Automation of permission controls for group messages

A system for controlling permissions for a first message thread of a communication session, the system comprising:

• one or more processing units;
• and
• a computer-readable storage medium having encoded thereon computer-executable instructions to cause the one or more processing units to:
• receive text messages entered by a plurality of computing devices associated with the users and directed to the first message thread;
• provide a first user interface in the first class of operations, wherein the first user interface includes an attendee display area displaying a representation or live video of at least one of the users, and a UI displaying the received text messages;
• receive an input associated with a user of the virtual meeting session, the input including a command for initiating an operating state change of the system to transition from the first class of operations to the second class of operations, the input being a single input for causing a modification of permissions for at least two users associated with other computing devices to transition to a read-only mode for the first message thread while enabling the user to view and contribute messages to the first message thread;
• in response to the received input for initiating the operating state change, analyzing permissions data to determine whether a user privilege associated with the user associated with the input meets a permission requirement to invoke the operating state change of the system from the first class of operations to the second class of operations;
• and
• in response to determining that the permissions data indicates that the user privilege of the user associated with the received input meets the permission requirement, cause the operating state of the system to transition from the first class of operations to the second class of operations by:
• changing from providing the first user interface to providing a second user interface in the second class of operations by:
• displaying, in the UI, text messages added to the first message thread by the user that initiated the operating state change, while restricting at least one of the other computing devices of the at least two users from sending text messages to the first message thread,
• during the restriction of the other computing devices of the at least two users to send new messages sent to the first thread;
• generating a second thread that is reserved for receiving messages from the other computing devices of the at least two users, and
• causing a display of messages received from the other computing devices of the at least two users within the second thread, wherein the second thread is displayed concurrently with the first thread on a user interface.

A computer-readable storage medium having encoded thereon computer-executable instructions to cause one or more processing units of a system to control permissions for a message thread of a communication session, wherein the instructions to cause one or more processing units to:

• receive text messages entered by a plurality of computing devices associated with the users and directed to the first message thread;
• provide a first user interface in the first class of operations, wherein the first user interface includes an attendee display area displaying a representation or live video of at least one of the users, and a UI displaying the received text messages;
• receive an input associated with a user of the virtual meeting session, the input including a command for initiating an operating state change of the system to transition from the first class of operations to the second class of operations, the input being a single input for causing a modification of permissions for at least two users associated with other computing devices to transition to a read-only mode for the first message thread while enabling the user to view and contribute messages to the first message thread;
• in response to the received input for initiating the operating state change, analyzing permissions data to determine whether a user privilege associated with the user associated with the input meets a permission requirement to invoke the operating state change of the system from the first class of operations to the second class of operations;
• and
• in response to determining that the permissions data indicates that the user privilege of the user associated with the received input meets the permission requirement, cause the operating state of the system to transition from the first class of operations to the second class of operations by:
• changing from providing the first user interface to providing a second user interface in the second class of operations by:
• displaying, in the UI, text messages added to the first message thread by the user that initiated the operating state change, while restricting at least one of the other computing devices of the at least two users from sending text messages to the first message thread,
• during the restriction of the other computing devices of the at least two users to send new messages sent to the first thread:
• generating a second thread that is reserved for receiving messages from the other computing devices of the at least two users, and
• causing a display of messages received from the other computing devices of the at least two users within the second thread, wherein the second thread is displayed concurrently with the first thread on a user interface.