docs: draft new 2023 AUP

[insertish]

The goal of this PR is to explicitly declare all (or at least as much as we can think of) content which is unacceptable on the platform to eliminate any source of confusion.

Some changes for reading clarity are also included.

So far I've only explicitly added hate speech and I stole the protected characteristics list from Discord, it's a pretty good exhaustive list but I don't think we can just lift it 1:1, though I don't see why we should omit anything from the list either?

Closes #11
Closes #5

[DeclanChidlow]

Few bits that need changing or further looking into.

[DeclanChidlow]

Could be changed to "Protected characteristics include:" to better cover edge cases. This line should also end with a period.

[insertish]

I think it's best to have a clear definition here

[ghost]

I think mabey more specific terms for example that users should not ban or mock someone just for being autistic etc. and discourage people using terms such as guilt trip, not everything is about you etc?

[ashley0143]

would be nice if there was personal political views in Protected characteristics - it would be nice to have it since people can hate someone because of their view. alto it would be nice to somehow make nazi "ideology" to be banned as well since well yk lol

[insertish]

Things that are still missing based on open issues & just a cursory glance through what other platforms also control:

• mis-/dis-information & conspiracy theories
• violent extremism
• explicitly disallow seuxal conduct for minors
• likewise for adults with minors
• explicitly disallow sexual content in places where it can't be age restricted
• impersonation of individuals, groups, etc with intent to cause harm or deception
• financial scams / fraud
• engaging in hacking (phishing, malware, DoS, etc)

I think all of these are covered by law anyways, but it'd be good to include them.

Discord also has a more explicit list of protections against themselves such as:

• Sending bulk unsolicited messages (already covered under api abuse / spam rules)
• Selling or purchasing artificial server growth (partially covered under Discover guidelines)
  Though they also disallow advertisements (?)
• Promoting, organising or engaging in illegal behaviour on platform
  Section talks about dangerous goods
• Abuse of their products
• Evasion of permanent platform level moderation actions
• Self-bots / user-bots are blocked
  I would personally block the use of user bots (any automated activity from a user account, i.e. not initiated by the user in question), but I wouldn't consider self bots an issue
• Misleading support team, i.e. making false reports

Oh also, we should probably include off-platform behaviour when dealing with certain types of reports.

[insertish]

Actually credit to Discord for going above and beyond on both explicitly tackling misgendering / deadnaming & transparency (see further down):

https://www.them.us/story/discord-explicitly-bans-misgendering-and-deadnaming-on-its-platform
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/discord-bans-misgendering-and-deadnaming-in-update-to-hateful-conduct-policy/ar-AA1lr7Ut
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/discord-promises-to-punish-users-for-misgendering-deadnaming-trans-people/ar-AA1lp3KQ

The 3rd article points to the source:

“You may not post, share, or engage in: Repeatedly using slurs to degrade and demean individuals or groups. This includes deadnaming or misgendering a transgender person,” the platform’s policy section explains.

Which points to https://discord.com/safety-policies, which looks like a genuinely excellent resource, apparently this has been up since late October but isn't promoted anywhere(?).

Also, TIL Meta already has these sorts of policies:

A poll in July found that 44 per cent of millennials in the US believe intentionally misgendering someone should be a criminal offence, and many social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram owners Meta, now ban misgendering and deadnaming .
Twitter, however, has chosen to roll back similar policies since Elon Musk took over, prompting GLAAD to say that the move was “out-of-step” with leading social media platforms.

Edit: reading through the outrage on Reddit, tldr common complaints are:

• Discord is just running damage control / covering up outrage from UI / pandering / virtue signaling.

  These are all irrelevant to us. And arguably the 'pandering' may just be a stupid claim, since if we trust Discord's own announcements (if you do), you would know that these were already part of internal policies. And if we go by the policy centre, these were published in October(??)

• Discord is introducing these rules but not removing blatantly illegal content.

  Again irrelevant but added for the sake of including everything mentioned.
  Though I have to agree on the fact that their moderation team takes an awfully long while to remove content from reports that should clearly be prioritised, I don't think I can trust the claims that they straight up don't remove certain content in good faith.

• This is unenforceable, as it can be abused / fabricated

  I feel like this entirely depends on the context and reputation of the users.
  A lot of the commenters seem to think that reports are just sent as a single message with no additional context, which I assume is not the case for Discord and is certainly not the case for Revolt.

NB. this is already covered under the hateful conduct policy proposed but we could look into having in-depth policy information for all of our rules like Discord.

[insertish]

Also I have redrafted the AUP into a different format, click here to go straight to it (still writing it / then needs proof-reading).

