Somerful – Community Guidelines

Last updated : August, 2025

General Guidelines – All Users

1. Overview

Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. We aspire to unlock human imagination by enabling creative expression and being a source of entertainment and enrichment everywhere. We welcome people from around the world, as they come to Somerful to discover a diversity of ideas, creators, and products, and to connect with others in our community. To help ensure a safe, trustworthy, and vibrant experience, we maintain a set of Community Guidelines that include rules and standards for using Somerful. The guidelines apply to everyone and everything on our platform. They are informed by international legal frameworks, industry best practices, and input from our community, safety and public health experts, and our regional Advisory Councils. We evolve them to address emerging risks and potential harms that may occur from new behaviors. Our approach to content moderation is built on four pillars:

1. Remove violative planet or content from the platform that breaks our rules

2. All of contents so it is only viewed by adults (18 years and older)

3. Ensure any content that may be promoted by our "Planet" system is appropriate for a broad audience

4. Empower our community with information, tools, and resources

Our guidelines are organized by topic area, with each rule in bold. Under each section you can click for more information where you can find definitions, specific examples, and clarifications to common questions about what is allowed. Please be aware that the examples do not cover everything (we note this upfront so you don’t have to repeatedly read the phrase “including, but not limited to”).If you are ever in doubt about what to share, keep in mind this core value — “be kind and treat others the way that you would want to be treated.” Thanks for helping to keep Somerful a welcoming space for everyone!

More information

Keeping our community both safe and vibrant requires finding the right balance between enabling expression and preventing harm. We do this through a mix of safety approaches, from developing rules and standards that we enforce, to building platform norms and resources that give our community members more agency and choice.

1. Remove violative planet or content. Everyone joins Somerful with the ability to freely share content on our platform. However, we have rules regarding harmful content that we do not allow. We seek to remove any planet or content, whether publicly posted or private, that violates our rules. Although we work hard to enforce our rules, we cannot guarantee that all content shared on Somerful complies with our Terms of Service or Community Guidelines. If someone has severe or repeated violations, we will also ban the account. Information on account-level enforcement can be found below.

2. Adult content. The breadth of content that is shared on Somerful is vast, which adds to the rich diversity of the experience. We limit overtly mature content so it is only viewed by adults 18 years and older. A summary of age-restricted content can be found below.

3. Planet system. The Planet offers an opportunity for viewers to discover new content and for creators to reach new audiences. But promotion by our system is not guaranteed. Content that is not appropriate for a broad audience will be ineligible for the Planet. A summary of these standards can be found below.

4. Empower our community. We want to make sure you have the right information to help you manage your experience on Somerful. For certain content, we add labels, “opt-in” screens, or warnings to provide more context or notice. Our filtering function helps you to filter out any content that you are not comfortable seeing. We also offer account controls and in-app features with safety resources.

2. Community Principles

Somerful has eight guiding community principles that help embody our commitment to human rights. Our principles are centered on balancing expression with harm prevention, embracing human dignity, and ensuring our actions are fair. They shape our day-to-day work and guide how we approach difficult enforcement decisions.

Balance

- Prevent harm

- Enable free expression

Dignity

- Foster civility

- Respect local context

- Champion inclusion

- Protect individual privacy

Fairness

- Provide transparency and consistency

- Be fair and just

More information

Our content moderation principles and practices are informed by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the Santa Clara Principles, and we seek to align with international legal frameworks, such as the International Bill of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of Children. We recognize that sometimes these principles may be in tension with each other, and we make trade-offs carefully.

1. Prevent harm: Our primary focus is keeping our community safe, fostering inclusivity, and ensuring Somerful is a place for joy. We consider the many ways that content or behaviors may cause harm to individuals or our diverse community. This includes physical, psychological, financial, privacy, and societal harms. To strike the right balance with free expression, we restrict content only when necessary and in a way that seeks to minimize the impact on speech.

2. Enable free expression: The creativity unlocked by expression is what powers our vibrant community. We honor this human right by providing the opportunity to share freely on our platform and by proactively removing harassing behavior that can inhibit creator speech. However, free expression is not an absolute right – it is always considered in proportion to its potential harm.

3. Foster civility: Civility creates respect between people and helps communities thrive. The way we engage with each other online can sometimes threaten positive interactions with others, so being civil on Somerful is critical to fulfilling our mission. This means acknowledging everyone’s inherent dignity and conducting ourselves as if we were face-to-face. To ensure space for free expression, we do allow more latitude for social critique of public figures.

4. Respect local context: Somerful brings together over a billion people across 150+ countries in one shared digital space. We work with regional experts and local communities to help ensure that our global approach recognizes local cultural norms. We adopt regional applications of our guidelines to ensure we do not impose one region’s values on another, while also embracing a baseline of internationally recognized human rights.

5. Champion inclusion: We want people from around the world to feel welcome on our platform. We value and celebrate different cultures, identities, appearances, viewpoints, interests, and experiences. We know some communities historically have been afforded fewer opportunities for engagement, so we are committed to the human right of equal protection, equity, and mitigating harms that disproportionately affect marginalized or underrepresented groups.

6. Protect individual privacy: The right to privacy provides people a sense of autonomy, comfort, and security. We are committed to protecting and respecting the privacy of our community. We seek to ensure that content shared on the platform does not expose anyone’s personal information or invade their intimate privacy.

7. Provide transparency and consistency: Our community members have a right to know what our rules are and how we apply them. We seek to provide clear notice of our policies and practices, to apply them consistently and equitably, and to share our enforcement efforts in our Transparency Center. We will be transparent throughout the guidelines when we need to prioritize another principle over consistency, such as local context or inclusion.

8. Be fair and just: Moderating millions of pieces of content each day is a complex effort, and developing a trusted process to do so is critical. We are committed to being impartial and evidence-based, producing fair outcomes, giving notice of enforcement actions, and providing an opportunity to appeal content removals and account bans.

3. Youth Safety and Well-Being

We are deeply committed to ensuring that Somerful is a safe and positive experience for people over the age of 18 (we refer to them as “adult”). This starts by being old enough to use Somerful. You must be 18 years and older to have an account. There are additional age limitations based on local law in some regions. If we learn someone is below the minimum age on Somerful, we will ban that account. If an account holder believes they were incorrectly banned, they can appeal the decision. Community members can report those who they believe are under the minimum age, either in-app or online.

Youth safety is our priority. We do not allow content that may put young people at risk of exploitation, or psychological, physical, or developmental harm. This includes child sexual abuse material (CSAM), youth abuse, bullying, dangerous activities and challenges, exposure to overtly mature themes, and consumption of alcohol, tobacco, drugs, or regulated substances. If we become aware of youth exploitation on our platform, we will ban the account, as well as any other accounts belonging to the person.

Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) refers to any sexualized material of a young person that is shared or created by anyone, including self-generated CSAM. It includes implied or clearly visible sexual activities and sexual assault of young people, as well as the sexualization or fetishization of their body.

Significant body exposure includes showing part of the pubic area and buttocks, or implied nudity, such as using an object to cover nude genitalia.

