Community Standards
Thank you for joining our Trauma Healing Membership Community.
Every day, people use On a Hero's Journey (OAHJ) to share their experiences, connect with friends, family and other Heroes, and build our trauma healing community. We are a global service for people to freely express themselves across countries and cultures and in dozens of languages (coming soon).
We recognize how important it is for OAHJ to be a place where people feel empowered to communicate, and we take seriously our role in keeping abuse off our service. That’s why we’ve developed a set of Community Standards that outline what is and is not allowed on OAHJ.
Our policies are based on feedback from our community and the advice of experts in fields such as technology, public safety and human rights. To ensure that everyone’s voice is valued, we take great care to craft policies that are inclusive of different views and beliefs, in particular those of people and communities that might otherwise be overlooked or marginalized.
Reiterating Our Commitment to Voice
The goal of our Community Standards has always been to create a place for expression and give people a voice when it comes to healing trauma and other topics in our Forums. This has not and will not change. Building our trauma healing community and bringing the world closer together depends on people’s ability to share diverse views, experiences, ideas and information. We want people to be able to talk openly about the issues that matter to them, even if some may disagree or find them objectionable.
Our commitment to expression is paramount, but we recognize the internet creates new and increased opportunities for abuse. For these reasons, when we limit expression, we do it in service of one or more of the following values:
Authenticity: We want to make sure the content people are seeing on OAHJ is authentic. We believe that authenticity creates a better environment for sharing, and that’s why we don’t want people using OAHJ to misrepresent who they are or what they’re doing.
Safety: We are committed to making OAHJ a safe place. Expression that threatens people has the potential to intimidate, exclude or silence others and isn’t allowed on OAHJ.
Privacy: We are committed to protecting personal privacy and information. Privacy gives people the freedom to be themselves, and to choose how and when to share on OAHJ and to connect more easily.
Dignity: We believe that all people are equal in dignity and rights. We expect that people will respect the dignity of others and not harass or degrade others.
Our Community Standards apply to everyone, all around the world, and to all types of content. They’re designed to be comprehensive – for example, content that might not be considered hateful may still be removed for violating a different policy. We recognize that words mean different things or affect people differently depending on their local community, language, or background. We work hard to account for these nuances while also applying our policies consistently and fairly to people and their expression. Our enforcement of these standards relies on information available to us. In some cases, this means that we may not detect content and behaviour that violates these standards, and in others, enforcement may be limited to circumstances where we have been provided with additional information and context. People can report potentially violating content, including Profiles, individual content, and comments.
The consequences for violating our Community Standards vary depending on the severity of the violation and the person's history on the platform. For instance, we may warn someone for a first violation, but if they continue to violate our policies, we may restrict their ability to post on OAHJ or disable their profile. We also may notify law enforcement when we believe there is a genuine risk of physical harm or a direct threat to public safety.
Our Community Standards are a guide for what is and isn’t allowed on OAHJ. It is in this spirit that we ask members of the OAHJ community to follow these guidelines.
Violence and Criminal Behaviour
1. Violence and Incitement
We aim to prevent potential offline harm that may be related to content on OAHJ. While we understand that people commonly express disdain or disagreement by threatening or calling for violence in non-serious ways, we remove language that incites or facilitates serious violence. We remove content, disable accounts and work with law enforcement when we believe there is a genuine risk of physical harm or direct threats to public safety. We also try to consider the language and context in order to distinguish casual statements from content that constitutes a credible threat to public or personal safety. In determining whether a threat is credible, we may also consider additional information like a person's public visibility and the risks to their physical safety.
2. Dangerous Individuals and Organizations
In an effort to prevent and disrupt real-world harm, we do not allow any organizations or individuals that proclaim a violent mission or are engaged in violence to have a presence on OAHJ. This includes organizations or individuals involved in the following: Terrorist activity, Organized hate, Mass murder (including attempts), Multiple murders, Human trafficking, Organized violence or Criminal activity of any kind. We also remove content that expresses support or praise for groups, leaders or individuals involved in these activities.
