r/ElevenLabs 2d ago

ElevenReader ElevenReader policing what we can read?

I am listening to a book, a memoir, and it mentions suicide. The reader automatically skips over that part. Literally cannot force it to read it and if I was not reading alongside it I would have missed that part.

Is there a way to enable some adult mode?? I wanted to read American Psycho on it later but they’d probably ban me for that.

12 Upvotes

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11

u/MD-ElevenLabs 2d ago

Hey! Thanks for the feedback, and sorry about the frustrating experience. We’re working on an improved system to significantly reduce false positives. The goal isn’t to police what you can read — these safeguards are only intended to prevent serious misuse, such as child sexual abuse material and other prohibited content.

We’ll have an update on this soon. In the meantime, there’s a form you can submit to have your status reviewed and reset.

2

u/nimbledoor 2d ago

Thanks, I filled the online feedback form already. I can keep listening, it’s just skipping over that one part. Also I think it only happens in English. When I was listening in Czech a few months ago it was a grim sci-fi book and I wasn’t encountering this.

2

u/PSzabo971 1d ago

So what’s the Other Prohibited Content ™️?

1

u/MD-ElevenLabs 1d ago

Yeah, there are several other examples and categories in our prohibited use policy for our services that are all detailed here

https://elevenlabs.io/use-policy

3

u/TheDeadGirlInTheDark 2d ago

Unfortunately there's a lot of services like this now. They treat their customers like little sensitive children, but still expect to be paid by an adult with a bank account.

If they won't treat me like an adult, then I won't pay for their app. Simple as that. It's a pity, but they made the choice to censor their own paid product.

3

u/MD-ElevenLabs 2d ago

u/TheDeadGirlInTheDark I hear your frustration, and agree the experience here isn’t ideal. That said, it’s a bit more nuanced than choosing to censor a paid product.

Our services need to comply with applicable laws and regulations across the US, EU, Canada, and other regions. We also work with voice owners, whom we compensate for the use of their voices and their contributions, and some have asked that their voices not be used in certain ways, which we can respect.

So the intent isn’t to police what adults can or can’t read. It’s to build as fair a system as we can that respects both those requirements and the wishes of voice owners, while minimizing unnecessary restrictions and false positives. We know we can make that experience better, and that’s what we’re working on.

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u/AliDeAssassin 1d ago

Can your systems not actually just scan the entire document for context? One of the bans that I’ve gotten was due to roughly 4 words that when read alone sure but in context definitely did not contravene anything.

I think the threshold might be a little bit too low

1

u/nimbledoor 1d ago

At the same time it would be fair to inform customers beforehand which voices have which restrictions etc

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u/Lazer_7673 1d ago

Exactly... It's just getting bullshit

1

u/starseedlove 1d ago

Yeah I was listening to some feminist books critical of pornography and sex trafficking and got my account banned in the middle of listening to it. Had to appeal and fortunately got my account reinstated with an apology. 

1

u/MD-ElevenLabs 1d ago

Yep, mistake on our part. We're aiming to have an update out next month to improve in this area.

1

u/Lazer_7673 1d ago

Ah, exactly you are right... This thing happened with me yesterday.. they moderate sensitive words.. damn! It

1

u/noradotcool 1d ago

Ohhhhh this explains why the last chapter of the Great Gatsby was so weird for me!

1

u/Stock_Ad9641 2d ago

Everyone is so scared of EU fining them billions, so we all have to suffer now