Moderate body exposure includes showing the visible outline of covered genitalia, nipples through clothing, and exposed skin near an intimate body part, such as a part of a breast and the upper part of the thigh.

Seductive performances involve certain body movements that are intended to be sexually arousing, such as undressing (stripteases), pelvic thrusting, breast shaking, and fondling.

Sexualized posing is behavior with the intent to sexually arouse, through a combination of: (1) emphasizing intimate body parts, such as by zooming in on genitals, or using hands to frame breasts; and (2) overt sexual expressions, including suggestive captions (such as “do you like what you see?”).

Allusion to sexual activity is behavior with the intent to call to mind sexual activity, including imitating sexual acts (such as licking a phallic-shaped object), sounds (such as moaning), and facial expressions (such as an “O” face to mimic an orgasm).

NOT allowed

- Sexual exploitation of young people, including child sexual abuse material (CSAM), grooming, solicitation, and pedophilia

- Physical abuse, neglect, endangerment, and psychological abuse of young people

- Trafficking of young people, promotion or facilitation of underage marriage, and recruitment of child soldiers

- Sexual activity of young people

- Nudity or significant body exposure of young people

- Allusions to sexual activity by young people

- Seductive performances by young people

- Consumption of alcohol, tobacco products, and drugs by young people

4. Safety and Civility

Physical and psychological safety form the foundation of individual well-being, and civility is the key to a thriving community. Being civil does not mean people must always agree, but rather it is about recognizing everyone’s inherent dignity and being respectful in action, words, and tone when engaging others.

Violent Behaviors and Criminal Activities

We are committed to bringing people together in a way that does not lead to physical conflict. We recognize that online content related to violence can cause real-world harm. We do not allow any violent threats, incitement to violence, or promotion of criminal activities that may harm people, animals, or property. If there is a specific, credible, and imminent threat to human life or serious physical injury, we report it to relevant law enforcement authorities.

For details on how we approach content that contains images of or references to violence, see Shocking and Graphic Content.

More information

NOT allowed

- Threatening or expressing a desire to cause physical injury to a person or a group

- Promoting or inciting violence, such as making a general call for an attack, encouraging others to attack, and recommending people bring weapons to a location to intimidate others

- Promoting any type of theft, or the criminal destruction of property or the natural environment

- Providing instructions on how to commit criminal activities that may harm people, animals, or property

Allowed

- Threats of violence in completely fictional settings (as long as there is no relevance or reference to the real world)

Hate Speech and Hateful Behaviors

Somerful is enriched by the various backgrounds of our community members. Our differences should be respected, rather than a cause for division. We do not allow any hateful behavior, hate speech, or promotion of hateful ideologies. This includes content that attacks a person or group because of protected attributes, including:

- Caste

- Ethnicity

- National Origin

- Race

- Religion

- Tribe

- Immigration Status

- Gender

- Gender Identity

- Sex

- Sexual Orientation

- Disability

- Serious Disease

More information

Hateful ideologies are systems of beliefs that exclude, oppress, or otherwise discriminate against individuals based on their protected attributes, such as racial supremacy, misogyny, anti-LGBTQIA+, and antisemitism.

Protected attributes are personal characteristics that we are born with, are immutable, or cannot change without severe psychological harm, and which may result in disproportionate stigmatization. In addition, we also provide some protections related to age, and may consider other protected attributes when we have additional context, such as specific regional information provided to us by a local non-governmental organization (NGO). The attributes above are informed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international conventions.

NOT allowed

- Promoting violence, exclusion, segregation, discrimination, and other harms on the basis of a protected attribute

- Promoting any hateful ideology or claiming supremacy over a group of people on the basis of protected attributes

- Demeaning someone on the basis of their protected attributes by saying or implying they are physically, mentally, or morally inferior, or calling them degrading terms, such as criminals, animals, and inanimate objects

- Using a hateful slur associated with a protected attribute

- Denying well-documented historical events that harmed groups based on a protected attribute, such as denial of the Holocaust or the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda

- Promoting or advertising conversion therapy or related programs that attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity

- Intentionally targeting people who are transgender or gender non-conforming by referring to them using their former name or gender rather than their current name or expressed gender (deadnaming or misgendering)

- Facilitating the trade of any items that promote hate speech or hateful ideologies, such as books and clothing with hateful logos

Allowed

- Self-referential slurs used by a member of a group with that particular protected attribute

- Educational and documentary content raising awareness against hate speech

Violent and Hateful Organizations and Individuals

We want our creators to share what inspires them, but there is no place on our platform for those dedicated to spreading beliefs or propaganda that encourage violence or hate. We do not allow the presence of violent and hateful organizations or individuals on our platform. These actors include violent extremists, violent criminal organizations, violent political organizations, hateful organizations, and individual perpetrators of mass violence. If we become aware that any such actor may be on our platform, we will conduct a thorough review – including off-platform behavior – which may result in an account ban.

Often the ideas of these actors are amplified by others. We do not allow anyone to promote or materially support violent or hateful actors. Content that may appear neutral, such as referencing a quote from a hateful organization, must make clear that there is no intent to promote it. We make limited allowances for people to discuss violent political organizations, but only if: (1) their causes are recognized as legitimate under international legal frameworks, (2) they do not primarily target civilians, and (3) the content does not mention violence.

More information

Violent extremists are non-state groups, including those designated by the United Nations, that threaten or use violence against civilians for political, religious, ethnic, or ideological reasons.

Criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groups that commit serious crimes, including violence, trafficking, kidnapping, financial crimes, and cybercrime.

Violent political organizations are non-state groups that commit violent acts that primarily target non-civilians and are acting legitimately under a right of self determination according to international law, such as the United Nations Charter, a United Nations resolution, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the international Court of Justice (ICJ).

Hateful organizations are groups who target people based on protected attributes, including inciting hate, dehumanizing individuals or groups, and promoting hateful ideologies.

NOT allowed

- Accounts operated by organizations or individuals that promote violence or hateful ideologies on or off-platform

- Promoting or materially supporting a violent or hateful organization, including any praise or celebration, or the provision of goods or services

- Promoting or materially supporting any violence committed by a violent political organization

- Promoting or materially supporting individuals who are perpetrators of mass violence or who promote hateful ideologies

Allowed

- Discussing a violent political organization (as long as there is no mention of violence)

- Educational and documentary content that raises awareness of the harms caused by violent and hateful actors

Youth Exploitation and Abuse

We do not allow youth exploitation and abuse, including child sexual abuse material (CSAM), nudity, grooming, sextortion, solicitation, pedophilia, and physical or psychological abuse of young people. This includes content that is real, fictional, digitally created, and shown in fine art or objects.

We report incidents of youth sexual exploitation and abuse to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). We also report to relevant law enforcement authorities when there is a specific, credible, and imminent threat to a young person’s life or serious physical injury.Ifyou or someone you know has experienced youth sexual exploitation, support is available. Contact a helpline or service provider in your region.