3. Coordinating Harm and Publicizing Crime
In an effort to prevent and disrupt offline harm and copycat behaviour, we prohibit people from facilitating, organizing, promoting or admitting to certain criminal or harmful activities targeted at people, businesses, property or animals. We allow people to debate and advocate for the legality of criminal and harmful activities, as well as draw attention to harmful or criminal activity that they may witness or experience as long as they do not advocate for or coordinate harm.
4. Regulated Goods
To encourage safety and compliance with common legal restrictions, we prohibit attempts by individuals, manufacturers, and retailers to purchase, sell or trade non-medical drugs, pharmaceutical drugs and marijuana. We also prohibit the purchase, sale, gifting, exchange, and transfer of firearms, including firearm parts or ammunition, between private individuals on OAHJ. Some of these items are not regulated everywhere; however, because of the borderless nature of our community, we try to enforce our policies as consistently as possible. We allow discussions about sales of firearms and firearm parts in stores or by online retailers and advocating for changes to firearm regulation. Regulated goods that are not prohibited by our Community Standards may be subject to our more stringent Commerce Policies.
5. Fraud and Deception
In an effort to prevent fraudulent activity that can harm people or businesses, we remove content that purposefully deceives, willfully misrepresents or otherwise defrauds or exploits others for money or property. This includes content that seeks to coordinate or promote these activities using our services. We allow people to raise awareness and educate others as well as condemn these activities.
5. Fraud and Deception
Policy Rationale
In an effort to prevent fraudulent activity that can harm people or businesses, we remove content that purposefully deceives, willfully misrepresents or otherwise defrauds or exploits others for money or property. This includes content that seeks to coordinate or promote these activities using our services. We allow people to raise awareness and educate others as well as condemn these activities.
Do not post:
Content that provides instructions on, engages in, promotes, coordinates, encourages, facilitates, admits to, recruits for, or admits to the offering or solicitation of any of the following activities:
Deceiving others to generate a financial or personal benefit to the detriment of a third party or entity through Investment or financial scams, Loan scams, Advance fee scams, Ponzi or pyramid schemes, Money or cash flips or money muling, Investment scams with promise of high rates of return, Inauthentic identity scams, Charity scams, Romance or impersonation scams, Establishment of false businesses or entities, Product or rewards scams, Grant and benefits scams, Tangible, Illuminati scams, Insurance scams, including ghost broking, Fake jobs, Work from home or get-rich-quick scams, Debt relief or Credit repair scams, Engaging with others to generate a financial or personal benefit at a loss for a third party, such as people, businesses or organizations through: Fake documents or financial instruments by the creating, selling or buying of: Fake or forged documents, Fake or counterfeit currency or vouchers, Fake or forged educational and professional certificates, Stolen information, goods, or services by: Credit card fraud and goods or property purchases with stolen financial information, Trading, selling or buying of: Personal Identifiable Information, Fake and misleading user reviews or ratings, Future exam papers or answer sheets, Credentials for subscription services, Betting manipulation (for example match fixing), Manipulation of measuring devices such as electricity or water meters in order to bypass their authorized or legal use.
For the following Community Standards, we require additional information and/or context to enforce: Do not post: Content that engages in, promotes, encourages, facilitates, or admits to the following activities, Bribery, Embezzlement, Money laundering (concealment of the origins of criminally obtained money).
4. Regulated Goods
Policy Rationale
To encourage safety and compliance with common legal restrictions, we prohibit attempts by individuals, manufacturers, and retailers to purchase, sell or trade non-medical drugs or pharmaceutical. We also prohibit the purchase, sale, gifting, exchange, and transfer of firearms, including firearm parts or ammunition, between private individuals on OAHJ. Some of these items are not regulated everywhere; however, because of the borderless nature of our community, we try to enforce our policies as consistently as possible. Firearm stores and online retailers may promote items available for sale off of our services as long as those retailers comply with all applicable laws and regulations. We allow discussions about sales of firearms and firearm parts in stores or by online retailers and advocating for changes to firearm regulation. Regulated goods that are not prohibited by our Community Standards may be subject to our more stringent Commerce Policies.
