self-policing

[self-puh-lees-ing]

adjective

1. (of a group of people) independently monitoring the behavior of its own members and addressing any failure to abide by established rules or laws.

2. (of a system, program, etc.) having a built-in mechanism for detecting and stopping inadmissible actions.

noun

1. the act, on the part of a group of people, of independently monitoring the behavior of its own members and addressing any failure to abide by established rules or laws.

2. the function of a mechanism built into a system, program, etc., that detects and stops inadmissible actions.

Example Sentences

But a system of self-policing has created a culture of under-reporting to law enforcement and a false sense of security for new festival goers.

From Salon

The self-policing of social media is real and often effective, but it is far too arbitrary to act as a substitute for media regulation and mob rule is not something we should embrace.

From Los Angeles Times

The suicide of a young man "cancelled" by his peers at university has prompted a coroner to write to the government warning about "self-policing" among some students.

From BBC

But our actual tech overlords have proven themselves incapable of self-policing for the greater good.

From Slate

It currently relies on a web of federal infrastructure — from roads to waterways, to the vehicles and casks used to transport and store nuclear waste — whose regulation has been eroded by decades of Congressional starve-the-beast funding cuts and multi-industry lobbying efforts which have paid off in self-policing regulatory policies.

From Salon