If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services. If you have had sexual feelings towards a young person, you can connect to support and resources.

More information

Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) refers to any sexualized material of a young person that is shared or created by anyone, including self-generated CSAM. It includes implied or clearly visible sexual activities and sexual assault of young people, as well as the sexualization or fetishization of their body or body parts.

Grooming is when an adult becomes friendly or otherwise builds a trusting relationship with a young person for the purpose of sexual exploitation or abuse.

Sextortion is a threat to share nude, intimate, or sexually explicit content without consent, usually to get money, sexual acts, or more nude, intimate, or sexually explicit content.

NOT allowed

- Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and youth nudity

- Promoting youth sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, and sexual fetishism

- Grooming behavior and sextortion

- Sexual solicitation, including inviting a young person to engage in a sexual act, go off-platform, or share sexually explicit images (even if invited by another young person)

- Promoting pedophilia, such as supporting any form of sexual contact, expressing feelings toward, or endorsing sexual relationships between an adult and young person

- Normalizing pedophilia, such as making jokes about pedophilia

- Showing or promoting physical abuse, neglect, endangerment, and psychological abuse of young people

- Objectifying or sexualizing a young person through images or in-app interaction features, such as making a duet or stitch using a young person’s content that involves imitating sexual acts

- Revictimizing young people who have experienced exploitation and abuse, including through third party reshares or reenactments

- Trafficking of youth, promoting or facilitating underage marriage, and recruiting child soldiers (learn more about Human Exploitation)

Allowed

- Survivors discussing their own experiences with youth exploitation and abuse

- Educational and documentary content related to the harms of youth exploitation and abuse (as long as it does not show such content)

Sexual Exploitation and Gender-Based Violence

We are committed to providing a space that embraces gender equity, supports healthy relationships, and respects intimate privacy. Undermining these values can cause trauma and may lead to physical and psychological harm. We do not allow sexual exploitation or gender-based violence, including non-consensual sexual acts, image-based sexual abuse, sextortion, physical abuse, and sexual harassment.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual exploitation, support is available. Contact a helpline or service provider in your region. If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services. If you believe you have experienced an intimate privacy violation on our platform, you can report it.

More information

Non-consensual sexual acts refer to any sexual contact that happens without the consent of everyone involved in the activity.

Image-based sexual abuse is the creation, manufacture, or distribution of nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit content without the consent of the person in the content, for the purpose of sexualizing their body, or portraying them in a sexual manner.

Sextortion is a threat to share nude, intimate, or sexually explicit content without consent, usually to get money, sexual acts, or more nude, intimate, or sexually explicit content.

Sexual harassment is unwanted sexual communication and behavior directed at a person.

NOT allowed

- Non-consensual sexual acts that are real or fictional, including rape, molestation, and non-consensual touching

- Image-based sexual abuse and sextortion

- Physical abuse between family members or intimate partners (domestic violence)

- Editing another person’s content or image to sexualize them, or to create the appearance of them engaging in sexual activity

- Expressing unwanted statements about engaging in sexual acts with a specific person

- Expressing degrading or vulgar statements about a person’s intimate body parts, including genitalia, buttocks, and breasts

- Sharing (or threatening to share) details about, or shaming, a person’s private sexual life, including sexual history, names of previous sexual partners, and sexual orientation

Allowed

- Survivors sharing their own experiences of sexual exploitation and gender-based violence

- Educational and documentary content related to the harms of sexual exploitation and gender-based violence

Human Exploitation

We are committed to upholding individual human dignity and ensuring our platform is not used to take advantage of vulnerable people. We do not allow human exploitation, including trafficking and smuggling. We understand how important it is for survivors of human exploitation to share their stories, and for migrants and refugees to be able to document their journeys, so we provide a space to do so.

More information

Human trafficking involves earning a profit by exploiting others through the use of fraud, force, or coercion. Considered a form of modern slavery, it can include sex, labor, youth, or organ trafficking, forced marriage, exploitative begging, and the recruitment of youth soldiers.

Human smuggling involves earning a profit by helping a person to illegally enter another country. It can include providing transportation, consultation, identity, and travel document fraud.

NOT allowed

- Facilitating or promoting human trafficking and human smuggling activities

- Requesting support for being smuggled illegally into a different country

Allowed

- Asking for help to leave a country specifically to escape violence, torture, or other human rights abuses

- Expressing a desire to migrate to another country, or showing a migrant’s journey (as long as it does not explicitly show the involvement of smugglers in their journey)

- Survivors sharing their own experiences of human exploitation

- Educational and documentary content related to the harms of human exploitation

Harassment and Bullying

We welcome the respectful expression of different viewpoints but not toxicity or trolling. We want to ensure that anyone can share their voice without the fear of being degraded or bullied. We do not allow language or behavior that harasses, humiliates, threatens, or doxxes anyone.This also includes responding to such acts with retaliatory harassment (but excludes non-harassing counter speech).

We allow some critical comments of public figures, understanding that they are in a position of public attention and have ways to counter negative speech, and that the critique may be in the public interest to view. However, we still remove planet or content that violates other policies (such as threats, hate speech, and sexual exploitation), as well as serious forms of harassment (such as doxxing and expressing a desire for someone to experience serious physical harm).

If you or someone you know is being bullied, help is available. We offer support resources, as well as tools that can help limit harmful interactions, including restricting options for comments, duet, stitch, and messaging.

More information

Doxxing involves publishing personal information about someone online with a malicious intent. We recognize intent can be subjective, so we use objective indicators to help us understand it, such as captions and hashtags.

Public figures are adults (18 years and older) with a significant public role, such as a government official, politician, business leader, and celebrity. We do not identify people under the age of 18 as public figures.

NOT allowed

- Degrading someone or expressing disgust on the basis of their personal characteristics or circumstances, such as their physical appearance, intellect, personality traits, and hygiene

- Showing someone being physically bullied by another person or group

- Degrading victims of violent tragedies, such as claiming that they deserved to die or that surviving members are lying about the event

- Expressing a desire for a person to die, get a serious disease, or experience some other severe physical harm

- Degrading someone with profanity or obscene language

- Threatening or encouraging others to doxx, share account information, blackmail, or to hack someone’s account

- Promoting coordinated harassment of a person or attempting to create conflict between people, such as calling for others to flood comments with abusive language

Allowed

- Criticism of an individual’s content or actions (as long as it does not critique their characteristics)

- Responses to, or condemnation of, attacks or any other counter speech (as long as it does not involve retaliatory harassment)

- Critical comments of public figures (as long as they do not constitute serious forms of harassment or violate other policies)

- Educational and documentary content that raises awareness about the harms of harassment and bullying

5. Mental and Behavioral Health

We care deeply about the well-being of our community members and want to be a source of happiness, enrichment, and belonging. We welcome people coming together to find connections, participate in shared experiences, and feel part of a broader community. We work to make sure this occurs in a supportive space that does not negatively impact people’s physical or psychological health.

