Admin and Moderator Tools Specification

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Admin & Moderator Tools

Overview

The Admin & Moderator Tools Module provides governance infrastructure for managing evidence-based platforms, public information systems, civic applications, research repositories, and transparency-focused software.

The module provides operational controls for reviewing submissions, validating sources, managing contributors, preventing abuse, maintaining auditability, and ensuring platform integrity.

The system is designed for self-hosted deployments, open-source collaboration, and environments requiring transparent moderation workflows.

The Admin & Moderator Tools Module enables administrators and moderators to:

Review submitted evidence and claims
Validate source quality and authenticity
Merge duplicate records and conflicting entries
Manage contributor permissions
Detect and prevent abuse
Maintain immutable audit records
Operate centralized moderation dashboards

Goals

The primary goals of this module are:

Establish transparent moderation operations
Reduce misinformation and duplicate records
Provide accountable decision-making processes
Protect platforms from malicious activity
Enable distributed contributor management
Preserve historical review decisions
Support open governance models

Core Principles

Transparency First

All moderation actions must be logged and reviewable.

Administrators must be able to determine:

Who performed an action
When the action occurred
What information was changed
Why the action was performed
What evidence supported the decision

Human Review With Automated Assistance

Automation may assist moderators but must not replace accountable human oversight.

AI-assisted moderation systems should provide:

Recommendations
Confidence scores
Similarity detection
Risk indicators
Suggested actions

Final moderation decisions must remain attributable to authorized reviewers.

Source Integrity

Every reviewed item should maintain:

Original source reference
Source verification status
Review history
Reviewer identity
Validation timestamp

System Architecture

The Admin & Moderator Tools Module consists of the following components:

1. Moderation Dashboard

Central operational interface for administrators and moderators.

Capabilities:

Queue monitoring
Evidence review
Contributor management
Abuse monitoring
Audit log access
System health reporting

2. Evidence Review Queue

Manages incoming evidence submissions requiring review.

Supported submission types:

Documents
Links
Claims
Data records
Public statements
Community reports
Corrections

Each queue item must contain:

Submission ID
Contributor ID
Submission timestamp
Related entity or record
Evidence type
Source references
Review status
Assigned moderator
Decision history

Evidence Review Workflow

Submission Intake

All submitted evidence enters a pending state.

Required statuses:

Pending Review
Assigned
Under Investigation
Approved
Rejected
Needs Correction
Archived

Moderator Review Process

Moderators must:

Open the evidence record
Review attached sources
Verify source credibility
Compare against existing records
Check for duplication
Record findings
Approve, reject, or request changes

Review Requirements

Every moderation decision must include:

Decision reason
Reviewer identity
Supporting evidence
Timestamp
Confidence rating

Duplicate Promise Merge Tools

The duplicate merge system identifies and consolidates repeated claims, promises, records, or submissions.

Duplicate Detection

The system should evaluate:

Text similarity
Entity matching
Date relationships
Source overlap
Topic classification
Geographic relevance

Merge Operations

Authorized moderators can:

Combine duplicate records
Preserve original submissions
Maintain contributor attribution
Create merged history records
Restore previous versions

Merge Rules

A merge operation must:

Never permanently delete original records
Preserve source references
Record the merging administrator
Store merge reasoning
Maintain rollback capability

Source Validation Workflows

The source validation system ensures information quality and reliability.

Source Categories

Supported source classifications:

Government documents
Official filings
Public records
Organization publications
News sources
Academic research
Community submissions

Validation Process

Each source should be evaluated for:

Authenticity

Confirm:

Original publisher
Publication ownership
Document integrity
Source availability

Reliability

Evaluate:

Historical accuracy
Transparency
Methodology
Citations
Independence

Status Tracking

Sources must maintain:

Unverified
Under Review
Verified
Disputed
Invalid
Archived

Contributor Management

The contributor management system controls participation and permissions.

Contributor Profiles

Each contributor record should include:

Account identity
Contribution history
Verification status
Reputation score
Permissions
Moderation history

Permission Levels

Recommended roles:

Administrator

Full system control.

Permissions:

Manage users
Configure moderation rules
Access all logs
Modify system settings

Moderator

Content review authority.

Permissions:

Review submissions
Validate sources
Resolve reports
Manage assigned queues

Contributor

Community participant.

Permissions:

Submit evidence
Request corrections
Provide feedback

Reviewer

Specialized validation role.

Permissions:

Review assigned evidence
Provide expert assessments

Abuse Prevention Tools

The abuse prevention system protects platform integrity.

Detection Capabilities

The system should monitor:

Spam submissions
Duplicate flooding
Automated account activity
Malicious edits
Coordinated manipulation
False reporting patterns

Prevention Controls

Supported controls:

Rate limiting
Account verification
Reputation scoring
Submission throttling
Temporary restrictions
Review escalation

Abuse Reports

Each abuse report must contain:

Reporter identity
Reported account
Evidence
Timestamp
Review status
Resolution notes

Audit Logs

The audit system provides complete operational transparency.

