📖 Content moderation glossary
What is a raid in online communities?
In short
A raid is a sudden, organised arrival of a large number of outside users in a comment section, live chat or stream, usually to disrupt it with spam, insults or shocking content.
Raids are close to brigading but shorter and more chaotic: the goal is often disruption for its own sake rather than pushing a view. They are common during live events, such as livestreams, live blogs or online consultations, where comments appear in real time.
Example: during a live video Q&A with a mayor, an online group coordinates to post the same offensive meme and insults hundreds of times in ten minutes, making the chat unusable for residents who came to ask questions.
The answer is speed: during a raid, human moderators alone cannot keep up. Automatic hiding of clear violations, temporary restrictions on new accounts and a clear plan for live events limit the damage. Afterwards, an activity log helps understand what happened and adjust the rules.