Community guidelines
These rules keep authors safe and keep the platform fair. They apply to stories, comments, messages and profiles. A person reviews every story before it goes live.
The rules
- Do not name people. This includes first names, initials and nicknames.
- Do not name small teams or units that would identify individuals.
- Do not share confidential documents or information.
- Describe what happened. Do not blame a named or recognisable person.
- No hate speech. No attacks on people for who they are.
- No threats of any kind.
Write this instead
You can tell the full story without identifying anyone. Some examples:
- Avoid
- "Ahmed, my supervisor, told me..."
- Write
- "My manager told me..."
- Avoid
- "The three of us in the procurement unit in Juba..."
- Write
- "Our small team..."
- Avoid
- "The new Deputy Representative decided..."
- Write
- "Senior management decided..."
- Avoid
- Quoting an internal memo word for word.
- Write
- "We were told in writing that our posts would end."
- Avoid
- "On 14 March at 10:00 I was called in..."
- Write
- "Early in the year I was called in..."
- Avoid
- "She is the reason I lost my job."
- Write
- "The decision was made without explanation, and I lost my job."
Describe what happened, not who did it
Your experience matters, including anger and hurt. Tell readers what happened and how it affected you. Do not build a case against a person. A story that accuses a recognisable person puts you, and them, at risk.
If you need to report misconduct, use your organisation's formal channels. See the Resources page.
No confidential information
Do not share internal documents, budget figures that are not public, staff lists, case details, beneficiary information, security information or anything marked confidential. Describe the effect on you in your own words.
No hate and no threats
Do not attack anyone for their nationality, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age or any similar trait. Do not threaten anyone, including yourself in a way that puts others at risk. We remove threats immediately.
If you are thinking about harming yourself, you can still write here. We will show you where to find support. Please also contact a crisis line or someone you trust.
Comments and messages
- The same rules apply. Comments and messages go through the same checks.
- Respond to the story, not to guesses about who wrote it. Never try to identify an author.
- Do not ask for or share contact details, real names or workplaces.
- No advertising, links to sell things, or repeated messages.
- Disagree with care. Authors are often going through a hard time.
- Authors can switch off comments on their own story.
What moderators do
- An automated check runs first. It finds possible names and other risks and shows them to you before you send, so you can fix them.
- A person then reviews every story. They can approve it, ask you for changes, remove identifying details, or reject it with a reason.
- Every edit and decision is recorded.
- Moderators also review reported comments, messages and profiles.
How to report
Use the Report button on any story, comment, profile or message. Choose a reason and add a short note if it helps. A moderator reviews every report.
If a story identifies you, see the takedown section of the Privacy page.
If someone breaks the rules
- We edit or remove the content. If you wrote it, we tell you the reason.
- Clear spam and clear hate are rejected automatically.
- Repeated or serious breaches lead to limits on the account or a permanent ban.
- We never publish a story that names or accuses a recognisable person.