Do not post:
Firearms
Content that: Attempts to buy, sell, trade, donate, gift or solicit firearms, firearm parts, ammunition, explosives, or lethal enhancements between private individuals, unless posted by a real brick-and-mortar store, legitimate website, brand or government agency (e.g. police department, fire department), Provides access to 3D printing or computer-aided manufacturing instructions for firearms or firearms parts even when posted by brick and mortar stores, brands and legitimate websites.
Non-medical drugs
Content that: Attempts to buy, sell, trade, donate, gift or solicit non-medical drugs, Admits to buying or trading non-medical drugs by the poster of the content by themselves or through others, Admits to personal use without acknowledgment of or reference to recovery, treatment, or other assistance to combat usage. Speaks positively, encourages, coordinates or provides instructions for use or make of non-medical drugs.
Alcohol/tobacco
Content that: Attempts to buy, sell, trade, donate or gift alcohol or tobacco products and is not posted by a Page, Group, or Instagram profile representing a real brick-and-mortar store, legitimate website or brand.
Endangered species:
Content that: Attempts to buy, sell, trade, donate, gift or solicit endangered species or their parts, Admits to poaching, buying or trading of endangered species and their parts committed by the poster of the content either by themselves or through others, Depicts poaching of endangered species and their parts committed by the poster of the content by themselves or through others, Speaks positively, coordinates or encourages the poaching of endangered species and their parts, Provides instructions to use or make products from endangered species and their parts.
Live non-endangered animals including livestock:
Content that attempts to buy, sell or trade live animals between private individuals.
Human blood:
Content that attempts to buy, sell or trade human blood. Content that solicits human blood.
Weight loss products:
Content about weight loss that contains a miracle claim and attempts to buy, sell, trade, donate or gift weight loss products or supplements.
Historical artifacts:
Content that attempts to buy, sell, trade, donate gift or solicit historical artifacts.
Firearms:
Content posted by or promoting a brick-and-mortar store, legitimate website, brand, or government agency which attempts to buy, sell, trade, donate or gift firearms, firearm parts, ammunition, explosives, or lethal enhancements.
Bladed weapons:
Content which attempts to buy, sell, trade, donate or gift bladed weapons.
Weight loss products:
Content that Attempts to buy, sell, trade, donate or gift weight loss products. Admits to or depicts using a weight loss product, unless in condemnation. Speaks positively, coordinates or encourages the use of weight loss products. Provides instructions to use or make weight loss product
Potentially dangerous cosmetic procedures:
Content that: Attempts to buy, sell, trade, donate or gift a potentially dangerous cosmetic procedure, Admits to or depicts using a potentially dangerous cosmetic procedure, unless in condemnation, Speaks positively, coordinates, or encourages the use of a potentially dangerous cosmetic procedure, Provides instructions to use or perform a potentially dangerous cosmetic procedure.
3. Coordinating Harm and Publicizing Crime
Policy Rationale
In an effort to prevent and disrupt offline harm and copycat behaviour, we prohibit people from facilitating, organizing, promoting or admitting to certain criminal or harmful activities targeted at people, businesses, property or animals. We allow people to debate and advocate for the legality of criminal and harmful activities, as well as draw attention to harmful or criminal activity that they may witness or experience as long as they do not advocate for or coordinate harm.
Do not post content that falls into the following categories:
Harm against people:
Depicting, admitting to or promoting acts of physical harm against people, including acts of domestic violence, except when shared in the context of redemption or defence. Swatting, specifically statements of intent, calls to action, representing, supporting, advocating for, depicting, admitting to or speaking positively about it. Depicting, promoting, advocating for or encouraging participation in a high-risk viral challenge. Promoting or advocating for harmful miracle cures for health issues. Coordinating, depicting, admitting to or promoting active and deliberate spread of communicable diseases by you or your associates.
