Code of Conduct
Last modified: October 1, 2019
INTRODUCTION
Every day, people come to Ngage to share their stories, see the world through the eyes of others, and connect with friends and causes. The conversations that happen on Ngage reflect the diversity of communities communicating across countries and cultures and in dozens of languages, posting everything from text to photos and videos. When you use our service, use it intentionally, create genuine and positive friendships, consult with experts you can learn from, and follow people who inspire and motivate you. Do not use Ngage for mindlessly scrolling, complaining, hating, and promoting negativity and bitterness.
We recognize how important it is for Ngage to be a place where people feel empowered to communicate, and we take our role in keeping abuse off our service seriously. That’s why we have developed a Code of Conduct that outline what is and is not allowed on Ngage. Our Code of Conduct apply around the world to all types of content. The Code of Conduct is designed to be comprehensive: for example, content that might not be considered hate speech may still be removed for violating our bullying policy.
The goal of our Code of Conduct is to encourage expression and create a safe environment. We develop our policies based on input from our community and from experts in fields such as technology and public safety. Our policies are also rooted in the following principles:
SAFETY: People need to feel safe to engage. We are committed to removing content that encourages real-world harm, including (but not limited to) physical, financial, and emotional injury.
VOICE: Our mission is all about embracing diverse views. We err on the side of allowing content, even when some find it objectionable, unless removing that content can prevent a specific harm. Moreover, at times we will allow content that might otherwise violate our Code of Conduct if we feel that it is newsworthy, significant, or important to the public interest. We do this only after weighing the public interest value of the content against the risk of real-world harm.
EQUITY: Our community is global and diverse. Our policies may seem broad, but that is because we apply them consistently and fairly to a community that transcends regions, cultures, and languages. As a result, our Code of Conduct can sometimes appear less nuanced than we would like, leading to an outcome that is at odds with their purpose. For that reason, in some cases, and when we are provided with additional context, we decide based on the spirit, rather than the letter, of the policy.
Everyone on Ngage plays a part in keeping the platform safe and respectful. We ask people to share responsibly and to let us know when they see something that may violate our Code of Conduct. We make it easy for people to report potentially violating content, including Pages, Groups, profiles, individual content, and/or comments to us for review. We also give people the option to block, unfollow, or hide people and posts, so that they can control their own experience on Ngage.
The consequences for violating our Code of Conduct vary depending on the severity of the violation and a person's history on the platform. For instance, we may warn someone for a first violation, but if they continue to violate our policies, we may restrict their ability to post on Ngage or disable their profile. We also may notify law enforcement when we believe there is a genuine risk of physical harm or a direct threat to public safety.
Our Code of Conduct, which we will continue to develop over time, serve as a guide for how to communicate on Ngage. It is in this spirit that we ask members of the Ngage community to follow these guidelines.
I. VIOLENCE AND CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR
VIOLENCE AND INCITEMENT. We aim to prevent potential offline harm that may be related to content on Ngage. While we understand that people commonly express disdain or disagreement by threatening or calling for violence in non-serious ways, we remove language that incites or facilitates violence. We remove content, disable accounts, and work with law enforcement when we believe there is a genuine risk of physical harm or direct threats to public safety. We also try to consider the language and context to distinguish casual statements from content that constitutes a credible threat to public or personal safety. In determining whether a threat is credible, we may also consider additional information like a person's public visibility and vulnerability.
DO NOT POST threats that could lead to death (and other forms of high-severity violence) of any target(s) where threat is defined as any of the following:
DANGEROUS INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS. To prevent and disrupt real-world harm, we do not allow any organizations or individuals that proclaim a violent mission or are engaged in violence, from having a presence on Ngage. This includes organizations or individuals involved in the following:
We also remove content that expresses support or praise for groups, leaders, or individuals involved in these activities.
