ABSTRACT
Trust and safety teams rely on the services of third-party vendors to carry out their work, and the market for these services is rapidly evolving. This essay describes the importance of vendors for the practice of trust and safety. It provides an introduction to the history of content moderation outsourcing, the later growth of dedicated tools and software for trust and safety, and the effect of recent waves of online safety laws on the demand for these services. I argue that, with many vendors releasing software that manages and monitors trust and safety workflows, development in this area is shifting from moderation services to moderation infrastructure. I conclude with reflections on the importance of infrastructure in shaping markets, best practices, and compliance strategies, with important implications for the future of trust and safety.
