SPACES is a platform where LGBTQ+ people can find and build communities where they are able to be their authentic, complete selves — safe from the toxicity and dangers of other social media platforms — while having fun, building relationships and hanging out. All queer people (and allies — we don’t discriminate!) can find belonging on SPACES.
Our Content & Community Guidelines are meant to explain what is and is not allowed on SPACES. Everyone is expected to follow these guidelines to ensure all our users feel welcome and respected.
A member of the SPACES Team will review all user-submitted reports of content, behavior and Spaces inside the app, and is able to take a number of steps to enforce our guidelines, as documented below. If you come across a user, message or Space that you believe violates the spirit of our guidelines, please report it to us.
PART ONE: Our Guidelines
In an effort to ensure SPACES is the safest, most welcoming social platform for LGBTQ+ people in existence, the following is not allowed:
No hate or harassment
The SPACES community surpasses gender identity, sexuality, sexual preferences/kinks, politics, religion/spirituality, national origin, culture, race, ethnicity, disability, disease and age — and any content or conduct that inappropriately defames or discriminates along those lines is simply not allowed. “Harassment” includes deadnaming and intentional misgendering, and can include circumnavigating a block or ban. In some cases, when hate speech is being shared to challenge it or to raise awareness, it may be allowed, but we ask that in those instances users clearly express their intent.
No violent threats or glorification of violence
Threats of violence against users and non-users are never allowed, including indirect or suggestive threats, nor is the glorification of violence or violent acts. This includes doxxing (sharing or threatening to share someone’s personally identifiable information).
No illegal content or behavior
Illegal content or conduct is strictly prohibited within the app and may be reported to law enforcement. This of course includes any adult content involving or depicting minors, whether illustrated, digitally altered or otherwise. Content or conduct that promotes the distribution of stolen/prohibited goods or pirated content is also prohibited.
No glorification of self-harm or suicide
This includes encouragement of others to engage in self-harm, which includes eating disorders. Self-harm threats as emotional manipulation are also prohibited.
No gore or excessive violence
Users should refrain from sharing content that depicts gory or excessive violence, including animal harm and including content that is intended to harass or shock others.
No content that violates others’ intellectual property or other rights
Users should not share content (in any format) that violates another person’s or entity’s intellectual property or other rights.
No false or misleading content
We take the danger of misinformation seriously, and will take action against content or conduct that promotes false or misleading information when it’s reasonable to believe it could have real damage. The malicious impersonation of another person, brand or organization is also not allowed, though clearly expressed satire and parody will usually be fine.
No hacking, no spamming, no phishing, no bots
Users may not engage in behavior that would give them unauthorized access to another user’s account or Space, including impersonation of SPACES staff, distribution of malware, phishing or other forms of “hacking.” Users may not “spam” others in the app or unduly disrupt other users’ experience, including by creating fake or multiple accounts or posting advertisements.
No false or misleading reports
Behavior that exploits or abuses our moderation processes or that attempts to mislead the SPACES Team is not allowed. Users should not engage in false or malicious reporting of other users/content or send multiple reports about the same issue.
No adult content outside of appropriate Spaces
Adult content, especially content depicting sex, should be kept to private — not public — Spaces inside the app. Adult content should not be made available to minors, which is why any space welcoming adult content needs to have an “adult content” label applied by its host (a feature that is currently in the works). Adult content also cannot appear in user profiles or Space profiles, which are publicly accessible.
An important note: While the above guidelines apply to all in-app content and conduct, hosts of individual Spaces are able to go above and beyond these guidelines in terms of what they allow in their own Spaces. (For example, a host may create a private space but decide they do not want to allow adult content, or the host of an entertainment-related Space may decide “spoilers” are not allowed.)
Another important note: These guidelines will likely evolve over time, and in the spirit of transparency, we pledge to notify our users of Guidelines updates.
PART TWO: Our Protocols & Processes
To enforce our Guidelines, one or more of the below actions may happen:
- A warning is issued to a user or the host of a Space
- A “freeze” that disallows commenting for a certain period of time
- Removal of content from a Space.
- Removal of a user’s profile from a Space or the app
- Removal of a Space from the app
- Placement of a tag or warning on problematic content
- A change to a Space’s settings making it private (if public) or invisible (if discoverable)
- Placement of an “adult content” label on a Space.
- A report made to law enforcement
With transparency as one of our core values, we have real humans making all moderation decisions, not an algorithm, and while moderators may be assisted by technology to surface content for review, the technology does not make decisions. Context is at the heart of all our moderation decisions.
When a decision has been made by the SPACES Team to remove a piece of content or Space from the app, the user/host will receive a message indicating the content or conduct at issue, which guideline it violates and the specific moderation action that has taken place. They will also be given information about a timely process to appeal our decision.
As this Safety Pledge indicates, “when our own moderation efforts miss the mark, as they sometimes will, we pledge to take accountability for any errors while offering our users a human-led appeals process to ensure we reach the correct decision."
PART THREE: What Users Can Do
It’s imperative that all SPACES users “pitch in” to make the platform a safe one for all LGBTQ+ people. Here are some ways you — our users — can help by taking action:
- Report content or conduct you feel violates the spirit of our Guidelines
- Report a user you believe doesn’t have the queer community’s best interests at heart.
- Report a Space you believe doesn’t belong on the app.
- If you see content you don’t like in a Space you’re a member of, you can block the user who posted it and voice your discontent with the Space’s host.
- If you see content you don’t like in a Space you’re the host of, you can remove that content or remove/block the user who posted it.
Send an email to our Support team if you believe a user, piece of content or a Space is violating these Guidelines.
More support-related answers can be found on our SPACES FAQ page here.
