Community Guidelines

Learn more about our community rules and guidelines.

General community guidelines

Last Updated: 2025-07-13

This community has been envisioned and designed to be a safer, more prosperous and more fruitful community for all members of the community. To ensure the success of this vision and it's mission, the community administrators set content and moderation policies including automated moderation and AI assistant moderation bot guidelines which this document outlines. These community-specific policies operate alongside other policies such as but not limited to a general content policy, which is based on principles of free speech, the United States First Amendment and US law.

General content policy

The underlying general content policy prohibits spam and content that is illegal under US law.

Spam

Spam can take many forms, and this policy is designed to address a range of prohibited behaviors, including:

  • Repeated, unwanted, and/or unsolicited actions, automated or manual, that negatively impact the community.
  • Content that is designed to further unlawful acts (such as phishing) or mislead recipients as to the source of the material (such as spoofing).
  • Commercially-motivated spam, that typically aims to drive traffic from the network over to another website, service, or initiative through backlinking or other inauthentic methods.
  • Inauthentic engagements, that e.g., try to make channels or content appear more popular than they are.
  • Coordinated activity, that attempts to artificially influence opinion through the use of multiple accounts, fake accounts, and/or scripting or automation.
Illegal content

Content that is illegal under US law is not permitted on the network and will result in a ban of the offending account. Illegal content categories include:

  • Intellectual Property Violations (Copyright infringement, Trademark violation, Counterfeiting, Plagiarism, Patent infringement, Unauthorized use, Digital piracy, Trade secret misappropriation)
  • Incitement to Violence (Hate speech, Violent extremism, Threatening behavior, Agitation, Encouragement of harm, Provocation of conflict, Promotion of violence, Aggressive rallying, Glorification of violence)
  • Terrorism (Extremism, Radicalization, Militant activity, Insurgency support, Hostile acts, Terrorist recruitment, Ideological violence, Paramilitary operations, Violent political agenda)
  • Trafficking (Human trafficking, Illegal smuggling, Exploitation, Forced labor, Child trafficking, Drug trafficking, Arms trafficking, Modern slavery, Organ trafficking)
  • Revenge Porn (Non-consensual pornography, Image-based abuse, Sexual harassment, Invasion of privacy, Cyber exploitation, Blackmail with intimate images, Non-consensual sexual images, Pornographic exposure without consent)
  • Sexualization of Minors (Child sexual exploitation, Child pornography, Sexual grooming, Pedophilia content, Underage nudity, Indecent material involving minors, Child abuse imagery, Minor sexualization content)
  • Extortion (Blackmail, Coercion, Bribery, Threatening for money, Protection racket, Manipulative threats, Forced compliance, Ransom demand, Intimidation for gain)
  • Fraud (Deception, Scam, Phishing, Impersonation, Financial swindling, False representation, Money laundering, Identity theft, Fake transactions)
Content at risk of moderation

Content that is also potentially illegal under US law or offensive to the community at large or it's guiding principles is not permitted on the network and will result in a ban of the offending account. Potentially offensive content categories include:

  • Animal Abuse (Animal cruelty, Mistreatment of animals, Neglect, Animal fighting, Animal torture, Illegal poaching, Animal exploitation, Animal endangerment, Abuse of pets)
  • Misinformation (False information, Inaccurate claims, Rumors, Unverified facts, Misleading content, Fact distortion, Pseudo-news, Deceptive reporting)
  • Disinformation (Deliberate falsehoods, Propaganda, Fabricated stories, Manipulative narratives, Fake news, Hoax, Malicious intent, False context)
  • Election Interference (Vote manipulation, Electoral fraud, Voter suppression, Disrupting election processes, Foreign influence, Polling interference, Misinformation campaigns targeting elections)
  • Scams (Online scams, Financial fraud, Lottery fraud, Romance scams, Investment fraud, Phishing schemes, Fraudulent schemes, Ponzi schemes)
  • Cyberbullying (Harassment, Online intimidation, Name-calling, Public shaming, Cyber harassment, Targeted abuse, Group bullying)
  • Cyberstalking (Digital stalking, Persistent harassment, Tracking, Monitoring, Threatening behavior online, Obsessive communication, Location tracking)
  • Doxxing (Unauthorized information sharing, Publicizing personal data, Invasion of privacy, Exposing sensitive information, Online targeting with personal details, Identity exposure)
  • Harassment (Targeted abuse, Stalking, Verbal abuse, Persistent messaging, Repeated unwelcome contact)
  • Hate Speech (Racial slurs, Offensive language, Dehumanizing language, Discrimination, Bigotry, Intolerance)
  • Privacy Violations (Unauthorized data access, Identity theft, Privacy invasion, Data leakage, Unauthorized tracking, Surveillance, Breach of confidentiality)
  • Self-Harm and Suicide (Promotion of self-harm, Encouraging suicide, Graphic self-harm content, Dangerous advice, Triggering content)
  • Human Rights Violations (Torture, Forced disappearance, Unlawful detention, Genocide, Crimes against humanity, Oppression, Political repression)
  • Environmental Harm (Promotion or marketing or incitement for Illegal dumping, Pollution, Animal poaching, Wildlife trafficking, Habitat destruction, Toxic waste release)
  • Illegal Goods and Services (Drug trafficking, Arms dealing, Counterfeit currency, Illegal wildlife trade, Stolen goods, Unlawful services)
  • Malware and Phishing (Malicious links, Viruses, Trojans, Keyloggers, Spyware, Ransomware, Fake websites, Credential harvesting)
  • Impersonation and Identity Theft (Fake profiles, Fraudulent accounts, Identity misrepresentation, Catfishing, Profile spoofing, Impersonating public figures)
  • Unauthorized Data Collection (Data scraping, Unauthorized monitoring, Unlawful surveillance, Harvesting of user data without consent, Violation of data protection laws)
  • Unlawful Surveillance and Spying (Unauthorized recording, Stalking through technology, Hacking webcams or microphones, Unauthorized tracking via GPS or software, Spyware distribution)
  • Fake News and Deepfakes (AI-generated misinformation, Deepfake videos, Altered media, Synthetic identities, Falsified media used for manipulation, Fabricated news stories)
  • Child Exploitation and Child Endangerment (Child labor promotion, Dangerous challenges involving minors, Encouragement of self-harm for minors, Neglect content, Unsafe content targeting children)
  • Violent and Graphic Content (Real violence footage, Graphic injury content, Torture videos, Snuff content, Excessive gore, Harmful prank videos)
  • Illegal Commercial Activities (Sale of banned substances, Promotion of counterfeit goods, Unlicensed medical products, Prohibited services, Fake reviews and rating manipulation)
  • Unauthorized Sales or Promotion of Controlled Substances (Drugs, Prescription medication without prescription, Alcohol to minors, Tobacco products to minors, Unapproved health supplements)
  • Sexual Exploitation and Non-Consensual Content (Coerced sexual acts, Involuntary pornography, Sex trafficking, Exploitation in commercial sex)
  • Criminal Organizations and Gang Activity (Gang recruitment, Organized crime promotion, Threats from gangs, Displaying gang signs, Promoting gang-related activities)
  • Illegal Gambling and Betting (Unlicensed gambling, Betting rings, Online casinos without regulatory approval, Encouraging minors to gamble, Sports betting promotions)
  • Harmful Health Misinformation (Anti-vaccine content, Promotion of unverified medical treatments, Encouraging harmful diets or products, Fake health cures, Misinformation on public health)
  • Dark Web Content Promotion (Linking to dark web sites, Advertising illicit dark web services, Promotion of dark web illegal marketplaces)
  • Network Manipulation and Fake Engagement (Bot-driven manipulation, Click farms, Fake followers, Artificially boosting content, Manipulated metrics)

Moderation

Community reports

All registered members of the community can generate reports of content and user accounts. Upon reporting content or accounts, the reporter specifies the alleged offense. Reports then go to a moderation queue where network moderators review the reports and determine both (a) their validity, and (b) the consequences of the violations.

Moderators

The network administrators act as a moderator, and can optionally enable other members of the community to also act as moderators. Moderators have the ability to directly delete content, ban accounts, as well as review a queue of community-generated reports.

Community Moderation and Banning

Community-generated reports of illegal activity may be reviewed and acted on by network staff. If the report is valid, offending user accounts will be banned.

 

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