Are there any specific PHP functions or libraries that can assist in managing user-generated content for public display?

When managing user-generated content for public display, it is essential to sanitize and validate the input to prevent security vulnerabilities such as SQL injection or cross-site scripting attacks. PHP provides functions like htmlspecialchars() and filter_var() to sanitize input data. Additionally, using libraries like PHP Markdown to parse and format user-generated content can help ensure consistent and safe display on the website.

// Example code snippet for sanitizing user input using htmlspecialchars()
$userInput = "<script>alert('XSS attack');</script>";
$sanitizedInput = htmlspecialchars($userInput, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');
echo $sanitizedInput;