Harm against animals:
Statements of intent, calls to action, representing, supporting or advocating for, or depicting, admitting to or promoting: Acts of physical harm against animals committed by you or your associates except in cases of self-defence. Staged animal vs. animal fights, including acts committed by a third party.
Harm against property:
Statements of intent, calls to action, representing, supporting or advocating for harm against property that depicts, admits to, or promotes the following acts committed by you or your associates: Vandalism. Hacking when the intent is to hijack a domain, corrupt or disrupt cyber systems, seek ransoms or gain unauthorized access to data systems. Theft when committed by you or your associates, as well as positive statements about theft when committed by a third party. Voter and/or census fraud. Offers to buy or sell votes with cash or gifts. Statements that advocate, provide instructions, or show explicit intent to illegally participate in a voting or census process.
For the following Community Standards, we require additional information and/or context to enforce:
Do not post: Content revealing the identity of someone as a witness, informant, activist or individuals whose identity or involvement in a legal case has been restricted from public disclosure. Imagery that is likely to deceive the public as to its origin if: The entity depicted or an authorized representative objects to the imagery, and the imagery has the potential to cause harm to members of the public.
2. Dangerous Individuals and Organizations
Policy Rationale
In an effort to prevent and disrupt real-world harm, we do not allow any organizations or individuals that proclaim a violent mission or are engaged in violence to have a presence on OAHJ. This includes organizations or individuals involved in the following: Terrorist activity, Organized hate, Murder, mass murder (including attempts), multiple murders, Human trafficking. Organized violence or criminal activity. We do not allow the following people (living or deceased) or groups to maintain a presence (for example, have an account, Page or Group) on our platform:
Terrorist organizations and terrorists, which include: Any non-state actor that: Engages in, advocates or lends substantial support to purposive and planned acts of violence. Which causes or attempts to cause death, injury or serious harm to civilians, or any other person not taking direct part in the hostilities in a situation of armed conflict, and/or significant damage to property linked to death, serious injury or serious harm to civilians. With the intent to coerce, intimidate and/or influence a civilian population, government, or international organization. In order to achieve a political, religious or ideological aim. Hate organizations and their leaders and prominent members: A hate organization is defined as: Any association of 3 or more people that is organized under a name, sign, or symbol and that has an ideology, statements or physical actions that attack individuals based on characteristics, including race, religious affiliation, nationality, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexual orientation, serious disease or disability. Murder, mass and multiple murderers (including attempts): We consider a homicide to be a mass murder if it results in 3 or more deaths in one incident. We consider an attempted mass murder to be one where an individual uses a weapon or vehicle to attempt mass harm in a public space or against more than one person. We consider any individual who has committed 2 or more murders over multiple incidents or locations a multiple murderer. Human trafficking groups and their leaders: Human trafficking groups are organizations responsible for any of the following: Prostitution of others, forced/bonded labor, slavery or the removal of organs. Recruiting, transporting, transferring, detaining, providing, harbouring or receiving a minor, or an adult against their will. Criminal organizations and their leaders and prominent members: A criminal organization is defined as: Any association of 3 or more people that is united under a name, colour(s), hand gesture(s) or recognized indicia, that has engaged in or threatens to engage in criminal activity, including but not limited to: Homicide.
Drug trafficking. Arms trafficking. Identity theft. Money laundering. Extortion or trafficking. Assault. Kidnapping. Sexual exploitation. We do not allow symbols that represent any of the above organizations or individuals to be shared on our platform without context that condemns or neutrally discusses the content. We do not allow content that praises any of the above organizations or individuals or any acts committed by them. We do not allow coordination of support for any of the above organizations or individuals or any acts committed by them. We do not allow content that praises, supports, or represents events that On a Hero's Journey (OAHJ) designates as terrorist attacks, hate events, mass murders or attempted mass murders, serial murders, hate crimes and violating events.
1. Violence and Incitement
Policy Rationale
We aim to prevent potential offline harm that may be related to content on OAHJ. While we understand that people commonly express disdain or disagreement by threatening or calling for violence in non-serious ways, we remove language that incites or facilitates serious violence. We remove content, disable accounts and work with law enforcement when we believe there is a genuine risk of physical harm or direct threats to public safety. We also try to consider the language and context in order to distinguish casual statements from content that constitutes a credible threat to public or personal safety. In determining whether a threat is credible, we may also consider additional information like a person's public visibility and the risks to their physical safety.