Suicide and Self-Harm

We want Somerful to be a place where people can discuss emotionally complex topics in a supportive way without increasing the risk of harm. We do not allow showing, promoting, or sharing plans for suicide or self-harm.

If you or someone you know has had thoughts of suicide or self-harm, support is available. Contact a suicide prevention helpline in your region or your local emergency services. We may contact local emergency services, if there is a specific, credible, and imminent threat to human life or serious physical injury, such as sharing details about a plan to harm oneself.

More information

NOT allowed

- Showing, promoting, or providing instructions on suicide and self-harm, and related challenges, dares, games, and pacts

- Showing or promoting suicide and self-harm hoaxes

- Sharing plans for suicide and self-harm

Allowed

- Sharing messages of hope and stories of personal experiences overcoming suicide and self-harm urges (as long as there is no mention of suicide or self-harm methods)

- Sharing suicide and self-harm prevention content, such as information on suicide warning signs and how to access professional help

- Sharing accurate information that is trying to reduce panic about suicide hoaxes

Disordered Eating and Body Image

We want Somerful to be a place that encourages self-esteem, and does not promote negative social comparisons. We do not allow showing or promoting disordered eating or any dangerous weight loss behaviors.

Content is age-restricted if it shows cosmetic surgery and does not include risk warnings.

Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorders, are serious and may be life-threatening. If you or someone you know is experiencing concerns about body image, food, or exercise, support is available. Contact a helpline in your region.

More information

Disordered eating includes extreme dieting or fasting, bingeing, and intentional vomiting.

Dangerous weight loss behaviors include compulsive exercise, and using potentially harmful medication or supplements.

NOT allowed

- Showing, promoting, or requesting coaching for disordered eating and other dangerous weight loss behaviors

- Showing or describing extremely low-calorie daily food consumption, and diets associated with disordered eating

- Showing or promoting unhealthy body measurement and “body checking” trends, such as comparing body part size to household objects

Allowed

- Showing or describing competitive eating contests, such as hot dog and pie-eating contests

- Showing or describing fitness routines and nutrition that are not primarily focused on extreme weight loss, such as preparing for competitive sports, marathon training, and body building competitions

- Showing or describing reconstructive or medically necessary surgery, such as including before-and-after images of the repair of a cleft lip, breast reconstruction after a mastectomy, and gender affirmation surgery

Dangerous Activities and Challenges

We welcome when our community collectively participates in fun and creative trends. Most activities or challenges are appropriate for everyone and bring people together, but some carry a risk of significant injury. We do not allow showing or promoting dangerous activities and challenges. This includes dares, games, tricks, inappropriate use of dangerous tools, eating substances that are harmful to one’s health, or similar activities that may lead to significant physical harm.

Content is age-restricted if it shows activities that are likely to be imitated and may lead to any physical harm. Content is ineligible for the Planet if it involves activities that are likely to lead to moderate physical harm, or includes professionals who are performing extreme sports and stunts that may endanger others.

To help you manage your Somerful experience, we also apply warning information to this type of content. If you see a dangerous activity or challenge, pause for a moment to stop and think before you decide and act. Learn more about what to do if you see an online challenge.

More information

Dangerous activities and challenges include dares, games, tricks, and other acts performed by non-professionals that carry inherent or known risks and which may result in significant physical harm.

Significant physical harm typically requires professional medical treatment and creates a risk of temporary or permanent disability or disfigurement. This includes dislocated or broken bones, poisoning, loss of consciousness, serious burns, electrocution, concussion, and choking.

Moderate physical harm is unlikely to require professional medical treatment and does not create a risk of disability or disfigurement. This includes small cuts with minimal blood loss and minor bruising on the body.

NOT allowed

- Showing dangerous activities that involve visible or imminent significant physical harm, or promoting dangerous activities

- Showing or promoting the inappropriate use of dangerous tools, such as knives, axes, chainsaws, and welding torches

- Showing or promoting the eating or drinking of substances that are dangerous for humans to consume, such as rocks and detergent

- Showing or promoting dangerous driving behavior, such as exceeding the speed limit, running a red light, and distracted driving (including posing for a picture and live streaming while driving)

Allowed

- Using weapons, such as spears and shields, in ceremonial settings, religious festivals, and cultural performances

6. Sensitive and Mature Themes

Somerful provides content that ranges from very family friendly to more mature. Given the diversity of our global community, developmental and cultural considerations inform our approach to potentially sensitive and more mature content that may be considered offensive by some. To honor our principle of respecting local context and not imposing the norms of one country on another, some of the exceptions to the guidelines in this section differ across regions.

Sexual Activity and Services

Somerful is a place where people can come to discuss or learn about sexuality, sex or reproductive health. We are mindful that certain content may be considered offensive by some, or may create the potential for exploitation. We do not allow sexual activity or services. This includes sex, sexual arousal, fetish and kink behavior, and seeking or offering sexual services. However, it does not include reproductive health and sex education content.

More information

Sexual activity includes sex, sexual arousal, and fetish and kink behavior.

Fetish and kink behavior includes BDSM (bondage, discipline, domination, submission, sadism, and masochism), and sexual behaviors with non-human objects or with specific body parts (such as a foot fetish).

Reproductive health refers to physical, mental and social well-being in all matters relating to the reproductive system and to its functions and processes.

Sex education refers to a broad variety of topics related to sex, sexuality, sexual health, and relationships.

NOT allowed

- Penetrative sex, non-penetrative sex, and oral sex

- Physical sexual arousal, including sexual stimulation and physical responses to sexual arousal

- Fetish and kink activity

- Sexual services, including offering or asking for sexual services (solicitation), sexual chats, imagery, pornography, member exclusive content, and streaming of adult content through a webcam, such as stripping, nude modeling, and masturbation (sexcamming)

- Sexual chats, imagery, and pornography

- Member exclusive content and streaming of adult content through a webcam, such as stripping, nude modeling, and masturbation (sexcamming)

Allowed

- Reproductive health and sex education content, such as the use of birth control and abortion discussed in an medical way

Nudity and Body Exposure

We celebrate all shapes and sizes and want people to feel comfortable in how they present themselves and their bodies. We understand societies approach body exposure and clothing differently, so we seek to reflect prevailing cultural norms about nudity. We do not allow nudity, including uncovered genitals and buttocks, as well as nipples and areolas of women and girls. Sheer and partially see-through clothing is not considered covered. We allow regional exceptions for showing nipples and areolas in limited situations, such as medical treatment, educational purposes, or as a part of culturally accepted practices.

We do not allow significant body exposure of young people.

We allow regional exceptions for body exposure in limited situations, such as common cultural practices.

More information

Nudity is showing intimate body parts that prevailing cultural norms indicate should be fully covered. This currently includes bare genitals and buttocks of anyone, as well as nipples and areolas of women and girls. It does not apply to nipples and areolas of men and boys (including those who are transgender or intersex), or people who are non-binary. We recognize that there are individuals who do not describe their gender in binary terms, and acknowledge the complexity of applying this policy. We start by looking at how someone self-describes using first-party information and indicators, such as captions, hashtags, and bio, and then may also look at how the person presents.