[ghost]

Hello,

I feel like most social media outlets especially discord don't have clear rules to protect autistic users this has lead to people feeling like they can troll and belittle autistic users without punishment.

IV drafeted an idea on updating the terms to prevent this it's not perfect but I feel with a bit of editing it can help.

__Ablisim And Inclusion

Please reframe from I gauging in discrimination of users based solely on if they have autism or depression.

This includes the following

• Don't make users feel guilty for talking about personal issues.

• Don't ban or exclude users based on if they are autistic

• Don't use words like guilt trip, not everything is about you etc This is extremely insensitive to people who may be struggling

[Rexogamer]

This feels better suited as a server level ruleset to me - I imagine some of these would be very contentious as platform level rules (for example, the bit about talking about personal issues - not all communities are equipped to deal with these sorts of conversations), and I'd say the bit about discriminating against autistic people is already covered by our discrimination/hate speech policies

[ghost]

This feels better suited as a server level ruleset to me - I imagine some of these would be very contentious as platform level rules (for example, the bit about talking about personal issues - not all communities are equipped to deal with these sorts of conversations), and I'd say the bit about discriminating against autistic people is already covered by our discrimination/hate speech policies

I feel like social media needs to protect autistic users more especially end to end chat applications as in my personal experience it seems like people feel like they are entitled to exclude and mock people who are depressed have autism etc.

Every application has rules regarding harassment, discrimination, hate speech etc however it never includes autistic users.

Along with race, identity, spiritual beliefs etc being protected shouldn't autistic users be included in this?

[Rexogamer]

Our hate speech policies already cover disabilities - this in turn covers autism

[ghost]

Our hate speech policies already cover disabilities - this in turn covers autism

I completely understand that the terms cover hate speech harassment etc, however Discord also covers this yet ignores ablisim reports we could mabey have a section or blog post educating people on autism?

[Zomatree]

That sounds like an issue you need to take up with Discord, our policies already cover this case, and any violation of it you can report.

[ghost]

That sounds like an issue you need to take up with Discord, our policies already cover this case, and any violation of it you can report.

I wanted to choose revolt.chat because they listen to feedback discord doesn't, I don't understand why I'm the only one who sees ablisim as a terms issue for all social networks and apps?

[IAmTomahawkx]

I wanted to choose revolt.chat because they listen to feedback discord doesn't, I don't understand why I'm the only one who sees ablisim as a terms issue for all social networks and apps?

The issue that you've brought up is already covered by our policies, and is enforced as such when we receive reports of misconduct. Discord not acting upon such reports on their platform is entirely unrelated to us. If you've encountered such behaviour, please report it using the in-app reporting options, or by emailing contact@revolt.chat .

[ghost]

I wanted to choose revolt.chat because they listen to feedback discord doesn't, I don't understand why I'm the only one who sees ablisim as a terms issue for all social networks and apps?

The issue that you've brought up is already covered by our policies, and is enforced as such when we receive reports of misconduct. Discord not acting upon such reports on their platform is entirely unrelated to us. If you've encountered such behaviour, please report it using the in-app reporting options, or by emailing contact@revolt.chat .

The report function did nothing i notified moderators in the chat but it was ignored. I have multiple tickets about this issue. I genuinly feel it would benifit social media companies to incourage users to be inclusive to those on the specturm. If most people feel comfortable on the app that would help grow the user base even more

[DeclanChidlow]

I have multiple tickets about this issue

I may be misremembering, but your tickets didn't mention any unactionable reports until your latest. It's very hard to action them as it seems you didn't submit any formal reports at the time and you have since deleted your account.

We want to improve the experience for everyone but you haven't been able to offer any suggestions for how we can be more accommodating. Unless you have specific, actionable, suggestions I don't think it's worth taking this conversation further.

Talk to server admins and ask them to improve their rules if you see it necessary, and know that our policies already cover most of your concerns.

[ghost]

I have multiple tickets about this issue

I may be misremembering, but your tickets didn't mention any unactionable reports until your latest. It's very hard to action them as it seems you didn't submit any formal reports at the time and you have since deleted your account.

We want to improve the experience for everyone but you haven't been able to offer any suggestions for how we can be more accommodating. Unless you have specific, actionable, suggestions I don't think it's worth taking this conversation further.

Talk to server admins and ask them to improve their rules if you see it necessary, and know that our policies already cover most of your concerns.

I find it very interesting that society is very quick to accomidate people of the LGBTQ community as they should and that's a very good thing, yet when people with autism, depression etc inquire about accommodation were met with the same lines "victum", "snowflake", "not everything's about you" etc.