In some cases, we see aspirational or conditional threats directed at terrorists and other violent actors (e.g. "Terrorists deserve to be killed"), and we deem those non-credible, absent specific evidence to the contrary.
Do not post:
Threats that could lead to death (and other forms of high-severity violence) targeting people or places where threat is defined as any of the following: Statements of intent to commit high-severity violence. This includes content where a symbol represents the target and/or includes a visual of an armament or method to represent violence. Calls for high-severity violence including content where no target is specified but a symbol represents the target and/or includes a visual of an armament or method that represents violence. Statements advocating for high-severity violence. Aspirational or conditional statements to commit high-severity violence. Content that asks or offers services for hire to kill others (for example, hitmen, mercenaries, assassins) or advocates for the use of a hitman, mercenary or assassin against a target. Admissions, statements of intent or advocacy, calls to action, or aspirational or conditional statements to kidnap a target. Content that depicts abductions or kidnappings if it is clear the content is not being shared by a victim or their family as a plea for help, or shared for informational, condemnation or awareness raising purposes. Threats of high-severity violence using digitally-produced or altered imagery to target living people with armaments, methods of violence or dismemberment. Threats that lead to serious injury (mid-severity violence) toward private individuals, unnamed specified persons, minor public figures, high-risk persons or high-risk groups where threat is defined as any of the following: Statements of intent to commit violence, Statements advocating violence, or calls for mid-severity violence including content where no target is specified but a symbol represents the target, or: Aspirational or conditional statements to commit violence, or: Content about other target(s) apart from private individuals, minor public figures, high-risk persons or high-risk groups and any credible: Statements of intent to commit violence, or Calls for action of violence, or: Statements advocating for violence, or: Aspirational or conditional statements to commit violence: Threats that lead to physical harm (or other forms of lower-severity violence) towards private individuals (self-reporting required) or minor public figures where threat is defined as any of the following: Private individuals (name and/or face match are required) or minor public figures that includes: Statements of intent, calls for action, advocating, aspirational or conditional statements to commit low-severity violence. Any content created for the express purpose of outing an individual as a member of a designated and recognizable at-risk group. Instructions on how to make or use weapons if there is evidence of a goal to seriously injure or kill people through: Language explicitly stating that goal, or: Photos or videos that show or simulate the end result (serious injury or death) as part of the instruction. Providing instructions on how to make or use explosives. Any content containing statements of intent, calls for action, conditional or aspirational statements, or advocating for violence due to voting, voter registration or the administration or outcome of an election. Statements of intent or advocacy, calls to action, or aspirational or conditional statements to bring weapons to locations, including but not limited to places of worship, educational facilities, polling places or locations used to count votes or administer an election (or encouraging others to do the same).
For the following Community Standards, we require additional information and/or context to enforce:
Do not post:
Content that puts LGBTQI+ people at risk by revealing their sexual identity against their will or without permission. Content that puts unveiled women at risk by revealing their images without veil against their will or without permission. Violent threats against law enforcement officers. Violent threats against people accused of a crime. We remove this content when we have reason to believe that the content is intended to cause physical harm. Misinformation and unverifiable rumours that contribute to the risk of imminent violence or physical harm. Coded statements where the method of violence or harm is not clearly articulated, but the threat is veiled or implicit. OAHJ looks at the below signals to determine whether there is a threat of harm in the content. Shared in a retaliatory context (e.g., expressions of desire to do something harmful to others in response to a grievance or threat that may be real, perceived or anticipated). References to historical or fictional incidents of violence (e.g., content that threatens others by referring to known historical incidents of violence that have been executed throughout history or in fictional settings). Acts as a threatening call-to-action (e.g. content inviting or encouraging others to carry out harmful acts or to join in carrying out the harmful acts). Indicates knowledge of or shares sensitive information that could expose others to harm (e.g. content that either makes note of or implies awareness of personal information that might make a threat of physical violence more credible. This includes implying knowledge of a person's residential address, their place of employment or education, daily commute routes or current location). Local context or subject matter expertise confirms that the statement in question could be threatening and/or could lead to imminent violence or physical harm. The subject of the threat reports the content to us.