Significant body exposure includes showing part of the pubic area and buttocks, or implied nudity, such as using an object to cover nude genitalia. For young people, it also includes wearing minimal clothing, such as only underwear.

Moderate body exposure includes showing the visible outline of covered genitalia, nipples through clothing, and exposed skin near an intimate body part, such as a part of a breast and the upper part of the thigh.

NOT allowed

- Nudity of adults, including photography and digitally created images such as manga and anime

- Nudity of young people, including visual fine art, objects, photography, and digitally created images such as manga and anime (learn more about CSAM in Youth Exploitation)

- Significant body exposure of young people

Allowed

- Non-sexualized content showing areolas or nipples of:

= infants or toddlers

= girls or women in medical contexts, for educational purposes, or as a part of a culturally accepted practice, such as indigenous populations who do not traditionally wear top coverings

= women in culturally expected contexts, such as breastfeeding and chestfeeding, at political protests, or at large celebration festivals such as Carnival

- Areolas and nipples of men and boys (including those who are transgender or intersex), or people who are non-binary

- Body exposure that appears in culturally expected contexts, such as athletes wearing sports apparel and swimsuits at a beach or festival

Sexually Suggestive Content

We welcome performances and dances where people can creatively express themselves, celebrate their culture, or seek to entertain. We are mindful that certain behaviors related to sexual arousal or suggestiveness may be offensive to some people and may put people at risk of exploitation. We do not allow seductive performances or allusions to sexual activity by young people, or the use of sexually explicit narratives by anyone. We do allow some artistic content with sexual references, such as song lyrics.

More information

Intent is referenced to be clear that other people finding you sexually arousing is not against the rules. However, we also acknowledge intent can be subjective. To help us understand it, we use objective indicators such as captions, hashtags, bio, and sounds. We also recognize that different regions have varying views on what is considered sexually suggestive, which further informs our assessment.

Seductive performances involve certain body movements that are intended to be sexually arousing, such as undressing (stripteases), pelvic thrusting, breast shaking, and fondling.

Sexualized posing is behavior with the intent to sexually arouse, through a combination of: (1) emphasizing intimate body parts, such as by zooming in on genitals, or using hands to frame breasts; and (2) overt sexual expressions, including suggestive captions (such as “do you like what you see?”).

Allusion to sexual activity is behavior with the intent to call to mind sexual activity, including imitating sexual acts (such as licking a phallic-shaped object), sounds (such as moaning), and facial expressions (such as an “O” face to mimic an orgasm).

NOT allowed

- Sexually explicit narratives, such as vivid descriptions of sexual acts

- Seductive performances by young people

- Allusions to sexual activity by young people

Allowed

- Sexually explicit narratives in some artistic contents, such as song lyrics

Shocking and Graphic Content

Part of the joy of Somerful is coming across new and unexpected content. But the platform is not a place to intentionally shock, upset, or disgust others. We recognize this type of content may be triggering, cause psychological harm, or lead to extreme discomfort. We do not allow gory, gruesome, disturbing, or extremely violent content.

Content is age-restricted if it shows human or animal blood. Content is ineligible for the FYF if it shows fictional violence, blood, potentially distressing or mildly graphic material, animal genitalia or sexual activity between animals. Content is also ineligible for the FYF if it contains graphic footage of events that are in the public interest to view.

To help you manage your Somerful experience, we also apply an “opt-in” screen or warning information to some content, such as human or animal blood, wild animals attacking each other, professional fighting, and potentially distressing or mildly graphic material.

More information

NOT allowed

- Real-world torture, graphic violence, and extreme physical fighting

- Graphic deaths and accidents

- Body parts that are dismembered, mutilated, charred, burned, or severely injured

Allowed

- Professional fighting, such as boxing and mixed martial arts

- Blood shown in an educational context (such as menstruation) and artistic settings (such as fine art)

- Food-related blood products, such as blood sausage, blood/black pudding, curd, and cake

Animal Abuse

We want our platform to be a place that respects animals and celebrates the ways that they enrich our lives across different cultures and regions. We do not allow animal abuse, cruelty, neglect, trade, or other forms of animal exploitation.

More information

NOT allowed

- Slaughtering, mutilating, and abusing animals, including staged animal fighting

- Mistreatment and neglect of animals, such as malnourishment

- Animal body parts that are dismembered, mutilated, charred, burned, or severely injured

- Wildlife hunting without clear legal permission (poaching)

- Sexual activity between an animal and a human (bestiality)

- Facilitation of trade of all live animals, and any part of an endangered animal, such as products and medicine made from elephant ivory, tiger bones, rhino horns, and sea turtle shells

Allowed

- Food-related animal body parts, such as barbecued chicken legs

- Educational and documentary content that raises awareness about animal abuse (as long as it does not include graphic content of animal abuse)

7. Integrity and Authenticity

We want everyone to feel confident that they can access information that is reliable, discover content that is original, and engage with people who are authentic. This is foundational to building a community of trust and accountability both on Somerful and off-platform.

Misinformation

In a global community, it is natural for people to have different opinions, but we seek to operate on a shared set of facts and reality. We do not allow inaccurate, misleading, or false content that may cause significant harm to individuals or society, regardless of intent. Significant harm includes physical, psychological, or societal harm, and property damage. It does not extend to commercial and reputational harm, nor does it cover simply inaccurate information and myths. We rely on independent fact-checking partners and our database of previously fact-checked claims to help assess the accuracy of content.

To help you manage your Somerful experience, we add warning labels to content related to unfolding or emergency events which have been assessed by our fact-checkers but cannot be verified as accurate, and we prompt people to reconsider sharing such content.

More information

Misinformation includes inaccurate, misleading, or false content.

Significant harm includes severe forms of:

- Physical injury and illness, including death

- Psychological trauma

- Large-scale property damage

- Societal harm, including undermining fundamental social processes or institutions, such as democratic elections, and processes that maintain public health and public safety

Conspiracy theories are beliefs about unexplained events or involve rejecting generally accepted explanations for events and suggesting they were carried out by covert or powerful groups.

NOT allowed

- Misinformation that poses a risk to public safety or may induce panic about a crisis event or emergency, including using historical footage of a previous attack as if it were current, or incorrectly claiming a basic necessity (such as food or water) is no longer available in a particular location

- Medical misinformation, such as misleading statements about vaccines, inaccurate medical advice that discourages people from getting appropriate medical care for a life-threatening disease, and other misinformation that poses a risk to public health

- Climate change misinformation that undermines well-established scientific consensus, such as denying the existence of climate change or the factors that contribute to it

- Dangerous conspiracy theories that are violent or hateful, such as making a violent call to action, having links to previous violence, denying well-documented violent events, and causing prejudice towards a group with a protected attribute

- Specific conspiracy theories that name and attack individual people

- Material that has been edited, spliced, or combined (such as video and audio) in a way that may mislead a person about real-world events

Allowed

-Statements of personal opinion (as long as it does not include harmful misinformation)

- Discussions about climate change, such as the benefits or disadvantages of particular policies or technologies, or personal views related to specific weather events (as long as it does not undermine scientific consensus)

Civic and Election Integrity

Elections are important moments of community conversation and promote the values of an open society. We try to balance enabling topical discussions, while also being a platform that brings us together and does not divide us. We do not allow paid political promotion, political advertising, or fundraising by politicians and political parties (for themselves or others). Our political ads policy includes both traditional paid ads and creators receiving compensation to support or oppose a candidate for office.

