Sony Interactive Entertainment VP Global Consumer Experience Catherine Jensen took to PlayStation Blog to explain further the new Voice Chat feature for the PlayStation 5 since there was confusion when it was introduced.
Jensen first clarified that this new feature is for managing online safety. They want gamers to be able to quickly and accurately report abuse or harassment if they experience it while on PlayStation Network. This new voice chat feature will allow gamers to report verbal harassment via this new reporting function. Its sole purpose is to help in reporting inappropriate behavior that would violate SIE’s Community Code of Conduct. She notes that this feature will not actively monitor or listen to a player’s conversations ever.
The VP also apologized after the function was discovered in an unexpected way after it was released in the PS4 8.00 system update. When the PS5 launches this coming November, the users will be able to chat with the PS4 users, which is why they needed to add the advisory with the newest update.
So for this reporting feature to work, if a PS5 player needs to file a report, they can include up to a 40 second-long voice chat clip in it. This will be 20 seconds of the main chat with the other player, plus 10 seconds before and after the conversation selection. This will only include the most recent five minutes of a voice chat that can be used for the reporting function.
The report can be done directly via the PS5 console and will be sent to their Consumer Experience team for moderation. They will then listen to the recording and then take action if needed. There will not be an option to opt-out of this recording function since they want all players to feel safe when playing with others online and not just those who choose to enable it.
Source: PlayStation Blog