Required Audit Events

The system must record:

User creation
Permission changes
Evidence approvals
Evidence rejection
Source verification
Record merges
Account restrictions
Configuration changes

Audit Record Format

Each audit event must include:

Event ID
User performing action
Action type
Target record
Previous value
New value
Timestamp
Reason
Supporting documentation

Audit Retention

Organizations should define retention policies based on:

Legal requirements
Community governance rules
Data protection requirements

Audit records should not be silently modified or removed.

Moderation Dashboard

The moderation dashboard provides operational visibility.

Dashboard Components

Required views:

Pending review queue
Assigned tasks
Recent moderation actions
Abuse alerts
Source verification status
Contributor activity
System metrics

Dashboard Filters

Supported filters:

Date range
Status
Moderator
Contributor
Category
Source type
Risk level

API Architecture

The module should provide API access for integrations.

Required API capabilities:

Submit evidence
Retrieve review status
Manage contributors
Access moderation records
Query audit logs
Receive moderation events

Security Requirements

The system must implement:

Authentication controls
Role-based access control
Encryption in transit
Secure credential storage
Session management
Permission validation
Abuse monitoring

Privacy Requirements

Implementations must:

Minimize collected personal information
Provide account management controls
Document data retention policies
Protect contributor information
Support applicable privacy regulations

Deployment Requirements

The module must support:

Self-hosted deployments
Containerized environments
Independent database deployment
API-based integrations
Open-source inspection

Operational Procedures

Daily Moderator Operations

Moderators should:

Review assigned evidence
Validate new sources
Resolve duplicate records
Investigate abuse reports
Document decisions

Weekly Administration Operations

Administrators should:

Review moderation statistics
Audit permission changes
Evaluate abuse patterns
Review contributor activity
Update moderation policies

Monthly Governance Review

Organizations should:

Review transparency reports
Analyze moderation consistency
Update workflow documentation
Review system security
Evaluate contributor trust metrics

Transparency Reporting

Deployments should publish:

Number of submissions received
Number approved
Number rejected
Number disputed
Average review time
Abuse reports processed
Correction requests completed

Testing Requirements

Implementations should test:

Functional Testing

Verify:

Evidence submission
Review workflows
Duplicate merging
Permission controls
Audit logging

Security Testing

Verify:

Access restrictions
Authentication
Authorization
Abuse protections

Reliability Testing

Verify:

Data recovery
Backup procedures
Audit preservation
System availability

Future Extensions

Potential enhancements:

AI-assisted moderation recommendations
Automated source credibility scoring
Community voting workflows
Federated moderation networks
Blockchain-backed audit verification
Advanced manipulation detection

Compliance Checklist

An implementation is compliant when it provides:

Evidence review queue
Duplicate promise merge tools
Source validation workflows
Contributor management
Abuse prevention tools
Audit logs
Moderation dashboard
Open-source deployment support
AGPL-3.0+ licensing compliance
Attribution preservation

Specification Branding License (SBL)

Standard

Fully AGPL-3.0+ compliant system
Copyleft enforced for network deployments
Required attribution:
- Roxanne Ardary
- https://www.roxanneardary.com/

Optional

Specification Branding License (SBL)
- Attribution-free commercial deployment
- Pricing based on scale, usage, and deployment scope
- https://roxanneardary.com/admin-and-moderator-tools/

License & Notice Requirements

Admin & Moderator Tools Module Specification is released under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).
By contributing to any Open Arsenal project, you agree that your contributions will also be released under this license.

Please note the following:

All contributions must comply with the AGPL-3.0+ terms.
Under Section 7 of the license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works must preserve attribution to:
Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.
Admin & Moderator Tools Module specifications are free to use with attribution. A Specification Branding License can be negotiated upon request.
The project’s notice.md file tracks attribution requirements and contributor acknowledgments. Any update that adds new contributors or modifies attribution should also update notice.md.
When submitting a pull request, ensure that any new files maintain the attribution headers where applicable.
Network-deployed versions of this software must also remain fully AGPL-3.0+ compliant, including exposure of source code modifications when applicable under the license.

For full legal details, please refer to the AGPL-3.0+ license and the project’s notice.md file.

Notice – ActionCheck

Attribution Requirement: Under Section 7 of the AGPL 3.0+ license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works, including network-deployed versions of this project, must provide attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.

Contributors

This file tracks contributors and their specific contributions to the project.

Roxanne Ardary, roxanneardary.com – March 10, 2026
Created the repository for ActionCheck. Designed the platform to track politicians’ promises, votes, financial activity, and board memberships for public accountability.
[Add other contributors here] – [Date]
[Describe contribution in one sentence]

License

This repository is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).

Key Points

You are free to use, modify, and distribute the code.
All redistributions, forks, and derivative works or network-deployed versions must also be licensed under AGPL-3.0+ and provide attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com as required under Section 7 of the license.
The software is provided “as is,” without warranty of any kind.

For the full license text, see GNU AGPL-3.0 License.