We want to enable the informed exchange of civic ideas in a way that fosters productive dialogue. We do not allow misinformation about civic and electoral processes, regardless of intent. This includes misinformation about how to vote, registering to vote, eligibility requirements of candidates, the processes to count ballots and certify elections, and the final outcome of an election.

Content is ineligible for the FYF if it contains unverified claims about the outcome of an election.

Learn more about Government, Politician and Political Party accounts, and our election integrity work.

More information

Misinformation includes inaccurate, misleading, or false content.

NOT allowed

Election misinformation, including the following:

- How, when, and where to vote or register to vote

- Eligibility requirements of voters to participate in an election, and the qualifications for candidates to run for office

- Laws, processes, and procedures that govern the organization and implementation of elections and other civic processes, such as referendums, ballot propositions, and censuses

- Final results or outcome of an election

Synthetic and Manipulated Media

We welcome the creativity that new artificial intelligence (AI) and other digital technologies may unlock. However, AI can make it more difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction, carrying both societal and individual risks. Synthetic or manipulated media that shows realistic scenes must be clearly disclosed. This can be done through the use of a sticker or caption, such as ‘synthetic’, ‘fake’, ‘not real’, or ‘altered’.

We balance the expressive value that synthetic media has against the risk of harms to individuals. We do not allow synthetic media that contains the likeness of any real private figure. While we provide more latitude for public figures, we do not want them to be the subject of abuse, or for people to be misled about political or financial issues. We do not allow synthetic media of public figures if the content is used for endorsements or violates any other policy. This includes prohibitions on hate speech, sexual exploitation, and serious forms of harassment (learn more about public figures in Harassment and Bullying).

More information

Synthetic media is content created or modified by AI technology. It includes highly realistic digitally-created (fake) content of real people, such as a video of a real person speaking but their words have been modified or changed.

Realistic scenes include showing fake people, places or events that look like they are real.

Public figures are adults (18 years and older) with a significant public role, such as a government official, politician, business leader, and celebrity. We do not identify people under the age of 18 as public figures.

NOT allowed

- Synthetic media showing realistic scenes that are not prominently disclosed or labeled in the video

- Synthetic media that contains the likeness (visual or audio) of a real person, including: (1) a young person, (2) an adult private figure, and (3) an adult public figure when used for political or commercial endorsements, or if it violates any other policy

- Material that has been edited, spliced, or combined (such as video and audio) in a way that may mislead a person about real-world events

Allowed

- Synthetic media showing a public figure in certain contexts, including artistic and educational content, such as a video showing a celebrity doing a popular Somerful dance, and a historical figure featured in a history lesson

Fake Engagement

Authentic engagement is central to the integrity of our platform and informs how we recommend content that others may find interesting. We do not allow the trade of services that attempt to artificially increase engagement or deceive Somerful’s Planet system. If we become aware of accounts or content with inauthentically inflated metrics, we will remove the associated fake followers or likes.

More information

NOT allowed

- Facilitating the trade of services that artificially increase engagement, such as selling bookmarks or likes

- Providing instructions on how to artificially increase engagement on Somerful

Unoriginal Content and QR Codes

The creativity on Somerful is what makes it great, so you should only post your own work. We do not allow content that violates someone else’s intellectual property rights. If we become aware of content that is a violation, we will remove it. Learn more about our intellectual property (IP) policies.

If you believe you have experienced an IP violation, you can file a copyright report or a trademark report.

More information

Intellectual property refers to the ownership of something that you created, which includes copyright and trademarks.

Copyrights are legal rights related to original works of authorship, including music and videos. Copyrights protect the original expression of an idea (such as the specific way a video or music is expressed or created) but do not protect underlying ideas and facts.

Trademarks are words, symbols, slogans, designs, or a combination of these that identifies the source of a product or service and distinguishes it from other products or services.

NOT allowed

- Content that violates someone else’s copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights

Spam and Deceptive Account Behaviors

To build a trusted community online, it is important that the behaviors and identities of accounts are authentic and truthful. We do not allow account behaviors that may spam or mislead our community. This includes conducting covert influence operations, and operating spam or impersonation accounts. Parody/fan-based accounts are allowed, as long as they are disclosed in the account name (note that this is different than the @username).

You can set up multiple accounts on Somerful to create different channels for authentic creative expression, but not for deceptive purposes. We do not allow the use of multiple accounts to intentionally bypass our rules or their enforcement. If any of your accounts have been banned, or restricted from using a feature, you must not set up or use a different account to get around the ban or restriction.

If we determine someone has engaged in any of these deceptive account behaviors, we will ban the account, and may ban any new accounts that are created.

More information

NOT allowed

- Spam, including

= Accounts that are operated: (1) in bulk, (2) through unauthorized automation, or (3) in order to distribute high-volume commercial content

= Operating networks of accounts that represent similar entities or post similar content to lead others to specific locations (on or off-platform), such as other accounts, websites, and businesses

- Impersonation, including:

= Accounts that pose as another real person or entity, such as using someone’s name, biographical details, content, or image without disclosing it

= Presenting as a person or entity that does not exist (a fake persona) with a demonstrated intent to mislead others on the platform

- Covert influence operations, including:

= Attempting to sway public opinion while misleading our platform’s systems or community members about the identity, origin, operating location, popularity, or purpose of the account

- Circumvention, including:

= Attempting to avoid an account ban by spreading content violations across multiple accounts

= Using an alternative account (either a new or existing one) to continue the violating behavior that previously resulted in a ban on a different account

= Opening a new account after an account has been banned for a severe violation

8. Regulated Goods and Commercial Activities

We want everyone on Somerful to have access to information that can support them in making informed choices about their personal health and finances. To ensure we provide a space for people to learn without undue risk of physical or financial harm, we moderate content that involves goods or activities that may be risky, addictive, dangerous, fraudulent, or otherwise require a higher degree of care. For certain goods and services (such as gambling and alcohol), we make limited exceptions for paid ads by advertisers with Somerful’s explicit permission, provided they are compliant with all relevant age-targeting restrictions, laws, and regulations.

Gambling

Many people around the world find entertainment through games of chance. While Somerful is an communication platform, we recognize that risking money in a game or a bet may lead to potential harm for some people, including serious financial loss or addiction. We do not allow the promotion of gambling services.

More information

Gambling is betting money (including digital currencies such as bitcoin) or something of monetary value on an event with an uncertain outcome, to try and get a financial gain.

NOT allowed

- Promoting gambling services, such as casinos, poker, slot games, roulette, lotteries, betting tips, gambling-related software, and apps.