I'm not saying this is the case here I'm thankful that the team has allowed this conversation and listened to these concerns.

While I fully understand this is a complex issue and that there are terms regarding harassment bullying etc. Iv seen these terms unfortunately backfire on nearly all social networks that's why I firmly believe all networks can benifit from accommodating autistic users as best as they can.

In terms of free speech concerns I don't believe in censorship and I believe everyone is entitled to say and post whatever they like, however belittling people and excluding people for speaking about personal issues should not be tolerated online.

I hope you understand I do apologise for taking up alot of space I felt like this idea needed to be discussed as I feel this is a very important social issue.

[DeclanChidlow]

@therealdylansteele You continue to insinuate that Revolt is not doing enough to tackle these issues. Could you please outline exactly what action you would like us to take? From Revolt's point of view everything necessary is covered as well as it can be.

[ghost]

@therealdylansteele You continue to insinuate that Revolt is not doing enough to tackle these issues. Could you please outline exactly what action you would like us to take? From Revolt's point of view everything necessary is covered as well as it can be.

I feel like a blog post or section near the terms of service just reminding people to be more understanding of those with autism, depression etc.

I understand that the terms covers alot of this however people online feel like they are entitled to ban or make fun of autistic users therefore unfortunately it has to be made clearer to the user base. This applies to all social networks not just revolt.chat

[DeclanChidlow]

Hate speech is already touched on in our current policies and is further covered in our upcoming ones. We already action reports on it.

It's already made very clear on the platform that harassment isn't tolerated. Unless you have any further suggestions, I think discussion has come to an end.

[ghost]

Hate speech is already touched on in our current policies and is further covered in our upcoming ones. We already action reports on it.

It's already made very clear on the platform that harassment isn't tolerated. Unless you have any further suggestions, I think discussion has come to an end.

Understood I'll tap out of this thread because I feel like Iv gotton too worked up about the suituation which I do apoligize for.

The admin team has my email address from my tickets. If anyone has any questions or concerns feel free to use that or my github email on my profile.

[DeclanChidlow]

Updated option. @insertish
Needs proper formatting, spell checking etc, but that isn't worth doing to a draft subject to change.

---

Last updated: 16. July, 2024

Acceptable Usage Policy

This Acceptable Usage Policy (AUP) applies to the official instance of Revolt available at revolt.chat. Self-hosted instances may choose to adopt this AUP if they wish.

Community Guidelines

Revolt can cater to your community, raid guild, study group, and anything in-between. We encourage you to:

• Take advantage of our powerful community tools.
• Be kind and make friends with others on our platform.
• Have fun collaborating, communicating, and sharing content.

Online communities have the potential to change people's lives, so we want to encourage a positive environment for anyone willing to join.

Keeping You Safe

To ensure users stay safe on the platform, we explicitly disallow:

• Violent Extremism
  Content that promotes, encourages, or glorifies violent extremist ideologies or activities is not permitted on our platform.

• Misinformation & Conspiracy Theories
  Spreading false or misleading information that can cause harm to individuals or society is prohibited. This includes conspiracy theories that have been debunked or lack credible evidence.

• Hate Speech & Hateful Conduct
  We define hate speech as any form of expression that attacks, promotes harm, or promotes hatred against other people based on their protected characteristics.

  We define the following as protected characteristics: age; caste; colour; disability (including neurodivergence such as autism); ethnicity; family responsibilities; gender; gender identity; housing status; national origin; race; refugee or immigration status; religious affiliation; serious illness; sex; sexual orientation; socioeconomic class and status; source of income; status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual violence, or stalking; and weight and size.

  This extends to the prohibition of:

  • Using slurs or derogatory language targeting protected groups
  • Promoting discriminatory ideologies or theories
  • Encouraging violence or harm against protected groups
  • Denying the existence or rights of protected groups
  • Deliberately misgendering or deadnaming transgender individuals

• Promoting, Encouraging, or Glorifying Self-Harm or Suicide

This includes any content that pushes people to cut or injure themselves; that embraces eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia; or that encourages people to commit suicide as opposed to referring them to the correct treatment and help. If you notice someone in need of urgent help, please contact your local authorities.

• Promoting, Organising, or Engaging In Illegal Behaviour on Platform

  Any content or activity that violates applicable laws is strictly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to:

  Local laws: Laws applicable in the user's location of access or residence.
  National laws: Laws of the country where the user is located or where their actions have effect.
  International laws: Widely recognized international laws and treaties.
  Laws of our jurisdictions: As outlined in the "Jurisdiction" section below, we are bound by and enforce laws within specific jurisdictions due to our operational locations and data storage.