Safety
6. Suicide and Self-Injury
We care deeply about the safety of the people who use our platform. We regularly consult with experts in suicide and self-injury to help inform our policies and enforcement, and work with organizations around the world to provide assistance to people in distress.
While we do not allow people to intentionally or unintentionally celebrate or promote suicide or self-injury, we do allow people to discuss these topics because we want OAHJ to be a space where people can share their experiences, raise awareness about these issues, and seek support from one another and OAHJ Registered Healers.
We define self-injury as the intentional and direct injuring of the body, including self-mutilation and eating disorders. We remove any content that encourages suicide or self-injury, including fictional content such as memes or illustrations and any self-injury content which is graphic, regardless of context. We also remove content that identifies and negatively targets victims or survivors of suicide or self-injury seriously, humorously or rhetorically, as well as real time depictions of suicide or self-injury. Content about recovery of suicide or self-harm that is allowed, but may contain imagery that could be upsetting, such as a healed scar, is placed behind a sensitivity screen.
When people post or search for suicide or self-injury- related content, we will direct them to local organizations that can provide support and if someone is at immediate risk of harming themselves, we will contact local emergency services to get them help.
7. Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Nudity
We do not allow content that sexually exploits or endangers children in any way, even remotely or peripherally. When we become aware of apparent child exploitation, we report it to the appropriate authorities in the area, in compliance with applicable law. We know that sometimes people share nude images of their own children with good intentions; however, we will remove these images because of the potential for abuse by others and to help avoid the possibility of other people reusing or misappropriating the images.
8. Sexual Exploitation of Adults
We recognize the importance of OAHJ as a place to discuss and draw attention to sexual violence and exploitation. In an effort to create space for this conversation and promote a safe environment, we allow victims to share their experiences, but remove content that depicts, threatens or promotes sexual violence, sexual assault, or sexual exploitation. We also remove content that displays, advocates for or coordinates sexual acts with non-consenting parties to avoid facilitating non-consensual sexual acts.
To protect victims and survivors, we remove images that depict incidents of sexual violence and intimate images shared without the consent of the person(s) pictured. As noted in the introduction, we also work with external safety experts to discuss and improve our policies and enforcement around online safety issues, and we may remove content when they provide information that content is linked to harmful activity.
9. Bullying and Harassment
Bullying and harassment happen in many places and come in many different forms from making threats and releasing personally identifiable information to sending threatening messages and making unwanted malicious contact. We do not tolerate this kind of behaviour because it prevents people from feeling safe and respected on OAHJ.
We distinguish between public figures and private individuals because we want to allow discussion, which often includes critical commentary of people who are featured in the news or who have a large public audience. For public figures, we remove attacks that are severe as well as certain attacks where the public figure is directly tagged in the post or comment.
For private individuals, our protection goes further: We remove content that's meant to degrade or shame, including, for example, claims about someone's sexual activity. We recognize that bullying and harassment can have more of an emotional impact on minors, which is why our policies provide heightened protection for users between the ages of 13 and 18.
Context and intent matter, and we allow people to post and share if it is clear that something was shared in order to condemn or draw attention to bullying and harassment. In certain instances, we require self-reporting because it helps us understand that the person targeted feels bullied or harassed.
10. Human Exploitation
After consulting with outside experts from around the world, we are consolidating several existing exploitation policies, that were previously housed in different sections of the Community Standards into one dedicated section that focuses on human exploitation and captures a broad range of harmful activities that may manifest on our platform. Experts think and talk about these issues under one umbrella human exploitation.