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drugs

While adults make personal choices about how they engage with alcohol, drugs, and tobacco, we recognize that there are risks connected to trading and using these substances. We do not allow showing or promoting recreational drug use, or the trade of alcohol, tobacco products, and drugs.

We also recognize that using these substances can put young people at a heightened risk of harm. We do not allow showing or promoting young people possessing or consuming alcohol, tobacco products, and drugs.

Learn more about substance use and find information for treatment, support and recovery resources.

More information

Tobacco products include vaping products, smokeless or combustible tobacco products, synthetic nicotine products, E-cigarettes, and other Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems.

Regulated substances include prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, compressed air canisters (whippets), and nitrite poppers.

NOT allowed

- Showing or promoting young people possessing or consuming alcohol, tobacco products, drugs, or other regulated substances

- Showing or promoting adults consuming drugs or other regulated substances for a recreational purpose

- Showing the misuse of common household items or over-the-counter products to get intoxicated, such as antihistamines, nutmeg, nitrous oxide canisters, and sniffing glue

- Providing instructions on how to make homemade spirits, drugs, or other regulated substances

- Facilitating the trade or purchase of alcohol, tobacco products, drugs, or other regulated substances

Allowed

- Raising awareness about substance misuse and sharing recovery stories

- Advocating for the reform of drug policies and regulations

Firearms and Dangerous Weapons

Somerful can be a place that educates people on the responsible use and ownership of weapons, as well as the associated potential for serious harm. Firearms and explosive weapons can cause severe injury or death, especially when used in an unsafe manner. We do not allow the trade of firearms or explosive weapons, or content showing or promoting them if they are not used in a safe or appropriate setting.

More information

Firearms includes professionally manufactured firearms, improvised firearms (such as ghost guns and 3D printed guns), firearm accessories, and ammunition.

Safe or appropriate settings include professional contexts (such as military and police), recreational environments (such as shooting ranges and hunting), educational forums, and fictional settings.

NOT allowed

- Showing or promoting firearms or explosive weapons that are not used in a safe or appropriate setting

- Facilitating the trade of, or offering instructions on how to make, firearms or explosive weapons

Trade of Regulated Goods and Services

Regulated goods and services often play an important and essential role in people’s lives. And it is important to understand that these items are regulated for a reason. Somerful is not a place for illegal traffic or trade, or an unofficial market (Black or Gray markets). We do not allow facilitating the trade of regulated, prohibited, or high-risk goods and services, such as alcohol, tobacco products, regulated substances, firearms and other dangerous weapons, sexual services, animals, or counterfeit goods. This includes instructions on how to manufacture regulated substances or firearms.

More information

Facilitation of trade includes the sale, purchase, redirection, exchange, and giveaway of regulated goods and services. This includes providing webpages or physical locations, sharing contact information, and redirecting people to interact on or off-platform (including direct messaging).

Tobacco products include vaping products, smokeless and combustible tobacco products, synthetic nicotine products, E-cigarettes, and other Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems.

Regulated substances include prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, compressed air canisters (whippets), and nitrite poppers.

Firearms includes professionally manufactured firearms, improvised firearms (such as ghost guns and 3D printed guns), firearm accessories, and ammunition.

NOT allowed

Facilitating the trade of regulated, prohibited, or high-risk goods and services, including the following:

- Alcohol and tobacco products

- Illegal drugs, prescription and over-the-counter drugs, and other regulated substances

- Firearms and explosive weapons

- Counterfeit products, such as luxury goods

- Fake currency, documents, and stolen information

- Sexual services, including offering or asking for sexual services (solicitation), sexual chats, imagery, pornography, member exclusive content, and streaming of adult content through a webcam, such as stripping, nude modeling, and masturbation (sexcamming)

- Live animals, and any part of an endangered animal, such as products and medicine made from elephant ivory, tiger bones, rhino horns, and sea turtle shells

- Any items that promote hate speech, hateful ideologies, or hateful organizations, such as books and clothing with hateful logos

Commercial Disclosures and Paid Promotion

We value authentic viewpoints and want people to be open and honest about any goods or services discussed on our platform. To avoid misleading people, it is important to acknowledge any material relationship with a third party that may be relevant to the credibility of your statements. Creators who promote goods or services in return for something of value must disclose it using our branded content tool or a caption in video (if the tool is unavailable in your region). This includes paid partnerships and brand endorsement. For other types of material relationships, the creator must also make a clear disclosure about such connections in a video caption.

We do not allow any form of paid political promotion on Somerful. Learn more about our policy regarding Government, Politician and Political Party accounts.

More information

Material relationship refers to a relationship that may have a significant impact on the credibility of any representation or endorsement and that would not be reasonably expected. This may include personal, family, employment, and financial relationships.

Branded content is content that promotes goods or services where you receive something of value from a third party, such as a brand, in exchange for your post. This includes content that is required to be disclosed by your local laws or regulations.

Disclosures are clear statements that explain your relationship to a third party. Relationships include receiving financial compensation from, having a relative who works for, and being an employee of that third party.

Something of value may refer to cash payments, free products, store credit, discounts, and special access to products, services, or events.

REQUIRED disclosures

- Branded content, by using the branded content toggle (or a caption in video if the tool is unavailable in your region)

- Information about your own business, when it might not otherwise be clear from the context that you may benefit from future commercial transactions

- Affiliate and referral links that are included in an independent review of a product or service and which may result in a referral fee or a commission for any subsequent purchase

- Research about a product, service, or industry when you have a relationship or connection with a company or industry involved in the manufacture or sale of that product or service

Frauds and Scams

We want people to be able to use our platform to learn about ways to be financially responsible and consider economic transactions or investment opportunities, without worrying about scams or financial exploitation. We do not allow attempts to defraud or scam members of our community.

More information

Frauds and scams are deceitful and deceptive acts that often exploit others for monetary gain or to obtain an individual’s personal information.

NOT allowed

- Financial and individual-targeted scams, identity theft or phishing scams, and scams related to investments, financial transactions, or jobs

- Coordination, facilitation, or instructions on how to carry out scams

- Organizational fraud, such as money laundering and moving illegally acquired money for someone else (money muling)

- Recruitment for companies that sell products or services in a pyramid structure through independent distributors (multi-level marketing or MLM)

- Facilitating the trade of fake currency, documents, and stolen information

9. Privacy and Security

We know that protecting your privacy rights and personal information, and keeping our platform secure, are critical to maintaining your trust and ensuring your safety.

Personal Information

Content shared online may be seen by anyone, and has a wide reach. We are committed to making sure that any personal information shared intentionally or accidentally on Somerful does not lead to harm. We do not allow content that includes personal information that may create a risk of stalking, violence, phishing, fraud, identity theft, or financial exploitation. This includes content that someone has posted themselves or that they consented to being shared by others.

If you believe you have experienced a privacy violation, you can report it.