We do not allow the following people (living or deceased) or groups to maintain a presence (for example, have an account, Page, Group) on our platform:
We do not allow anyone united under a name, color(s), hand gesture(s) or recognized indicia, that has engaged in or threatens to engage in criminal activity, including (but not limited to) to maintain a presence (for example, have an account, Page, Group) on our platform:
We do not allow symbols that represent any of the above organizations or individuals to be shared on our platform without context that condemns or neutrally discusses the content.
We do not allow content that praises any of the above organizations or individuals or any acts committed by them.
We do not allow coordination of support for any of the above organizations or individuals or any acts committed by them.
PROMOTING OR PUBLICIZING CRIME. We prohibit people from promoting or publicizing violent crime, theft, and/or fraud because we do not condone this activity. We also do not allow people to depict criminal activity or admit to crimes they or their associates have committed.
DO NOT POST content depicting, admitting, or promoting the following criminal acts committed by you or your associates
COORDINATING HARM. To prevent and disrupt real-world harm, we prohibit people from facilitating or coordinating future activity, criminal or otherwise, that is intended or likely to cause harm to people, businesses, or animals. People can draw attention to harmful activity that they may witness or experience if they do not advocate for or coordinate harm.
DO NOT POST statements of intent, calls to action, or advocating for the following:
REGULATED GOODS. To encourage safety and compliance with common legal restrictions, we prohibit attempts by individuals, manufacturers, and retailers to purchase, sell, or trade non-medical drugs, pharmaceutical drugs, and marijuana. We also prohibit the purchase, sale, gifting, exchange, and transfer of firearms, including firearm parts or ammunition, between private individuals on Ngage. Some of these items are not regulated everywhere; however, because of the borderless nature of our community, we try to enforce our policies as consistently as possible. Regulated goods that are not prohibited by our Code of Conduct may be subject to policies as Ngage believe are necessary.
DO NOT POST content about non-medical drugs (other than alcohol or tobacco) that:
DO NOT POST content that depicts the sale or attempt to purchase marijuana and pharmaceutical drugs. This includes content that:
DO NOT POST content that attempts to offer, sell, gift, exchange, or transfer firearms, firearm parts, ammunition, or explosives. This includes content that:
DO NOT POST content that attempts to sell, gift, exchange, transfer, promote or otherwise provide access to instructions for 3D printing or computer-aided manufacturing of firearms or firearm parts. This includes content that:
DO NOT POST content that depicts the trade (buying or selling) of human organs and/or blood where trade is defined as:
DO NOT POST content that encourages contact to facilitate the trade of human organs and/or blood.
DO NOT POST content that attempts to sell animals.
DO NOT POST content that coordinates or supports the poaching or selling of endangered species and their parts.
II. SAFETY
SUICIDE AND SELF-INJURY. To promote a safe environment on Ngage, we remove content that encourages suicide or self-injury, including certain graphic imagery and real-time depictions that might lead others to engage in similar behavior. Self-injury is defined as the intentional and direct injuring of the body, including self-mutilation and eating disorders. We want Ngage to be a community where people can share their experiences, raise awareness about these issues, and seek support from one another, which is why we allow people to discuss suicide and self-injury.
DO NOT POST content that promotes, encourages, coordinates, or provides instructions for:
DO NOT POST content that depicts graphic self-injury imagery except in limited situations of newsworthiness. It is against our policies to post content depicting a person who engaged in a suicide attempt or death by suicide.
DO NOT POST content that focuses on depiction of ribs, collar bones, thigh gaps, hips, concave stomach, or protruding spine or scapula when shared together with terms associated with eating disorders.
DO NOT POST content that contains instructions for drastic and unhealthy weight loss when shared together with terms associated with eating disorders.
CHILD NUDITY AND SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN. We do not allow content that sexually exploits or endangers children. When we become aware of apparent child exploitation, we report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), in compliance with applicable law. We know that sometimes people share nude images of their own children with good intentions; however, we generally remove these images because of the potential for abuse by others and to help avoid the possibility of other people reusing or misappropriating the images. We also work with external experts to discuss and improve our policies and enforcement around online safety issues, especially about children.