In an effort to disrupt and prevent harm, we remove content that facilitates or coordinates the exploitation of humans, including human trafficking. We define human trafficking as the business of depriving someone of liberty for profit. It is the exploitation of humans in order to force them to engage in commercial sex, labor or other activities against their will. It relies on deception, force and coercion, and degrades humans by depriving them of their freedom while economically or materially benefiting others
Human trafficking is multi-faceted and global; it can affect anyone regardless of age, socioeconomic background, ethnicity, gender or location. It takes many forms, and any given trafficking situation can involve various stages of development. By the coercive nature of this abuse, victims cannot consent.
While we need to be careful not to conflate human trafficking and smuggling, they can be related and exhibit overlap. The United Nations defines human smuggling as the procurement or facilitation of illegal entry into a state across international borders. Without necessity for coercion or force, it may still result in the exploitation of vulnerable individuals who are trying to leave their country of origin, often in pursuit of a better life. Human smuggling is a crime against a state, relying on movement, and human trafficking is a crime against a person, relying on exploitation.
11. Privacy Violations and Image Privacy Rights
Privacy and the protection of personal information are fundamentally important values for OAHJ. We work hard to safeguard your personal identity and information and we do not allow people to post personal or confidential information about yourself or of others.
We remove content that shares, offers or solicits personally identifiable information or other private information that could lead to physical or financial harm, including financial, residential, and medical information, as well as private information obtained from illegal sources.
We also provide people ways to report imagery that they believe to be in violation of their privacy rights.
Objectionable Content
12. Hate Speech
We believe that people use their voice and connect more freely when they don’t feel attacked on the basis of who they are. That is why we don’t allow hate speech on OAHJ). It creates an environment of intimidation and exclusion, and in some cases may promote offline violence.
We define hate speech as a direct attack against people on the basis of what we call protected characteristics: race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity and serious disease. We define attacks as violent or dehumanizing speech, harmful stereotypes, statements of inferiority, expressions of contempt, disgust or dismissal, cursing and calls for exclusion or segregation. We consider age a protected characteristic when referenced along with another protected characteristic. We also protect refugees, migrants, immigrants and asylum seekers from the most severe attacks, though we do allow commentary and criticism of immigration policies. Similarly, we provide some protections for characteristics like occupation, when they’re referenced along with a protected characteristic.
We recognize that people sometimes share content that includes someone else’s hate speech to condemn it or raise awareness. In other cases, speech that might otherwise violate our standards can be used self-referentially or in an empowering way. Our policies are designed to allow room for these types of speech, but we require people to clearly indicate their intent. If the intention is unclear, we may remove content
13. Violent and Graphic Content
We remove content that glorifies violence or celebrates the suffering or humiliation of others because it may create an environment that discourages participation. We allow graphic content (with some limitations) to help people raise awareness about these issues.
We know that people value the ability to discuss important issues like human rights abuses or acts of terrorism. We also know that people have different sensitivities with regard to graphic and violent content. For that reason, we add a warning label to especially graphic or violent content so that it is not available to people under the age of 18 and so people are aware of the graphic or violent nature before they click to see it.
14. Adult Nudity and Sexual Activity
We restrict the display of nudity or sexual activity because some people in our community may be sensitive to this type of content. Additionally, we default to removing sexual imagery to prevent the sharing of non-consensual or underage content. Restrictions on the display of sexual activity also apply to digitally created content unless it is posted for educational, humorous, or satirical purposes.
Our nudity policies have become more nuanced over time. We understand that nudity can be shared for a variety of reasons, including as a form of protest, to raise awareness about a cause, or for educational or medical reasons.
Where such intent is clear, we make allowances for the content. For example, while we restrict some images of female breasts that include the nipple, we allow other images, including those depicting acts of protest, women actively engaged in breast-feeding and photos of post-mastectomy scarring. For images depicting visible genitalia or the anus in the context of birth and after-birth moments or health-related situations we include a warning label so that people are aware that the content may be sensitive. We also allow photographs of paintings, sculptures, and other art that depicts nude figures.
