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Microsoft acquires Kelowna’s Two Hat Security tech company

The acquisition is designed to protect the safety of the global online experience
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(Pixabay photo)

Microsoft announced on Friday (Oct. 29) that they have purchased Kelowna-based tech company Two Hat Security to help strengthen and protect the safety of the online experience for users across the globe.

Dave McCarthy, the corporate vice president of Xbox Product Services, said that both Microsoft and Two Hat share a vision for using advancements in moderation technology to “nurture and protect” global online communities.

“Globally, growing amounts of harmful content shared online have increased the need for effective and proactive content moderation,” said McCarthy. “For any online community to thrive, content moderation is a critical investment to ensure positive user experiences and maintain engagement over time.”

He added that the acquisition of Two Hat is “an important evolution” of the relationship between the two companies, which will combine innovative technology, research capabilities, highly skilled teams and advanced cloud infrastructure.

“For the past few years, Microsoft and Two Hat have worked together to implement proactive moderation technology into gaming and non-gaming experiences to detect and remove harmful content before it ever reaches members of our communities,” he said.

Two Hat’s technology, he continued, has helped to create safer global online experiences for communities in Xbox, Minecraft and MSN.

“This is thanks to its highly configurable technology, which allows the user to decide what they are comfortable with and what they aren’t,” he said.

“I’ve witnessed the impact they’ve had within Xbox, and we are thrilled that this acquisition will further accelerate our first-party content moderation solutions across gaming, within a broad range of Microsoft consumer services, and to build greater opportunity for our third-party partners and Two Hat’s existing clients’ use of these solutions.”

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@aaron_hemens
aaron.hemens@kelownacapnews.com

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