DO NOT POST content that depicts participation in or advocates for the sexual exploitation of children, including (but not limited to):
DO NOT POST content that constitutes or facilitates inappropriate interactions with children, such as:
DO NOT POST content (including photos, videos, real-world art, digital content, and text) that depicts:
DO NOT POST content (including photos, videos, real-world art, digital content, and verbal depictions) that shows minors in a sexualized context.
DO NOT POST content that depicts child nudity where nudity is defined as:
SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF ADULTS. We recognize the importance of Ngage as a place to discuss and draw attention to sexual violence and exploitation. We believe this is an important part of building common understanding and community. To create space for this conversation while promoting a safe environment, we remove content that depicts, threatens or promotes sexual violence, sexual assault, or sexual exploitation, while also allowing space for victims to share their experiences. We remove content that displays, advocates for, or coordinates sexual acts with non-consenting parties or commercial sexual services, such as prostitution, arrangements and escort services. We do this to avoid facilitating transactions that may involve trafficking, coercion, and non-consensual sexual acts. To protect victims and survivors, we also remove images that depict incidents of sexual violence and intimate images shared without permission from the people pictured.
DO NOT POST instances where content consists of any form of non-consensual sexual touching, crushing, necrophilia or bestiality, including: depictions (including real photos/videos), or advocacy (including aspirational and conditional statements), or
statements of intent, or calls for action, or participation by yourself or others to engage in any form of the above-mentioned sexual acts.
DO NOT POST content that attempts to exploit people by any of the following:
DO NOT POST content which attempts to coordinate adult commercial sexual services or prostitution activities, such as requesting or offering or asking for rates for escort services and paid sexual fetish or domination services.
DO NOT POST narratives and statements that contain a depiction of non-consensual sexual touching (written or verbal) that includes details beyond mere naming or mentioning the act if:
BULLYING AND HARASSMENT. Bullying and harassment happen in many places and come in many different forms, from making threats to releasing personally identifiable information, to sending threatening messages, and making unwanted malicious contact. We do not tolerate this kind of behavior because it prevents people from feeling safe and respected on Ngage. We remove content that's meant to degrade, shame or threaten. We recognize that bullying and harassment can have more of an emotional impact on minors, which is why our policies provide heightened protection for users between the ages of 13 and 21. Context and intent matter; therefore, we do not allow people to share and re-share posts if it is clear that something was shared in order to condemn or draw attention to bullying and harassment.
DO NOT repeatedly contact a single person despite that person's clear desire and action to prevent that contact.
DO NOT repeatedly contact large numbers of people with no prior solicitation.
DO NOT target anyone maliciously by: attacking them based on their status as a victim of sexual assault, sexual exploitation, or domestic abuse; calling for self-injury or suicide of a specific person, or group of people; attacking them through derogatory terms related to sexual activity (e.g. whore, slut); posting content about a violent tragedy, or victims of violent tragedies that include claims that a violent tragedy did not occur; posting content about victims or survivors of violent tragedies by name or by image, with claims that they are acting/pretending to be a victim of an event or otherwise paid or employed to mislead people about their role in the event; threatening to release an individual's private phone number, residential address, or email address; creating or posting content to webpages or groups that are dedicated to attacking individual(s) by, for example, calling for death or serious disease or disability, making statements of intent of advocating to engage in sexual activity, or making claims about sexually transmitted diseases; sending messages to any individual that contain targeted cursing aimed at an individual or group of individuals in the thread, or calls for death, serious disease or disability, or physical harm aimed at an individual or group of individuals in the thread.
DO NOT target any individual, or a minor, with: calls for death or serious disease or disability; claims about sexual activity or sexually transmitted diseases.
