Moderator Mode & Limiting Permissions

Info to Understand First

• YouTube accounts that have moderator permissions for a particular channel are able to remove ('hide for review') comments on that channel, even via the API
• This program automatically detects when you are scanning content on a channel other than your own
  • It then normally only presents the option to report matched comments
• The program can be overridden with the so-called 'moderator mode', so it will present the option to remove comments (by hiding for review, not permanent removal), even if scanning someone else's channel
  • Note: This mode is useless if you do not actually have moderator permissions for the scanned channel. It does not magically allow you to remove comments on a channel for which you don't have necessary permissions; attempting to do so would just cause errors.

Running the Program With Limited Account Permissions

• Many creators may not wish to grant the program such high level permissions normally required to run the program
• Instead, you could create a brand new empty 'dummy' Google/YouTube account, grant that account moderator permissions on your main channel, then just log into the program using that 'dummy account'.
  • This can be done by in YouTube Studio > Settings (bottom left) > Community > 'Moderators' box
• Then enable set moderator_mode = True in the config settings to you will have the option to hide matched spam comments for review

Limitations of 'Moderator Mode'

• You won't be able to ban users while removing their comments, as you will not have the permissions
  • You could still go into the 'held for review' section of YouTube Studio, find the spammers, and ban them through there
• I have currently made it so even if Moderator Mode is enabled, you can only remove comments on someone elses channel when using 'Auto-Smart' and 'Sensitive-Smart' filter modes
  • This is because of the potential for abuse (or accidental misuse) of the other filtering modes (such as 'nuke mode') even by those trusted with moderator permissions
  • If you are looking to use 'moderator mode' on your own channel and would like to use other scanning modes, you can contact me for help