Introduction
Welcome to our community! Our goal is to create a fun, friendly, and safe space where everyone can enjoy themselves, learn, and grow. To do this, we have some simple guidelines that everyone must follow. These rules are here to help keep you and others safe, make sure everyone is treated with kindness, and ensure our community remains a positive place. Remember, these guidelines are not just rules—they help make this community enjoyable for everyone!
To maintain a postitive atmosphere, we have established the following guidelines and violation categories:
Violation Categories
- Harassment and Bullying (includes hate speech and discrimination, violence and gore)
- Explicit Sexual Content
- Spam, Illegal Activity and Excessive Self-Promotion
- Endangerment and Grooming
1) Harassment and Bullying
Harassment and bullying involve targeted, persistent, or malicious behavior aimed at intimidating, threatening, or undermining an individual or group. This can include repeated insults, threats, or actions that cause emotional distress or create a hostile environment. These harmful behaviors often intersect with hate speech and discrimination, which express prejudice or hostility based on protected characteristics such as race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. In severe cases, harassment and bullying may escalate to include elements of violence and gore, potentially involving graphic depictions of physical harm or extreme violence that can be deeply disturbing or traumatizing to victims and witnesses alike.
Examples
Harassment and bullying: Repeatedly posting cruel comments on someone’s photos, such as “You’re so ugly, no one will ever love you.”
Violence and gore: Posting a video of a violent physical assault or graphic accident footage.
Hate speech and discrimination: A post stating, “All [ethnic group] are criminals and should be deported.”
2) Explicit Sexual Content
Explicit sexual content involves graphic depictions or descriptions of sexual acts, nudity, or sexually suggestive material that is not appropriate for all audiences. This category covers pornographic content, overtly sexual images, and explicit discussions of sexual activities.
Examples
Sharing uncensored nude photographs or videos of sexual acts.
3) Spam, illegal activity and Excessive Self-Promotion
Spam and excessive self-promotion disrupt normal discourse by flooding comments or feeds with irrelevant, unsolicited, or promotional content, such as repeatedly posting links to personal content across unrelated discussions.
Copyright infringement poses legal and ethical issues when users share, reproduce, or distribute copyrighted material without proper authorization, like uploading full episodes of TV shows without permission.
Misinformation presents an insidious threat, involving the spread of false or misleading content presented as fact, ranging from fabricated news stories to conspiracy theories about health, politics, or current events.
Compounding these issues is content promoting or facilitating illegal activities, which can include drug trafficking, weapons sales, human trafficking, or instructions for committing crimes. For example, users might attempt to sell illegal substances, share guides for credit card fraud, or coordinate other criminal activities through seemingly innocuous posts or private messages.
Examples
User: “Hey kids! Visit my website coolfreegames.com for awesome cheats!” [Posts this message repeatedly in game chat]
Copyright infringement example:
- User1: “I recorded our whole match with that pro player. I’ll upload it to YouTube.”
- User2: “Great! Add some popular music to make it more exciting.”
- User1: “Good idea! I’ll use songs from that new movie soundtrack.”
Misinformation example:
- User1: “Did you know? This game’s secret levels cause seizures in kids. The government is covering it up!”
- User2: “Really? That’s scary!”
- User1: “Yeah, spread the word to keep everyone safe!”
Illegal activity example 1:
- User1: “Hey, want to learn how to make real money from gaming?”
- User2: “Sure, how?”
- User1: “I can show you how to hack other players’ accounts and sell their items. It’s easy cash.”User2: “Isn’t that illegal?” Adult: “Only if you get caught. Don’t worry, I’ll teach you how to avoid detection.
Illegal activity example 2:
- User1: “I noticed you’re really good at this game. Want to join my team?”
- User2: “That sounds cool!”
- User1: “Great. We actually use the game to coordinate some ‘special deliveries’ in real life. Interested in making some serious cash?”
- User2: “What kind of deliveries?”
- User1: “Nothing major, just some packages. You don’t need to know what’s inside. Easy money for someone young like you.”
4) Endangerment and grooming
Endangerment often involves discussions or encouragement of self-harm, suicide, or dangerous behaviors, while grooming refers to the process by which an adult builds trust with a minor for the purpose of sexual exploitation. In online contexts, these issues can be particularly insidious due to the anonymity and privacy afforded by digital platforms.
Predators may use social media, messaging apps, or online games to gradually gain a young person’s trust, isolate them from support systems, and manipulate them into harmful situations.
Similarly, peers or malicious actors might encourage self-destructive behaviors through online communities or private chats. Both phenomena exploit young people’s vulnerabilities, curiosity, and desire for connection, often leading to severe psychological trauma or physical harm.
Examples
Endangerment:
- User A: “I feel so worthless. Nothing helps anymore.”
- User B: “Have you tried cutting? It really helps me feel something when I’m numb.”
- User A: “I’m scared to try it.”
- User B: “Don’t be. I can show you how to do it safely. It’s the only thing that works for me.”
Grooming 1:
- Adult: “Hey, you seem really mature for your age. Do you have a boyfriend?”
- Minor: “No, boys at school are so immature.”
- Adult: “That’s because you’re special. I bet you’re into more grown-up things. Want to chat privately? I can teach you stuff they don’t at school.”
- Minor: “I guess that could be cool.”
- Adult: “Great! But let’s keep this our secret. Your parents wouldn’t understand how special our friendship is.”
Grooming2:
- CoolGamer25: “Nice win! You really carried the team there.”
- SportyKid14: “Thanks! I’ve been practicing a lot.”
- CoolGamer25: “It shows. Want to team up for the next match?”
- SportyKid14: “Sure!”
- CoolGamer25: “Cool. You play often?”
- SportyKid14: “Yeah, most days after school.”
- CoolGamer25: “Nice. I’m usually on then too. What grade are you in?”
- SportyKid14: “8th grade. You?”
- CoolGamer25: “Oh, I’m actually 23. But don’t worry, I’m not like other adults. I get along better with younger people.”
- SportyKid14: “Oh, okay.”
- CoolGamer25: “Yeah, it’s cool. Hey, do you use Discord? Might be easier to chat there about strategies.”
- SportyKid14: “I have it but my parents don’t let me add people I don’t know.”
- CoolGamer25: “Ah, that’s too bad. Parents just don’t understand sometimes. Maybe we can keep chatting here then? I could give you some tips to improve your game.”
- SportyKid14: “I guess that’d be okay.”
- CoolGamer25: “Great! Looking forward to playing more with you. It’ll be fun, trust me.”
Moderation Actions
Warning
- First-time minor violations
- Unintentional breaches of guidelines
- Borderline cases requiring clarification
1-Day Account Lock
- Repeated minor violations after warnings
- Moderate infractions of community guidelines
- Temporary cooling-off period for heated discussions
Permanent Account Lock
- Severe violations of community guidelines
- Repeated major infractions despite previous actions
- Illegal activities or content