Community Guidelines

SQUIDS is a global platform for genuine conversation — questions, debates, opinions, and ideas. We believe in free speech. We believe in open discourse, even on difficult and controversial topics. These guidelines exist not to silence disagreement, but to define the limited categories of conduct that fall outside what any responsible platform can host: content that is illegal, content that causes direct and serious harm to individuals, and content that would make the Platform unsafe for everyone else to use. Everything else, broadly, is fair game.

These guidelines apply to all content on SQUIDS, including posts, comments, usernames, profile information, and any other form of expression. They apply to all users worldwide. Violations may result in content removal, account suspension, permanent bans, community disbandment, or reports to law enforcement, as detailed below.

SQUIDS is a text-first social platform. Ideas surface through questions, answers, opinions, and debate. The following gives you a clear sense of what is welcome and what is not.

SQUIDS operates a zero-tolerance policy for harassment and targeted abuse. Robust criticism, disagreement, and even heated debate are all part of open discourse and are generally permitted. What is not permitted is conduct directed at a specific person with the intent to intimidate, harm, or silence them. The following are strictly prohibited:

• Targeted harassment or sustained bullying of any user.
• Threats of physical violence or serious harm directed at any person.
• Doxxing — sharing a person's private personal information without their consent, including home addresses, phone numbers, or other identifying details.
• Stalking or persistently contacting a person who has blocked or indicated they do not wish to be contacted.
• Coordinated group attacks targeting a specific individual.
• Sexual harassment of any kind.

Accounts found to be in serious or persistent violation of this section will be suspended pending investigation and are likely to be permanently banned. Conduct constituting criminal harassment under applicable law will be reported to the relevant law enforcement authorities.

Content that promotes hatred, discrimination, or the dehumanisation of people based on any characteristic is prohibited. Critical commentary on beliefs, institutions, policies, or groups is not hate speech. The line is dehumanisation — content that treats people as less than human or calls for violence or discrimination against them on the basis of who they are. The following characteristics are specifically protected:

• Race, ethnicity, or national origin
• Religion or religious beliefs
• Gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation
• Disability or health status
• Age or immigration status

This applies to explicit hate speech as well as coded language or dog-whistles designed to dehumanise groups without appearing to do so overtly. Violations may result in immediate content removal and account action. Conduct constituting unlawful hate speech under the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (PEPUDA) or equivalent legislation in applicable jurisdictions will be treated with particular seriousness.

SQUIDS embraces free speech and does not remove content merely because it is factually incorrect, contested, or unpopular. Robust debate — including debate about facts — is healthy. However, there are categories of misinformation that pose a sufficiently serious risk to public safety that we treat them differently. Do not post content that constitutes deliberately false health or safety information of a kind that could endanger the public; fabricated quotes attributed to real, identifiable people; manipulated media designed to deceive viewers into believing something false; or false claims about electoral processes or voting procedures that could undermine democratic participation. Satirical content is permitted but must be clearly identified as satire in a manner that prevents reasonable readers from being misled.

SQUIDS does not operate an AI chatbot and does not endorse AI-generated media. You are responsible for all content you post on SQUIDS, including content produced with the assistance of AI tools. SQUIDS reserves the absolute right to remove any post that it determines to be primarily AI-generated, at its sole discretion and without prior warning, regardless of whether the content is otherwise compliant with these Guidelines. This right is unconditional and no compensation is owed for removed AI content.

You must disclose where content has been substantially generated by an AI tool if there is a reasonable likelihood that other users could be misled about its origin. You may not use AI to mass-produce spam, impersonate real people or organisations, generate synthetic disinformation, or produce content that violates any other part of these Guidelines. Using AI to produce content designed to deceive or harm is a serious violation that will result in an immediate permanent ban.

The protection of children is the highest priority on SQUIDS. The following conduct is absolutely prohibited and will be reported to law enforcement without exception, including the South African Police Service (SAPS), the Film and Publication Board (FPB), and, where applicable, international law enforcement authorities such as the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the United States and equivalent bodies in other jurisdictions:

• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) of any kind, whether photographic, illustrated, or AI-generated.
• Grooming behaviour directed at any person under the age of 18.
• Any content that sexualises minors in any form whatsoever.
• Content designed to encourage or facilitate minors engaging in dangerous or unlawful behaviour.

We do not permit users under the age of 16 on this Platform. If you become aware of a user who may be under 16, please report it to us immediately.

SQUIDS is a free platform supported by advertising revenue. Using any software, extension, browser plugin, or technical mechanism to block, suppress, or remove advertisements on SQUIDS is a violation of these Guidelines and of our Terms of Service. Detection of ad-blocking may result in restricted access to the Platform or account suspension. Similarly, decompiling, reverse engineering, or distributing SQUIDS application code — or any part of it — to any third party is expressly prohibited and may result in a permanent ban and legal action.

Communities on SQUIDS are topic spaces organised around shared interests. All communities are subject to these Guidelines and the Terms of Service in the same way as individual users. Community administrators are responsible for maintaining compliance within their communities and may themselves face account action for community-level violations. SQUIDS reserves the right to permanently disband any community that is found to be consistently violating these Guidelines, that is being used to organise prohibited conduct, or that SQUIDS determines poses a threat to the safety or integrity of the Platform. Community disbandment may occur without advance notice.

SQUIDS moderators apply these guidelines consistently and proportionately. Enforcement is graduated based on severity, context, and history, but SQUIDS reserves absolute discretion to skip steps where the severity of a violation warrants it. The possible consequences for violations include the following:

Moderation decisions may be appealed by contacting support@squids.co.za within 14 days with the subject line "Appeal — [Your Username]". Include full details of the decision you are appealing and your reasoning. All appeals are reviewed fairly. Where a ban is issued for legal compliance reasons or pursuant to a court order, no appeal is available.

If you see content or behaviour that violates these Guidelines, you are encouraged to report it. You can use the report button available on any post, comment, or profile within the Platform. Alternatively, you can email support@squids.co.za with details and, where possible, screenshots. For urgent safety matters — particularly those involving threats of imminent harm or child exploitation — mark your email subject line clearly as "URGENT — Safety Report". All reports are reviewed by our moderation team and taken seriously. We will update you on the outcome of your report where possible and appropriate.