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Community Guidelines

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Effective Date: Feb 1, 2025


Pearls is a place for meaningful, time-locked messages and shared moments. These Guidelines explain what is and isn’t allowed. They are binding and form part of the Terms. Violations may lead to content removal, restrictions, warnings, age-gating, temporary suspensions, permanent bans, and/or law-enforcement referrals.

Plain language summary: Be authentic, be kind, follow the law, protect minors, and don’t harm others. Time-locked content is still subject to these rules—before and after unlock.

 

A) Core Principles

  1. Safety first: No threats, exploitation, or glorification of harm.

  2. Authenticity: No impersonation or deceptive behavior.

  3. Privacy & dignity: Don’t share others’ private information or intimate images without consent.

  4. Respect: No hate, harassment, or bullying.

  5. Legal compliance: No illegal activities or transactions.

  6. Intellectual property: Share only what you own or have rights to share.

  7. Protect minors: Zero tolerance for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or endangerment.

 

B) Enforcement Actions 

Depending on severity and history, we may:

  • remove content (with reason where feasible),

  • apply age-gates or visibility limits,

  • issue warnings or temporary feature limits,

  • suspend or terminate accounts,

  • preserve data and notify law enforcement where required,

  • restrict creation of new accounts (evading bans is prohibited).
    You may appeal major decisions using in-app tools or by emailing hello@pearls.social.

 

C) Content & Behavior Rules

1) Violence & Criminal Activity

  • Prohibited: Credible threats, incitement, promotion of violent acts, terrorism or extremist praise, kidnapping, human trafficking, or instructions to commit violent or non-violent crimes.

  • Allowed with context: Newsworthy documentation or condemnatory discussion of violence when not graphic or celebratory and with appropriate content warnings.

2) Suicide, Self-Harm & Eating Disorders

  • Prohibited: Content that promotes, instructs, or glorifies self-harm or eating disorders.

  • Limited allowances: Recovery resources, personal testimonies seeking help, or awareness/educational content that discourages harm. Add support resources where possible. We may add safety interstitials or limit visibility.

3) Child Safety (Zero Tolerance)

  • Strictly prohibited: CSAM; sexualization of minors; grooming; solicitation of minors; nudity involving minors; exploitation or endangerment. We report apparent CSAM to relevant authorities.

  • Safeguards: Don’t post images of minors in states of undress. Content featuring minors is reviewed cautiously; non-sexual family content is generally allowed.

4) Harassment & Bullying

  • Prohibited: Targeted harassment, stalking, shaming, doxxing, dogpiling, or coordinating abuse.

  • Protected characteristics: No attacks based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, disease, age, sex, gender identity/expression, or sexual orientation.

  • Contextual allowances: Legitimate criticism of public figures is allowed; do not incite harassment or encourage brigading.

5) Hate Speech & Hateful Conduct

  • Prohibited: Dehumanizing, violent, or segregationist content targeting protected classes, slurs used to harass, white-supremacist or extremist propaganda.

  • Contextual allowances: Counter speech, academic or news reporting when not praising or advocating harm.

6) Sexual Content & Nudity

  • Prohibited: Pornography; explicit sexual content; fetish content targeting minors; sexual services.

  • Limited allowances: Health/medical, educational, breastfeeding, childbirth, post-surgery, or art (paintings, sculptures); must avoid explicit focus on genitals or sexual acts. Add context where appropriate.

  • Revenge porn / Non-consensual Intimate Imagery: Strictly prohibited. Reporting tools are prioritized for rapid action.

7) Privacy Invasions & Doxxing

  • Prohibited: Posting someone’s non-public personal data (e.g., home address, private phone, government IDs), hidden-camera imagery, or intimate images without consent.

8) Misinformation & Fraud

  • Prohibited: Coordinated deception, impersonation of institutions, scams, phishing, pyramid schemes, sale of fake documents or hacked data.

  • Civic harm: Content intended to mislead about civic processes (elections, voting logistics) may be reduced or removed where it creates material harm.

  • Health claims: Harmful medical misinformation may be limited or removed in line with public-health guidance.

9) Illegal & Regulated Goods/Services

  • Prohibited: Transactions or facilitation of illegal drugs, stolen goods, counterfeit documents, weapons between private individuals, or endangered species.

  • Regulated: Alcohol/tobacco, real-money gambling, and certain supplements require our prior written permission and legal compliance.

  • No instructions to manufacture illegal weapons/explosives.

10) Intellectual Property

  • Respect IP: Only post content you own or are authorized to share.

  • Copyright/Trademark reports: Use in-app reporting or email hello@pearls.social with details.

  • Username policy: We may reassign usernames to verified public figures or trademark holders (see Terms §2A).

11) Authenticity & Impersonation

  • Prohibited: Fake personas intended to mislead; posing as another person/brand; manipulated media to defraud or cause harm.

  • Parody/Commentary: Allowed if clearly labeled and not confusingly similar to deceive (username, avatar, and bio should indicate parody/satire).

12) Spam, Manipulation & Platform Abuse

  • Prohibited: Mass following/unfollowing, artificial engagement, link-farms, comment spam, repeated unsolicited commercial messages, or evasion of enforcement.

  • Automation: Bots or scripts require our written permission and must comply with our rate limits and rules.

13) Graphics & Shock

  • Prohibited: Gratuitous gore or depictions shared to shock or disgust.

  • Limited allowances: News/reporting with warnings and minimized graphic detail.

14) AI-Generated & Synthetic Media

  • Labeling: Clearly disclose when media is AI-generated or materially altered, especially if it could mislead.

  • Prohibited: Deceptive deepfakes that harm reputation, incite violence, or depict sexual content (especially involving minors or non-consenting adults).

 

D) Time-Locked Content: Special Notes

  • Policy applies pre- and post-unlock. Automated detection may be used before unlock for safety (e.g., CSAM).

  • Recipient behavior: We can’t control what recipients do after unlock. Choose recipients carefully.

  • Appeals: If your scheduled content is actioned before unlock, you can appeal; we prioritize time-sensitive reviews when technically feasible.

 

E) Reporting & Appeals

  • Report tools: From a profile, comment, or Pearl details page. Include context (timestamps, links, usernames).

  • Triage: Imminent harm and child safety are prioritized.

  • Appeals: Use in-app flow or email hello@pearls.social with “Appeal” in subject, your handle, a link/screenshot, and explanation.

 

F) Creator & Commercial Activity (Future-Facing)

  • Branded content: Must disclose paid partnerships and comply with advertising and local consumer laws.

  • Promotions: Giveaways/contests must include official rules, eligibility, and disclosures; you are solely responsible for legality and prizes.

  • No sale of accounts or handles.

 

G) Transparency & Updates

  • We may publish aggregated enforcement metrics.

  • We update these Guidelines as laws and community norms evolve. We’ll notify you of material changes in-app or on our site.

 

H) Contact

Policy questions or reports: hello@pearls.social
Privacy: hello@pearls.social
Legal mail: 461 Sandy Creek Rd, Ste 41092, Fayetteville, GA 30214, USA

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