Newsletter publishing platform Substack has launched a feature called Reply Rules that lets creators automatically hide comments and replies that violate their community standards, without removing the comments or alerting the commenter. The feature is available on both the Substack web version and the mobile app.
Substack co-founder Chris Best said on X: “Your house, your rules. We don’t have to choose between freedom and civilization.”
It is a different approach from how most platforms handle moderation. Instead of Substack setting rules for everyone, Reply Rules let each creator decide what flies in their community and have the system enforce it automatically.
Substack hides comments and note replies that do not meet your standards, without notifying you or the commenter. Hidden comments are labelled “Replies hidden” and are never permanently deleted unless you delete them yourself.
Who is exempt
Reply Rules are currently available for all English-language publications. Substack has always taken a decentralised moderation approach where writers are responsible for policing their own communities. Other tools available to creators include the option to lock posts and threads, delete comments, and ban or suspend users when necessary.
The following community members are not filtered: paid subscribers, accounts you follow on Substack (unless you have previously deleted their comments), and contributors on your publication.
Why this matters
Moderating comments is exhausting. As per the Substack website, you write, you publish, then you spend hours deleting spam and dealing with trolls. Reply Rules automate that so you can focus on actually writing. For independent writers managing everything alone, this saves time and energy.
Most platforms just delete bad comments and move on, whereas Reply Rules keep them hidden so you can review them later.
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Early adoption
Image credit : Substack.com
Substack has highlighted early users including Le Grove, Entertaining with Beth, Sherry Ning, Ministry of Pop Culture, Jasmine’s Substack, Grace Atwood, and Melissa Broder. So far it is working across very different types of publications, including culture, lifestyle, pop culture commentary, and politics.
Rather than just being a defence against spam. creators are using it to set tone, prevent self-promotion, and enforce specific engagement styles. Different communities need different things, and Reply Rules give them that flexibility.
Mills Baker, who runs design at Substack, calls this “your corner of the internet”. The idea is that creators get their own brand, community, and rules without losing access to Substack’s network to help them grow.
That is the whole point. Creators should own their space, decide what happens in their community, and be free from the admin work so they can just write.