DO NOT target Pages or Groups created to attack through: targeted cursing, high-severity physical descriptions, claims about religious identity or blasphemy, expressions of contempt or disgust.
DO NOT target individuals by purposefully exposing them to: calls for death or serious disease or disability; statements of intent to engage in a sexual activity or advocating to engage in a sexual activity; claims about sexually transmitted disease; comparisons to animals or insects that are culturally perceived as intellectually or physically inferior or to an inanimate object (“cow," “monkey” “potato”); content manipulated to highlight, circle, or otherwise negatively draw attention to specific physical characteristics (nose, ear, etc.).
DO NOT target individuals with: comparisons to animals or insects that are culturally perceived as intellectually or physically inferior or to an inanimate object (“cow," “monkey” “potato”); content manipulated to highlight, circle, or otherwise negatively draw attention to specific physical characteristics (nose, ear, etc.); attacks through high-severity physical descriptions; content that ranks individuals on physical appearance or personality; content that depicts others in the process of, or right after menstruating, urinating, vomiting, or defecating where context further degrades the individual or contains an expression of disgust; physical bullying where the context further degrades the individual.
DO NOT attack Pages or Groups with: negative character or ability claims; or self-referential bullying.
DO NOT target individuals with: targeted cursing; claims about romantic involvement, sexual orientation or gender identity; content questioning hygiene; coordination, advocation, or promotion of exclusion; negative character or ability claims, except in the context of criminal allegations against adults; expressions of contempt or disgust, except in the context of criminal allegations against adults.
DO NOT target individuals with: allegations about criminal or illegal behavior; or videos of physical bullying or violence against minors in a fight context shared in a non-condemning context.
DO NOT target individuals with: self-referential bullying; unwanted manipulated imagery; comparison to other public, fictional or private individuals on the basis of physical appearance; claims about religious identity or blasphemy; comparisons to animals or insects that are not culturally perceived as intellectually or physically inferior; low-severity physical descriptions; non-negative character or ability claims; any bullying or harassment violation, when shared in an endearing context; or attacks through derogatory terms related to a lack of sexual activity.
DO NOT POST videos of physical bullying or violence in a fight context or videos of physical bullying or violence in a fight context with a condemning caption.
PRIVACY VIOLATIONS AND IMAGE PRIVACY RIGHTS. Privacy and the protection of personal information are fundamentally important values for Ngage. We work hard to keep your account secure and safeguard your personal information to protect you from potential physical or financial harm.
DO NOT POST content that facilitates identity theft by posting or soliciting personally identifiable information, including (but not limited to):
DO NOT POST content that contains medical/psychological, biometric, or genetic records or official documentation of others.
DO NOT POST content that facilitates identity theft by sharing personally identifiable information via an external link.
DO NOT POST content that facilitates identity theft by sharing private financial information of an organization or business.
DO NOT POST content that facilitates identity theft by disclosing the following personal financial information (of either the self or others): bank account and/or card information, or financial records paired with account information.
DO NOT POST content that facilitates identity theft by sharing the private contact information of others defined as private phone numbers or addresses, or email, messenger, and chat identities.
DO NOT POST content that identifies individuals by name and depicts their personal information, including:
DO NOT POST content that includes photographs that display the external view of private residences if the following conditions apply:
DO NOT POST content that exposes the undercover status of law enforcement personnel if:
DO NOT POST content that exposes information about safe houses by sharing any of the below:
III. OBJECTIONABLE CONTENT
HATE SPEECH. We do not allow hate speech on Ngage because it creates an environment of intimidation and exclusion and in some cases, it promotes real-world violence. Ngage defines hate speech as a direct attack on people based on the following characteristics: race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, caste, sex, gender, gender identity, serious disease or disability, or immigration status. Ngage defines an attack as violent or dehumanizing speech, statements of inferiority, or calls for exclusion or segregation.
DO NOT POST any violent speech or support it in written or visual form.
