Moderation on this site has two parts: automatic filters and human moderators. The filters stop some content before anyone sees it. Moderators review reports from users, remove people who break the rules, and set bans.
The automatic filters
The filters work all the time, in every room. They do three jobs.
They block contact details in public rooms
In public rooms, the filter blocks:
- phone numbers,
- links,
- off-site handles, such as Snapchat, Telegram, Kik, WhatsApp and Instagram names.
This rule keeps handle spam and sellers out of the rooms. It also protects you, because a handle in a public room is visible to every person there. The guide to requests to move to another app explains the risks.
They check every image
Each image gets an automatic check before other people see it. If the image fails the check, nobody sees it. The site keeps hashes of blocked images, so the same image does not come back. The image sharing rules give the details.
They limit spam in private messages
The first message to a stranger is a message request. You can start 5 new conversations in 10 minutes. You can have 10 unanswered requests at one time. If you send the same opening line to more than 3 people in 10 minutes, new conversations pause for 10 minutes. See how private message requests work.
Content that is banned everywhere
These themes are banned in public rooms and in private messages, in text and in images:
- anything that involves minors, real or fictional,
- incest or family content,
- bestiality,
- toilet play.
These actions are also banned:
- selling or buying anything,
- harassment and threats,
- spam and flooding,
- impersonation,
- sharing the private messages or images of other people.
Some of these cause an instant removal and a ban, with no warning. Content that involves minors is the clearest example. The site reports suspected child abuse material to NCMEC. The rule about fiction also applies to roleplay, so the roleplay chat room has the same limits as every other room.
Human moderators and the report queue
Filters do not understand context. People do. For that reason, reports from users go to human moderators.
How to send a report
- Tap the username and choose Report.
- For an image, tap the image and choose Report image.
What a report contains
A report goes to a moderator with the last 20 messages for context. The site stores these messages with the report, so that the moderator can review them later. The site also saves your IP address with a report that you send. The site uses it for abuse handling and legal reports.
What the moderator does
The moderator reads the context and decides. The possible results are no action, a removal from the chat, or a ban. The site keeps a record of the reason and the time.
If a person annoys you but does not break a rule, use Ignore. Tap the username and choose Ignore. You can choose "Stop ignoring" later.
How bans work
A ban applies in three ways at the same time:
- By account. The account that broke the rule cannot chat.
- By network address. The site keeps a one-way hash of the IP address. As a result, the ban still works after the 90 day period.
- By device. The site uses the random device id that the page keeps in your browser.
The purpose is simple: a person who was banned cannot come back with a new name a minute later. The terms of the site say that bans are not negotiable.
What moderators can see, and what they cannot
Moderators can see:
- your name, gender, age and country,
- your IP address, approximate country, browser, operating system, device type and device id,
- the messages inside a report,
- the first line of a private message request, until it is answered or cleared,
- images in the 24 hours before the site deletes them,
- moderation records: reports, bans and hashes of blocked images.
Moderators cannot read old conversations, because the site does not store chat logs. Room history lasts about 1 hour and private message history lasts 24 hours. After that time they are deleted. Chat messages are not written to a database, except for the two cases in the list.
This has a practical result. If something bad occurs, report it quickly. After the history is gone, a moderator has nothing to review. More detail is in the guide to staying private in adult chat.
If you were removed or banned
Be honest with yourself first. Read the terms and compare them with what you wrote or sent. Possible causes are handles or links in a public room, spam, sales, and banned themes.
There is no appeal form today. The terms say that bans are not negotiable. The site has a Contact page, and you can write there if you think that a mistake occurred. Include your username, the room, the date and the time with your time zone. The site does not promise an answer or a change.
Do not try to get around a ban with a new name, a new browser or a new network. That is a further breach of the rules.
Questions
Do moderators read my private messages?
Moderators do not have a stored log of private messages, because the site does not write chat messages to a database. They see the first line of a message request while it waits. They also see the messages inside a report, which includes the last 20 messages for context.
What happens after I send a report?
The report goes to a moderator with the last 20 messages for context. The moderator reads them and decides on no action, a removal or a ban. The site does not promise a reply to you. You can also use Ignore at the same time.
Why was my message blocked in a public room?
The most likely cause is that the message looked like a phone number, a link or an off-site handle. The filter blocks these in public rooms. A filter can make mistakes with normal words or numbers. Write the sentence in a different way, without the contact detail.
Can I appeal a ban?
There is no appeal form today, and the terms say that bans are not negotiable. If you think that a mistake occurred, you can write through the Contact page with your username, the date and the time. The site does not promise an answer.