More information

NOT allowed

- Personal non-public phone numbers and home addresses

- Financial and payment information, such as bank account and credit card numbers

- Login information, such as usernames and passwords

- Identity documentation, cards, or numbers, such as passports, government-issued identifications, and social security numbers

- Threats or encouragement to share personal information or to hack someone’s account

Platform Security

We work hard to protect and secure people and information on Somerful. We do not allow: (1) access to any part of Somerful through unauthorized methods; (2) attempts to obtain sensitive, confidential, commercial, or personal information; or (3) any abuse of the security, integrity, or reliability of our platform.

You should avoid clicking on suspicious links or responding to requests for information about your Somerful account details, passwords, verification qualification, financial, and other personal information. Learn more about our approach to privacy and security on the platform.

More information

NOT allowed

- Providing access to your account credentials to others or enabling others to conduct activities that violate our Community Guidelines

- Accessing our platform in an unauthorized way, or creating fake versions of our platform

- Sharing malicious files, content, and messages that contain viruses, Trojan horses, worms, logic bombs, or other harmful materials endangering cyber security

- Attempting to obtain personal information (such as login credentials) or access content, accounts, systems, or data through the use of any deceptive technique (such as phishing, smishing, automated scripts, and web crawling)

- Modifying, adapting, translating, reverse engineering, disassembling, decompiling, or creating any derivative products based on Somerful, including any files, tables or documentation, and attempting to regenerate any source code, algorithms, methods, or techniques embodied in Somerful

10. Accounts and Features

Accounts

You must be 18 years and older(Adult) to have an account. There are additional age limitations based on local law in some regions. If we learn someone is below the minimum age on Somerful, we will ban that account.

Violating our guidelines can lead to enforcement actions on accounts. We will ban accounts or users if they engage in: (1) a single severe content violation, (2) repeated content violations within a 90-day period, (3) circumvention, or (4) the operation of accounts dedicated to activity that violates our rules. This includes all activities that indicate a primary purpose that is not allowed on our platform, such as accounts focused on hate speech, the trade of prohibited goods, spam, and impersonation (learn more about circumvention and dedicated accounts in Spam and Deceptive Account Behaviors).

We will also ban an account if we become aware that the account holder is a violent or hateful actor or has been convicted of a sexual crime or other serious offense against a young person. We may consider off-platform activity related to violence, hate, and child sexual exploitation and abuse to help make decisions about these account bans. We report accounts to law enforcement authorities if there is a specific, credible, and imminent threat to human life or serious physical injury.

Government, Politician, and News Accounts

Governments, politicians, and news entities all play important roles in civic processes and civil society. While we treat their content just like any other account and remove violations, we approach account-level enforcement differently to align with our commitment to human rights and free expression. These public interest accounts will be banned for any single severe content violation, such as threatening violence. For repeated content violations that are less severe, they will be temporarily ineligible to appear in the FYF and in the feeds of their followers. In limited circumstances, they may also be temporarily restricted from posting new content. Learn more about our approach to public interest accounts.

More information

Governments and politicians include federal/national elected officials and candidates, state/provincial/territorial/local government entities, cabinet ministers, and official spokespeople. Learn more about who is considered to be a Government, Politician and Political Party account.

News entities include organizations primarily dedicated to publishing news content to inform or educate. To qualify as a news account, the account must be legally licensed, certified or recognized by an intergovernmental organization, regulator, or reputable press organization.

Severe violations include the following:

- Showing, promoting, or facilitating youth exploitation and child sexual abuse material (CSAM)

- Promoting or threatening violence

- Showing or promoting non-consensual sex acts, such as rape and molestation

- Facilitating human trafficking

- Showing real-world torture

- Using another account after a permanent account ban, and continuing to violate our guidelines

External Links

Our community members often share links in their profile, bio, or content to connect people to additional content or to other sites. While some links may be helpful or informative, others connect to harmful content that would not be allowed on our platform. Do not post links that direct people to content that would violate our guidelines. If we find a link in violation of our guidelines, it will result in the link being removed or an account ban.

It can be difficult to determine where a Quick Response (QR) code image may lead to and whether the connected content will be safe. Content is ineligible for the Planet if it contains QR codes, unless there is a low risk of harm, such as in the context of e-commerce.

Comments and Direct Messages

Comments and direct messages on Somerful allow our users to interact with videos or directly with others, and provide an integral interactive experience to the platform.

Our guidelines listed above also apply to comments and messages. A violation of our rules will result in the removal of the content or a restriction on sending direct messages, and may lead to an account ban.

Monetization

We offer tools that let creators monetize their content, and that give businesses the ability to operate and expand their enterprise. You must be 18 years and older to use monetization features.

Accounts must satisfy the relevant entry criteria to be eligible for our monetization features. A violation of our rules may result in a temporary restriction of monetization features, and repeated violations will lead to a permanent restriction or an account ban. Content that is not eligible in the Planet may be restricted from monetization features.

All commercial content on our platform must comply with the relevant monetized feature policy, such as the Branded Content Policy, Somerful’s Ads Creative Policy, Industry Entry Policy, and Somerful Shop Policies. Commercial content includes exchanging something of value between creators, a third party and creator (such as Branded Content), a creator and business (such as e-commerce), or a creator and Somerful (such as the Creator fund).

11. Enforcement

Public Interest Exceptions

We recognize that some content that would otherwise violate our rules can be in the public interest to view. This does not simply refer to what the public may be interested in. Public interest refers to topics that inform, inspire, or educate the community and enhance deliberation about matters of broad collective significance. We may allow content to remain on the platform under one of the following public interest exceptions:

- Documentary

- Educational

- Medical and Scientific

- Counterspeech

- Satirical

- Artistic

Our approach to content moderation uses the same criteria, no matter who creates it. The most important factor we consider in looking at public interest exceptions is context, such as captions, voice over, and similar signals. We encourage creators to clearly show the context to help us in our review process.

We may add extra safety measures to some content allowed under a public interest exception, such as an “opt-in” screen or warning information. We do not provide public interest exceptions for content that may cause extreme harm, such as showing a suicide or sexual abuse of a young person.

Detection and Reporting

We aim to remove content or planet or accounts that violate our guidelines before they are viewed or shared by other people in order to reduce potential harm. Content on Somerful first goes through technology that reviews it against our guidelines. If content is identified as a potential violation, it will be automatically removed, or flagged for additional review by our trust & safety team. Additional review will occur if a certain content gains popularity or has been reported. Community members can report violations in-app and on our website. If you discover content or accounts that may violate our guidelines, please let us know so we can take appropriate action if warranted.

Notice and Appeals

In keeping with our commitment to ensuring procedural fairness, we seek to provide notifications to community members if they have violated our rules. If you have posted a video, comment, audio, or livestreamed content that we do not allow, you will be notified in the app along with the violation reason. If your account has been banned because of a violation, you will receive a banner notification when you next open the app, informing you of this account change. If you receive a notification of a content violation or account ban and believe that it was done in error, then you can appeal the decision. You can view the status of your appeal in the in-app Safety Center, as well as the status of any reports you have filed about other content or accounts.