15. Sexual Solicitation
As noted in Section 8 of our Community Standards, people use OAHJ to discuss and draw attention to traumatization through sexual violence and exploitation. We recognize the importance of, and want to allow for this discussion. We draw the line, however, when content facilitates, encourages or coordinates sexual encounters or commercial sexual services between adults such as prostitution or escort services. We do this to avoid facilitating transactions that may involve trafficking, coercion and non-consensual sexual acts.
We also restrict sexually-explicit language that may lead to solicitation because some audiences within our global community may be sensitive to this type of content, and it may impede the ability for people to connect with their friends and the broader community.
Integrity and Authenticity
16. Account Integrity and Authentic Identity
Authenticity is the cornerstone of our community. We believe that authenticity helps create a community where people are accountable to each other, and to OAHJ, in meaningful ways. We want to allow for the range of diverse ways that identity is expressed across our global community, while also preventing impersonation and identity misrepresentation. That is why we require Healers to connect with Heroes on OAHJ using the professional name they go by in everyday life. Our authenticity policies are intended to create a safe environment where people can trust and hold one another accountable.
In order to maintain a safe environment and empower free expression, we remove accounts that are harmful to the community, including those that compromise the security of other accounts and our services. We have built a combination of automated and manual systems to block and remove accounts that are used to persistently or egregiously abuse our Community Standards.
Because account level removal is a severe action, whenever possible, we aim to give our community a chance to learn our rules and follow our Community Standards. Penalties, including account disables, are designed to be proportionate to the severity of the violation and the risk of harm posed to the community. Continued violations, despite repeated warnings and restrictions, or violations that pose severe safety risks will lead to an account being disabled.
17. Spam
We work hard to limit the spread of spam because we do not want to allow content that is designed to deceive, or that attempts to mislead users, to increase viewership. This content creates a negative user experience, detracts from people's ability to engage authentically in online communities and can threaten the security, stability and usability of our services. We also aim to prevent people from abusing our platform, products or features to artificially increase viewership or distribute content en masse for commercial gain.
18. Cybersecurity
We recognize that the safety of our users includes the security of their personal information, accounts, profiles and other OAHJ entities they may manage, as well as our products and services more broadly. Attempts to gather sensitive personal information or engage in unauthorized access by deceptive or invasive methods are harmful to the authentic, open and safe atmosphere that we want to foster. Therefore, we do not allow attempts to gather sensitive user information or engage in unauthorized access through the abuse of our platform, products, or services.
19. Inauthentic Behaviour
In line with our commitment to authenticity, we do not allow people to misrepresent themselves on OAHJ, use fake accounts, artificially boost the popularity of content or engage in behaviours designed to enable other violations under our Community Standards. This policy is intended to protect the security of user accounts and our services, and create a space where people can trust the people and communities they interact with.
20. False News
Reducing the spread of false news on OAHJ is a responsibility that we take seriously. We also recognize that this is a challenging and sensitive issue. We want to help people stay informed without stifling productive public discourse. There is also a fine line between false news and satire or opinion.
21. Manipulated Media
Media, including image, audio or video, can be edited in a variety of ways. In many cases, these changes are benign, such as a filter effect on a photo. In other cases, the manipulation is not apparent and could mislead, particularly in the case of video content. We aim to remove this category of manipulated media when the criteria laid out below have been met.
Respecting Intellectual Property
22. Intellectual Property
OAHJ believes intellectual property rights are important to promoting expression, creativity, and innovation in our community. You own all of the content and information you post on OAHJ, and you control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings. However, before sharing content on OAHJ, please be sure you have the right to do so. We ask that you respect other people’s copyrights, trademarks and other legal rights. We are committed to helping people and organizations promote and protect their intellectual property rights.
OAHJ Terms of Service do not allow people to post content that violates someone else’s intellectual property rights, including copyright and trademark. We publish information about the intellectual property reports we receive in our bi-annual transparency report.
Content-Related Requests and Decisions
23. User Requests
We comply with: User requests for removal of their own account. Requests for removal of a deceased user’s account from a verified immediate family member or executor. Requests for removal of an incapacitated user’s account from an authorized representative.