  Users are responsible for ensuring their activities comply with all applicable laws and ignorance is not a valid defence for violations. Examples of prohibited illegal activities include, but are not limited to:

  • Distribution or facilitation of usage of illegal substances
  • Fraud and financial crimes
  • Intellectual property infringement
  • Cybercrime and unauthorized access to systems
  • Hate crimes and incitement to violence
  • Revenge pornography
  • Child exploitation and abuse
  • Terrorism and extremist activities
  • Extortion and blackmail

• Promoting off-platform content that violates our acceptable usage policy

  Sharing links or references to external content that would violate this AUP is not allowed.

• Sharing content designed to harass or degrade someone, or that can directly threaten someone's physical, mental, or financial state

  This includes death threats, doxing (sharing personal information without permission), or ignoring someone's privacy.

• Sharing any content that violates another person's intellectual property or other rights

  This includes any content that would violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). We respond to DMCA requests as described in our Terms of Service. This includes, but is not limited to, hacking, the cracking or distribution of pirated software, cheats, exploits, or hacks for our or another company, or person's service where it is forbidden.

• Sharing any imagery that depicts real-life violence, gore, or animal cruelty

  An exception is made in regards to violence depicted in media (within the context of journalism, movies, games, music, books, and such).

• Distributing malware

  Any software designed with malicious intent to attack another person or steal their data is not tolerated.

• Impersonation of individuals, groups, etc with intent to cause harm or deception

  Pretending to be another person, organization, or entity in a way that is intended to mislead or harm others is prohibited.

• As a minor, engaging in any conduct that puts your safety at risk

  Any sexual conduct involving minors, whether online or offline, is strictly prohibited and will be reported to the appropriate authorities. We prioritize the safety of our younger users and prohibit any behaviour that could compromise their well-being.

• Sharing sexually explicit content in places where it can't be age restricted

  Sexually explicit content must be properly age-gated and should not be shared in public or unrestricted areas of the platform.

Keeping It Fair

To ensure users have equal opportunity to use the service and are not taken advantage of, we disallow:

• Unsolicited advertising

  Creating accounts or using existing accounts to send unsolicited advertisements to other people on the platform.

• Financial scams / fraud

  Any attempt to deceive users for financial gain, including phishing, multi level marketing, or other fraudulent activities.

• Buying and selling of Revolt accounts

  The transfer of Revolt accounts for monetary or other compensation is not permitted.

• Selling, purchasing, or providing means to artificially grow servers

  This includes botting, paid advertisements, and any other methods of artificially inflating server membership or engagement.Legitimate marketing efforts and community-building strategies that don't involve artificial inflation of metrics are generally acceptable. If you're unsure whether a growth strategy violates this policy, please contact our support team for clarification.

• Evasion of permanent platform level moderation actions

  Attempting to circumvent bans or other moderation actions by creating new accounts or using alternative methods to access the platform is prohibited.

• Engaging in hacking

  Any attempt to compromise the security of our platform or its users, including phishing attacks, distribution or creation of malware, or Denial of Service attacks, is strictly forbidden.

• Attempts to hack or otherwise gain unauthorised access to our service

  For example, accessing another person's account without permission, or attempting to steal another person's account. This also includes attempts to gain access to our backend networks. Please contact us ahead of time for permission to test our networks by emailing security@revolt.chat.

• Abusing our server resources

  Using Revolt with malicious intent, in a way that is not reasonable under normal usage, in order to outsource computing and/or storage resources to our servers, as well as other forms of Denial of Service to our infrastructure.

• Misleading the support team

  Providing false information or making fraudulent reports to our support team is prohibited.

Reporting Violations

To report any of the above activity, please use the in-app reporting system. If you cannot use the in-app reporting system for any reason, please contact us at abuse@revolt.chat.

Strikes and Suspensions

Violations of this AUP, or other platform terms, may result in strikes against your account. Strikes are irreversible. Account suspensions can be removed through a successful appeal, but only if you believe that we took the wrong action. There is no point asking to be appealed for breaking the law.

If you wish to appeal a suspension, please contact abuse@revolt.chat.

Off-Platform Behavior

In certain cases, we may take action based on off-platform behaviour, particularly when it involves severe violations of our policies or legal issues.

Jurisdiction

We abide by laws within the following jurisdictions:

Jurisdiction	Reason
United Kingdom	Service operator
Germany, Finland	Data storage
Lithuania	Media storage
European Union	Encompasses our area of operation

[insertish]

Superseded by #13 (suggestions merged)