Last updated 12/05/2019

Hateful Conduct and Harassment

Street Cred is a space for people to create, join, and participate in communities that share their interests. We want everyone to be able to express themselves on Street Cred, but it’s important that we do so in ways that allow everyone to flourish. This means preventing, protecting users from, and moderating hateful behavior and harassment.

We support Street Cred users who express diverse or unpopular points of view, or do so in humorous or controversial ways, but make your intent clear. We don’t tolerate conduct that encourages or condones hate or harassment in any way. Ignorance is not an acceptable excuse for conduct that results in hate or harassment.

We understand that there are many ways in which behavior might be interpreted as hateful or harassing. When reviewing reported content or activity, we will consider its intent and context. To provide more clarity around the these policies and how we handle such conduct, we’ve provided additional details to complement our Community Guidelines in the sections below.

Hateful Conduct

Hateful conduct is any content or activity that promotes, encourages, or facilitates discrimination, denigration, objectification, harassment, or violence based on the following characteristics, and is strictly prohibited:

  • Race, ethnicity, or national origin

  • Religion

  • Sex, Gender, or Gender Identity

  • Sexual Orientation

  • Age

  • Disability or Medical Condition

  • Physical Characteristics

  • Veteran Status

Street Cred will consider a number of factors to determine the intent and context of any reported hateful conduct. Hateful conduct is a zero-tolerance violation and all accounts associated with such activity will receive an indefinite suspension.

Harassment

Harassment is any content or activity that attempts to intimidate, degrade, abuse, or bully others, or creates a hostile environment for others, and is prohibited. Harassment is prohibited. Street Cred will consider a number of factors to determine the intent, context, and impact of any reported harassment. To help you identify what types of behavior and content may constitute harassment, below is a list of examples:

  • Bullying, such as repeated name calling or attempts to embarrass someone, with the intent to harm

  • Abusing someone based on their employer, organization, or other affiliation

  • Telling someone to hurt or kill themselves

  • Creating user accounts dedicated to harassment or hate

  • Stalking or violating someone’s established personal boundaries, such as circumventing channel bans, account blocks, or requests not to contact them

  • Revealing someone’s personal information against their will or with the intent to harm them

  • Recording someone against their will or with the intent to harm them

  • Sharing content, including doctored or out-of-context content, with the intent to degrade, bully, or harm someone

  • Browsing or raiding channels with malicious intent

  • Unwanted sexual advances, sexual harassment, and sexual bullying-- Learn more about our policies and enforcement of sexual content, including sexual violence and exploitation

  • Deliberately submitting false reports, doctoring report evidence, or report brigading

  • Inciting or encouraging others to harass

Violating our policy against harassment will result in your account being suspended. Depending on the severity of the offense, harassers may be indefinitely suspended on the first violation.

Communities Responsible for Hateful Conduct and Harassment

Street Cred should not be used to incite, encourage, promote, facilitate, or organize hateful conduct or harassment, whether on or off Street Cred. We will suspend communities, organizations, and individuals that do so.

Hateful Conduct and Harassment In-Person or Off-Street Cred

The Street Cred community is also at conventions, community meetups, and social media. Our community encompasses all of these spaces and we take them into consideration when it comes to our role in keeping the community safe. We may take action against persons for hateful conduct or harassment that occurs off Street Cred services that is directed at Street Cred users.

Additional Restrictions

If examples of hateful conduct or harassment are shared in an educational context, such as news reporting or a documentary, or raising awareness about the ways in which such conduct is bad, we ask that you express your intent clearly and mark such content as mature.

How to Report and Manage Hate and Harassment on Street Cred

We want everyone on Street Cred to feel safe and to speak up against hate and harassment. If a comment, gesture, or behavior is unwelcome, please consider the following options:

Escalating Serious Misconduct

If you feel that hateful conduct or harassment rises to a legal claim or to a crime, we encourage you to seek help from an attorney or your local law enforcement. Specific physical threats should be reported to your local law enforcement immediately.

FAQ

Do I need to be the target of a hateful comment or harassment to report a user?

No. Sometimes an individual target of this behavior may not be aware of the harassment at the time it takes place or may be unable to submit a report. Sometimes hateful comments may not be directed at any one person, but rather at groups of people. Regardless of your level of involvement, hateful conduct and harassment in violation of our Community Guidelines can be reported if observed taking place.

Do I have to have to communicate a behavior is undesired for it to be considered harassment and report the user?

No, however in some contexts, content or activity that appears to be harassing may be unintentional and, upon being told their actions are making others uncomfortable, the user may correct their behavior. You may also decide that some forms of harassment are severe enough to warrant reporting without first communicating they are unwanted. If you feel it is safe and appropriate to do so, we recommend you clearly communicate the conduct is unwanted. If the unwanted behavior persists, we recommend you report the user and consider other options to manage the situation such as blocking the user’s account(s) or banning them from chat.