DO NOT POST dehumanizing speech such as reference or comparison to:
DO NOT POST statements of inferiority or an image implying a person's or a group's physical, mental, or moral deficiency: physical (including but not limited to “deformed,” “undeveloped,” “hideous,” “ugly”); mental (including but not limited to “retarded,” “cretin,” “low IQ,” “stupid,” “idiot”); moral (including but not limited to “slutty,” “fraud,” “cheap,” “free riders”).
DO NOT POST expressions of contempt or their visual equivalent, including (but not limited to):
DO NOT POST expressions of disgust or their visual equivalent, including (but not limited to):
DO NOT POST content that call to exclude or segregate a person or group of people.
DO NOT POST content that describes or negatively targets people with slurs, where slurs are defined as words commonly used as insulting labels.
VIOLENCE AND GRAPHIC CONTENT. Ngage removes content that glorifies violence or celebrates the suffering or humiliation of others because it may create an environment that discourages participation.
DO NOT POST imagery of violence committed against real people or animals with comments or captions by the poster that contain:
DO NOT POST videos of dying, wounded, or dead people if they contain:
DO NOT POST victims of cannibalism.
DO NOT POST videos or photos that depict non-sexual child abuse, defined as:
DO NOT POST videos and photos showing violent death of persons.
DO NOT POST imagery videos or images of persons or animals that contains the following:
DO NOT POST photos of wounded or dead people or animals if they show:
DO NOT POST videos or images of Animal abuse, defined as:
DO NOT POST images or videos that show the violent death of a person or people by accident or murder.
DO NOT POST still images or videos depicting the violent death of a person or people.
DO NOT POST photos or videos that show acts of torture committed against a person or people.
DO NOT POST photos or videos of physical bullying or violence against minors in a fight context shared with a condemning caption.
DO NOT POST photos or videos of non-medical foreign objects (such as metal objects, knifes, nails) involuntarily inserted or stuck inside people or animals causing grievous injury
ADULT NUDITY AND SEXUAL ACTIVITY. Ngage restricts the display of nudity or sexual activity because some people in our community may be sensitive to this type of content. Additionally, we default to removing sexual imagery to prevent the sharing of non-consensual or underage content. Restrictions on the display of sexual activity also apply to digitally created content. We understand that nudity can be shared for a variety of reasons, including as a form of protest, to raise awareness about a cause, or for educational or medical reasons. Where such intent is clear, we make allowances for the content.
DO NOT POST images or videos of:
DO NOT POST images of videos of sexual activity or sexual intercourse.
DO NOT POST images or videos of explicit sexual intercourse, defined as mouth or genitals entering or in contact with another person's genitals or anus, where at least one person's genitals are nude.
DO NOT POST images or videos of Implied sexual intercourse, defined as mouth or genitals entering or in contact with another person's genitals or anus, even when the contact is not directly visible, except in cases of a sexual health context, advertisements, and recognized fictional images or with indicators of fiction.
DO NOT POST images or videos of implied stimulation of genitalia/anus, defined as stimulating genitalia/anus or inserting objects into genitalia/anus, even when the activity is not directly visible, except in cases of sexual health context, advertisements, and recognized fictional images or with indicators of fiction.
DO NOT POST images or videos of other sexual activities including (but not limited to)
DO NOT POST fetish content that involves:
SEXUAL SOLICITATION. Ngage recognizes the importance of and want to allow for the discussion of to prevent sexual violence and exploitation. We draw the line, however, when content facilitates, encourages or coordinates sexual encounters between adults. We also restrict sexually explicit language that may lead to solicitation because some audiences within our global community may be sensitive to this type of content and it may impede the ability for people to connect with their friends and the broader community.
DO NOT POST attempted coordination of or recruitment for adult sexual activities, including but not limited to:
DO NOT POST explicit sexual solicitation by, including but not limited to the following, offering or asking for:
DO NOT POST implicit sexual solicitation, which Ngage defines as an offer or request to engage paired with at least one of the following elements:
DO NOT POST content (hand drawn or real-world art) that may depict explicit sexual activity or suggestively posed person(s).
