soul App has used a comprehensive strategy that combines technology with educational initiatives and user engagement.
On the technological side, the engineers have tapped into the power of artificial intelligence and big data analysis for real-time monitoring and alerts. The platform’s monitoring system not only helps to identify instances of cyberbullying and harmful behavior but also sends out real-time alerts and guidance messages. This helps users to quickly identify problematic behavior and to navigate their interactions respectfully.
These initiatives have yielded tangible results as the security team is able to protect nearly 3,000 users from online abuse and inappropriate messages every day. What’s more, the platform also intervenes in over 1,200 cases of uncivil behavior in private chats and sends more than 210,000 reminders encouraging respectful communication.
Soul Zhang Lu also supports the core idea that building awareness is one of the most effective ways to bring about long-term change and to turn online safety into a culture. To this effect, Soul’s official governance account regularly publishes posts on community guidelines, safety standards, and case studies, reaching millions of users and fostering a culture of respect and responsibility.
Without a doubt, these efforts yielded notable results throughout 2024 and this has given Soul Zhang Lu’s team the impetus to continue the good work through innovation, collaboration, and a shared sense of responsibility. The central idea is to ensure that online interactions are not only fun but also safe, warm, respectful, and enriching.
