Community Guidelines
Effective
These guidelines are part of our Terms of Service.
Argue with ideas, not people
Poli-Sci exists for real disagreement about current events and policy. Strong opinions, sharp rebuttals and unpopular views are welcome here. What we ask is that you take on the argument, not the person making it.
Good debate on Poli-Sci looks like this:
- Make a claim and back it up. Say what you think and why. Cite your sources; the analysis on your post shows whether you did.
- Respond to what was actually said. Reply to the strongest version of the other side, not a caricature.
- Criticize positions, records and arguments. "That bill would raise costs for renters, here's why" moves the debate. "You're an idiot" doesn't.
- Vote on claims, honestly. Agree and disagree are how you weigh in on a claim. They are public and carry your name, so use them honestly.
- Assume the person on the other side is a person. They are fellow professionals, students, graduates and educators, with names and lives.
The rest of this page sets out what is not allowed, and what happens when someone breaks the rules. These rules apply to everything on Poli-Sci: videos, topic titles, profile details, photos and handles.
Rules that keep people safe
Violence and threats. No threats to hurt anyone, calls for violence, or praise of violent attacks or the people who carry them out. No support for terrorist or violent extremist groups. Saying a policy "will kill people" is argument; saying someone should be hurt is a threat, even as a joke.
Harassment and bullying. No insults, slurs or degrading remarks aimed at a person, and no repeated unwanted attacks. Do not organize or join pile-ons against a user, or target private individuals who are not part of the debate. Mocking someone's appearance, voice, accent or disability is never part of the argument.
Hate. No content that attacks, dehumanizes or calls for exclusion of people because of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, caste, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, serious illness or immigration status. Debating immigration, religion or gender policy is allowed; attacking people for who they are is not.
Sexual content and minors. No nudity or sexual content. Nothing that sexualizes, endangers or exploits anyone under 18, ever. We report child sexual exploitation to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and remove the account.
Intimate images. Never post or threaten to post intimate images or video of someone without their consent, including fake or AI-generated ones. The reporting section below explains how to get them removed within 48 hours.
Private information. Do not share anyone's home address, phone number, private email, financial or medical details, or private records, or encourage others to find them. This includes people you disagree with and public figures' families.
Suicide, self-harm and dangerous acts. Do not encourage suicide, self-harm, eating disorders or dangerous stunts. Discussing these as policy issues is allowed. If someone on Poli-Sci seems at risk, report the post so we can respond, and in an emergency call 911, or call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Rules that keep the debate honest
Impersonation and fake media. Do not pretend to be someone else, or misstate your organization, degree or credentials. Do not post edited or AI-generated video or audio that makes a real person appear to say or do something they did not, unless it is plainly labeled as altered and is not likely to mislead.
Voting and election falsehoods. Do not post false information about how, when or where to vote or register, who is eligible, or what happens at the polls, or try to intimidate people out of voting. Arguing about candidates, results or election policy is allowed.
Fake engagement. One person, one account. Do not use extra accounts, bots, scripts, or paid or coordinated groups to vote, follow, view or boost content, or to get around a suspension. We discount activity that is not genuine and may remove the accounts involved.
Spam and scams. No repetitive or off-topic posting, advertising, commercial solicitation, fundraising scams, phishing or links to malware.
Other people's work. Only post video, music, images and footage you made or have the right to use. Short clips used to comment on or criticize something may be fair use; reposting someone else's whole video is not. Copyright owners can send a notice under the Terms.
Illegal activity. Do not use Poli-Sci to sell illegal goods, plan crimes or break the law.
Political speech that is allowed
Politics is heated, and some of it can look close to the lines above. These are allowed:
- Harsh criticism of public figures. Politicians, officials, candidates and public commentators can be criticized sharply for their words, votes and conduct. The harassment rules still protect them from threats, sexualized attacks and exposure of their private information.
- Offensive or unpopular views on policy. You may argue for positions many people find wrong or offensive, as long as you do not attack people for who they are.
- Quoting to rebut. You may quote or show hateful or false content to criticize, explain or debunk it. Make the context clear.
- Satire and parody. Allowed when a reasonable viewer can tell it is satire. Label it if there is any doubt.
- News and history. Discussing wars, terrorism, crimes and atrocities is allowed. Do not post graphic violence for shock value; describe it instead, and avoid gory footage.
Allowed on Poli-Sci does not mean endorsed by Poli-Sci. Posts reflect the views of the people who make them.
People in your videos
Your video should be you making your case. If anyone else appears or can be heard in it:
- get their agreement before you post, and remove the video if they ask;
- do not secretly record people; some states make recording a conversation without everyone's consent illegal;
- do not film people in private places, such as homes, dorm rooms, bathrooms or locker rooms;
- never post anyone under 18.
Recordings of public officials at public events, and short clips of public speeches or broadcasts used for commentary, are fine. If you appear in someone's video without agreeing to it, report it and we will review it.
Reporting, blocking and disputing a label
Report a post, topic or user with the report option in the app, or write to support@poli-sci.com. Tell us which rule you think it breaks. Reports are confidential: we do not tell the person who reported them. We review reports generally within 24 hours.
Intimate images shared without consent: send a request to takedown@poli-sci.com. We remove valid requests within 48 hours.
Copyright: send a notice to our copyright agent as the Terms of Service describe.
Block a user to remove their topics and posts from your feed. Because debate on Poli-Sci is public, blocking does not stop them seeing your public posts.
Dispute an analysis label. The claims, stance and fallacy labels on posts come from software and can be wrong. If a label on your post or profile misreads what you said, report it and tell us why. We may correct, hide or remove it. Disagreeing with a label on someone else's post is what replies are for.
Please report in good faith. Mass-reporting someone because you disagree with them is a form of harassment.
What happens when rules are broken
We use automated tools and human review to find content that breaks these rules. What we do depends on how serious the violation is, the context, and the account's history.
| Action | What it means | Typically used for |
|---|---|---|
| Hide | The content is taken down from public view. We can restore it if we got it wrong. | Any post, topic, profile detail or label that breaks a rule |
| Warning | We tell you what rule you broke and keep a record on your account. | A first or minor violation |
| Suspension | For a set time you can read but not post, reply or vote. | Repeated violations, or a serious one |
| Account removal | The account is closed and you may not open another. | Severe or repeated violations, evading a suspension |
Some violations lead straight to account removal with no warning: sexual content involving minors, credible threats of violence, intimate images shared without consent, support for terrorist or violent extremist groups, and running fake accounts to manipulate the debate. Where the law requires, we report to the authorities.
When a topic's opening video is hidden, the replies under it are hidden too.
We tell you why. When we act on your content or account, we tell you which rule was broken, unless that would break the law, put someone at risk or compromise an investigation.
Appeals. If you think we got it wrong, write to support@poli-sci.com within 30 days of our decision. We will review it and tell you the outcome. If we reverse it, we restore what we hid.
These guidelines may change as the community grows. We will post updates here and tell you about major changes in the app.