DO NOT POST an offer or ask for other adult activities such as:
DO NOT POST sexually explicit language that goes into graphic detail about:
CRUEL AND INSENSITIVE CONTENT. We believe that people share and connect more freely when they do not feel targeted based on their vulnerabilities. As such, we have higher expectations for content that we call cruel and insensitive, which we define as content that targets victims of serious physical or emotional harm.
DO NOT POST content that depicts real people and laughs at or makes fun of their implied or premature death, serious or fatal disease or disability, non-consensual sexual touching, domestic violence, or serious physical injury.
IV. INTEGRITY AND AUTHENTICITY
SPAM. We work hard to limit the spread of commercial spam to prevent false advertising, fraud, and security breaches, all of which detract from people's ability to share and connect. We do not allow people to use misleading or inaccurate information to collect likes, followers, or shares.
DO NOT artificially increase distribution for financial gain.
DO NOT create or use fake accounts or compromise other people’s accounts to:
DO NOT restrict access to content by requiring people to like, share, or recommend before viewing.
DO NOT encourage likes, shares, or clicks under false pretenses.
DO NOT maliciously use login credentials or personally identifiable information by:
DO NOT promise non-existent Ngage features.
MISREPRESENTATION. Authenticity is the cornerstone of our community. We believe that people are more accountable for their statements and actions when they use their authentic identities. That's why we require people to connect on Ngage using the name they go by in everyday life. Our authenticity policies are intended to create a safe environment where people can trust and hold one another accountable.
DO NOT misrepresent your identity by:
DO NOT misuse our products by:
DO NOT impersonate others by:
DO NOT POST content that is likely to deceive the public as to the content's origin, if:
DO NOT engage in inauthentic behavior, which includes creating, managing, or otherwise perpetuating:
DO NOT engage in inauthentic behavior, which includes creating, managing, or otherwise perpetuating accounts that participate in, or claim to engage in, coordinated inauthentic behavior, meaning that multiple accounts are working together to do any of the following:
FALSE NEWS. Reducing the spread of false news on Ngage is a responsibility that we take seriously. We also recognize that this is a challenging and sensitive issue. We want to help people stay informed without stifling productive public discourse. There is also a fine line between false news and satire or opinion. For these reasons, we don't remove false news from Ngage but instead, encourage you to verify any content you deem questionable. Ngage is working to build a more informed community and reduce the spread of false news in several different ways by:
MEMORIALIZATION. When someone passes away, friends and family can request that we memorialize the account by adding "Remembering" above the name on the person's profile. This makes it clear that the account is now a memorial site and protects against attempted logins and fraudulent activity. We do not remove, update, or change anything about the profile or the account because we want to respect the choices someone made while still alive. Ngage has also made it possible for people to identify a legacy contact to look after their account after they pass away. People can let us know in advance if they want their account permanently deleted when they die. We may delete profiles when the next of kin tells us that the person who passed would have preferred that we delete the account rather than memorialize it. Once we become aware that a person has passed away:
V. RESPECTING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. Ngage takes intellectual property rights seriously and believes they are important to promoting expression, creativity, and innovation in our community. You own all the content and information you post on Ngage, and you control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings. However, before sharing content on Ngage, be sure you have the right to do so. We ask that you respect other people’s copyrights, trademarks, and other legal rights. We are committed to helping people and organizations promote and protect their intellectual property rights. Ngage’s Terms of Use do not allow people to post content that violates someone else’s intellectual property rights, including copyright and trademark.
Upon receipt of a report from a rights holder or an authorized representative, we will remove or restrict content that engages in:
VI. CONTENT-RELATED REQUESTS
USER REQUESTS. Ngage complies with:
ADDITIONAL PROTECTION OF MINORS. Ngage complies with:
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