The anti‐inflammatory master regulator IL‐10 is critical to protect the host from tissue damage during acute phases of immune responses. This regulatory mechanism, central to T cell homeostasis, can be hijacked by viruses to evade immunity. IL‐10 can be produced by virtually all immune cells, and it can also modulate the function of these cells. Understanding the effects of this multifunctional cytokine is therefore a complex task. In the present review we discuss the factors driving IL‐10 production and the cellular sources of the cytokine during antiviral immune responses. We particularly focus on the IL‐10 regulatory mechanisms that impact antiviral immune responses and how viruses can use this central regulatory pathway to evade immunity and establish chronic/latent infections.