Harassment may take many forms, including online bullying, intimidation, threats (see here and here), doxing, swatting and brigading. These manifest via comments, direct messages, stories, story descriptions, sources / citations and ratings of stories and comments.

We do not tolerate any form of harassment, however, we do make a distinction between those in the public eye, public figures and private citizens in order to facilitate newsworthy stories that may include critical commentary.

Those in the public eye may be people who are featured in the news while public figures are those with a large public audience and/or following. We will remove content that attacks public persons, if we feel the attacks are severe, personal or go beyond relatively objective criticism. This is particularly true if a potential victim of harassment is directly tagged in a story or comment.

We may permit content that is shared in order to condemn or draw attention to harassment, provided that it does not further victimize.

For private citizens, we will remove any content that may be interpreted as degrading or shaming. We have a zero tolerance policy for any content that we feel may be harassment when it is targeted at minors. This content often requires individuals to report it to us. We encourage self-reporting for anyone that feels that they may be a victim of harassment.

Note: This policy does not apply to individuals who are part of designated organizations under the Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy or individuals who died prior to 1900.

What happens if you violate these standards?

Content may be labelled or removed, platform functionality may be restricted and for egregious violations, accounts may be banned. We may also relay egregious violations to the appropriate authorities.

For more information see our page: Enforcement Approach

What is in violation of these standards?

Any behavior that is prohibited by the UNPRESS Community Standards, including any behavior that may target or victimize persons. Behaviors include, but are not limited to, sending messages, posting stories, posting imagery (original, edited or fabricated), comments or written descriptions or creating community groups.

Violating behaviors include, but are not limited to:

• Repeatedly contacting someone in a manner that may be:

  • Unwanted

  • Sexually harassing

  • Directed at large numbers of people with no prior solicitation

• Abuse of the rating system to harass, particularly coordinated efforts with one or more other individuals

• Any speech which may incite others to harm or inflict self-harm

• Attacking a person on the basis of a protected class, which includes:

  • Race, ethnicity or skin color

  • Religion or creed

  • National origin or ancestry

  • Sex, including gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity

  • Age

  • Physical or mental disability

  • Veteran status

  • Genetic information

  • Citizenship

• Attacking a person on the basis of:

  • Breastfeeding choices

  • Disease

  • Abortion views or choices

  • Physical appearance

  • Previous victimization including domestic or sexual abuse

• Content or dialog that constitutes or incites others to bullying, intimidation, threats (see here and here), doxing, swatting or brigading.

• Content or dialog that praises, advocates or calls for harm or sexualizes another person (without their knowledge or permission.)

• Content or dialog that praises, celebrates or mocks harm done to another person

• Cursing terms directed at others in a derogatory manner

• Claims of illegal activity, or sexual or romantic involvement with the intent to harass or defame

• Comparisons of persons to other living creatures or inanimate objects that are culturally perceived as being mentally or physically inferior.

What is not in violation of these standards?

Content that:

• Is newsworthy but includes critical commentary of public figures or people in the public eye

• Is shared in order to condemn or draw attention to harassment