Community rules

The eight rules

1. 1

   Rule 1: Treat people with respect.

   No harassment, bullying, hate or threats.

2. 2

   Rule 2: Keep people safe.

   Never post anyone’s address, phone number or health information, including your own address.

3. 3

   Rule 3: Never ask for or offer money, bank details or personal documents.

   Apply for opportunities through the organisation’s own link.

4. 4

   Rule 4: Be who you say you are.

   Never pretend to be another person, an organisation or Difability.

5. 5

   Rule 5: Share accurately.

   Say where information comes from, and share experience, not professional advice.

6. 6

   Rule 6: Ask first.

   Get someone’s agreement before you name or picture them.

7. 7

   Rule 7: No advertising outside opportunities from verified organisations.

8. 8

   Rule 8: Report problems instead of replying to them.

   A moderator will act.

If a rule is broken

A moderator decides what happens. A serious breach can go straight to a later step. You are told the step, the rule, the reason, when it ends and how to appeal.

Warning

A message that names the rule and what to change. It stops counting after 12 months.

Restriction

For 7 or 30 days, a moderator checks your posts and replies before other members see them. It ends by itself.

Suspension

For 7 or 30 days, you can read the Community but not post or reply. It ends by itself.

Account closed

The account is closed and the same email address cannot join again. This is for threats, fraud, sexual exploitation, hate, or pretending to be Difability. It ends only if an appeal succeeds.

Organisation posting withdrawn

For a breach in an organisation’s name: nobody can post for the organisation, and its Difability Coordinator is told. It ends when the Coordinator restores it.

Appealing a decision

You can appeal a decision once, within 14 days, from the link in the message that tells you about it. A member of staff who was not involved decides within 5 working days; an appeal about a closed account goes to an Appeal reviewer. While the appeal is decided, the post stays hidden and the step stays in place. If the appeal is upheld, the post is restored and the step is lifted. If it is not, we tell you why in writing.

How moderators check posts and reports, and every step of an appeal, are set out in the moderation and appeals policy. To complain about how Difability itself handled something, raise a concern.

Reporting a problem

Use Report in a post’s More actions menu. Do not reply to the problem: a moderator will act.

If someone is in danger now, call 999. Difability is not an emergency service.

When someone may be at risk of harm, a trained safeguarding lead decides what to do. The safeguarding policy says how to reach them and what happens next.