How a German Social-Media Company Tamed the Trolls

Jodel bans nudity and has sweeping rules against racism, sexism, bullying and insults of any kind

BERLIN—When German social-media app Jodel was five months old, its founder Alessio Avellan Borgmeyer noticed a potential problem: while more people were logging on, a small number of users weren’t the community he had hoped to attract. They were posting offensive comments and pressuring other users to submit naked photos.

Apple Inc. also saw a problem. The naked photos violated its rule on sexual content, and in early 2015 it kicked Jodel Venture GmbH out of its app store for a week.

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