How moderation works
Last updated
This page is outside the story. It explains what happens after anyone rings the bell (presses “Report this”), and what we promise in return.
Who moderates
Paid, trained people, never volunteers and never a machine on its own. Automatic tools (a list of reviewed terms, and a classifier for text) can only hold something back for a person to read. They never remove anything or decide anything.
At least one trained person is on shift at every hour. When the green lamp is lit, someone is at the desk right now.
Reporting
Anyone can report anything on this site, with or without an account, from the Report this link beside every post and submission, or from Report a problem. We never tell anyone who reported them.
If you report illegal content, the law asks you to say which law you think it breaks if you can, and to confirm you believe what you are telling us is accurate. You will get a reference number and, if we can reach you, the outcome.
How fast
| What is reported | A person acts within |
|---|---|
| Someone may be in danger; suicide, self-harm or eating disorders | 15 minutes, at any hour, every day |
| Sexual content involving a child; terrorist content | 1 hour |
| Harassment, bullying or threats; hate; something else illegal | 4 hours |
| Intimate images shared without consent | 12 hours |
| It copies my work; a spoiler without a mark; spam or advertising; something else | 12 hours |
| Appeals | 7 days |
| Letters left at the desk | read within 12 hours |
Posts read before they appear
- Your first three posts, and everything in your first 7 days.
- Everything for the first 30 days if you are 16 or 17.
- Every World File, Statement, artwork, translation and fan world, always.
- Anything an automatic check flags.
Licensed members post straight away. A person usually reads held posts within a few hours.
How decisions are made
A moderator reads the report and the item, and checks it against the Community Rules and the law.
Two people for anything serious. Removing something, suspending an account or closing it to posting needs a second person to agree. Until they do, nothing happens (though something urgent can be hidden from view while it waits).
Every decision is written to a record that cannot be edited afterwards.
We always tell you why
If we act on something of yours, you get a statement in plain English: what we did, which rule, what we found (in general terms, never who reported it), whether an automatic tool was involved, and how to appeal. It arrives as a notice on the site and by email, never between 10pm and 7am your time.
Strikes and suspensions
- A strike is added only for a serious or repeated breach, and it expires after 6 months.
- At 3 active strikes a moderator may propose a suspension of 1, 7, 30 days. A second person must agree.
- While suspended you can still read the site, see why, and appeal. Suspensions end on their own.
- Closing an account to posting for good is rare, needs two people, and can be appealed like anything else.
Appeals
You can appeal any decision about your content or your account within six months, on Form AP-1, even while suspended. A moderator who took no part in the decision looks again and tells you the outcome within 7 days.
If the decision stands and you still disagree, a panel of three people who took no part, including a Warden, looks again. If we got it wrong we put things back, remove the strike and say so.
If you live in the European Union you can also take a decision to a certified out-of-court dispute settlement body, or to a court.
When someone may be at risk
Reports that someone may be in danger go to the top of the queue, and a person sees them within 15 minutes, at any hour. We cannot send help ourselves: if someone is in danger now, call the emergency services first. A person, never a machine, decides what to do and writes any message we send.
Help lines are at Safety and help.
What we publish
Each month, on the first Friday, the Moderation Log: how many reports, what we did, how fast, and how appeals went. Every six months, a fuller transparency report. Numbers only: no names, no quotes.