Moderation and transparency
How a report becomes a decision, what the decision has to say, how to appeal it, and how many of each there were.Last updated 2026-08-17
1. How moderation works
- Report-driven. Content is reviewed because a member or a visitor reported it, or because a moderator saw it in the ordinary course of using the site. There is no promise of proactive review of every post, and no such review happens.
- Automated steps. None at present. If a text classifier is introduced to pre-screen posts before a person reads them, it will be named here, its role described, and every statement of reasons will say whether it was involved. It will never decide; it will only order the queue.
- A person decides. Every hide, removal, strike, suspension and ban is made by a person with the content and the report in front of them, and recorded in a ledger with the reason code, the statement sent, and the report that triggered it.
- The queue is sorted by harm. Each reason carries a target time; the queue puts the shortest clock first. Abuse material is hidden and preserved on first look and reported to NCMEC. Intimate content without consent, threats to life, under-age accounts and self-harm content are hidden on first report while a person reviews.
2. Reason codes and targets
Targets are targets. They are what the queue sorts by and what we aim for; they are not a promise.
| Code | Reason | Target |
|---|---|---|
csam | Child sexual abuse material | Immediate: hidden, held, reported to NCMEC |
nonconsensual_intimate | Intimate content without consent | Within 48 hours |
threat_to_life | Threat to life or safety | Within 24 hours |
underage_user | Under 16 | Within 24 hours |
self_harm | Self-harm or suicide content | Within 24 hours |
violence | Violence or threats | Within a week |
harassment | Harassment or bullying | Within a week |
hate | Hate speech | Within a week |
privacy | Personal information / doxxing | Within a week |
impersonation | Impersonation | Within a week |
sexual | Sexual or explicit content | Within a week |
copyright | Copyright | Within 72 hours |
commerce | Selling, payment, or above face value | Within a week |
illegal | Illegal activity | Within a week |
spam | Spam or advertising | Within a week |
other | Something else | Within a week |
3. The ladder
- Note — no record against the account.
- Hide — content off the site, kept, statement sent, appealable.
- Strike — one of
guidelines,safety,copyright; counts for 12 months; removes posting trust for 30 days. - Posting suspension — read-only for a stated period; reporting, appeal, export and deletion stay open.
- Ban — account closed; the address may not register again. Automatic on 3 actioned copyright strikes in 12 months, on a confirmed under-age account, on abuse material, on a credible threat to life.
Removal (as opposed to hiding) is used only where content must not be retrievable, and for erasure.
4. The statement of reasons
Every hide, removal, strike, suspension and ban sends the affected member an email in this shape:
Restriction. [Hidden / removed / strike / suspension / ban], applying to [the item or the account], [until date / indefinitely].
Facts. [What was posted, when]. This followed [a report received on date / a moderator’s own review].
Automated means. No automated decision; a person reviewed this.
Ground. [Community Guidelines §N — rule] / [Law: statute].
Redress. Reply to this message or write to [email protected]. You may also go to court.
The one exception is mass spam removal, where no statement is mailed. Statements are included in your data export.
5. Appeals
Write to [email protected], or reply to the statement. Say what was decided and why it was wrong. Where possible a different person reads it than the one who acted. Granted appeals restore the content and revoke the strike; the ledger records the reversal. Expected, not promised: a reply within two weeks. Nothing here stops you going to court instead or as well.
6. The numbers
Counted from the moderation ledger, refreshed hourly, published for the current and previous calendar year. Where a figure could identify a person it is published as a floor.
| Measure | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Member reports received | 0 | 0 |
| — actioned | 0 | 0 |
| — dismissed | 0 | 0 |
| — open | 0 | 0 |
| Public reports received | 0 | 0 |
| Mean hours to resolve | — | — |
| Content hidden | 0 | 0 |
| Content removed | 0 | 0 |
| Content restored | 0 | 0 |
| Accounts banned | 0 | 0 |
| Accounts unbanned | 0 | 0 |
| Strikes — guidelines | 0 | 0 |
| Strikes — safety | 0 | 0 |
| Strikes — copyright | 0 | 0 |
| Appeals granted | 0 | 0 |
| Copyright notices actioned | 0 | 0 |
| Government requests / preservation orders | 0 | 0 |
| Reports to NCMEC | 0 | 0 |
| Legal holds placed | 0 | 0 |
Actions by reason
| Reason | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
csam | 0 | 0 |
nonconsensual_intimate | 0 | 0 |
threat_to_life | 0 | 0 |
underage_user | 0 | 0 |
self_harm | 0 | 0 |
violence | 0 | 0 |
harassment | 0 | 0 |
hate | 0 | 0 |
privacy | 0 | 0 |
impersonation | 0 | 0 |
sexual | 0 | 0 |
copyright | 0 | 0 |
commerce | 0 | 0 |
illegal | 0 | 0 |
spam | 0 | 0 |
other | 0 | 0 |
Counter-notice counts and appeals received (as distinct from granted) are recorded by hand and added at year end. Law-enforcement request counts come from the request log described on the Law enforcement page.
7. Changelog of the documents
- 2026-08-17 — Legal set published under /legal: Terms rewritten (in-person release, deletion tiers, liability, venue), Guidelines, Privacy rewritten, Cookies, Copyright and DMCA, intimate-content page, Contact, Law enforcement, this page, Accessibility, Your data.
- 2026-08-16 — First Privacy Policy.