KYP Community Standards
Every day, people use KYP Naija to share their experiences, opinions and build communities. It’s a service for people to freely express themselves across countries and cultures and in dozens of languages.
KYP Naija recognises how important it is for KYP Naija to be a place where people feel empowered to communicate, and we take our role seriously in keeping abuse off the service. That’s why we developed standards for what is and isn’t allowed on KYP Naija.
These standards are based on feedback from people and the advice of experts in fields such as technology, public safety and human rights. To ensure that everyone’s voice is valued, we take great care to create standards that include different views and beliefs, especially from people and communities that might otherwise be overlooked or marginalised.
Our commitment to voice
The goal of our Community Standards is to create a place for expression and give people a voice. KYP Naija wants people to be able to talk openly about the issues that matter to them, even if some may disagree or find them objectionable. In some cases, we allow content – which would otherwise go against our standards – if it’s newsworthy and in the public interest. We do this only after weighing the public interest value against the risk of harm, and we look to international human rights standards to make these judgments.
Our commitment to expression is paramount, but we recognise that the Internet creates new and increased opportunities for abuse. For these reasons, when we limit expression, we do it in service of one or more of the following values:
COMMUNITY STANDARDS
Our Community Standards apply to everyone all around the world, and to all types of content. Each section of our Community Standards sets out the aims and purpose of the policy.
Do not:
Tier 1: Target anyone maliciously by:
* Repeatedly contacting someone in a manner that is:
* Unwanted or
* Sexually harassing or
* Directed at a large number of individuals with no prior solicitation.
* Attacking someone based on their status as a victim of sexual assault, sexual exploitation, sexual harassment or domestic abuse.
* Calling for self-injury or suicide of a specific person or group of people.
* Attacking someone through derogatory terms related to sexual activity (e.g. whore, slut).
* Posting content about a violent tragedy, or victims of violent tragedies that include claims that a violent tragedy did not occur.
* Posting content about victims or survivors of violent tragedies or terrorist attacks by name or by image, with claims that they are:
* Acting/pretending to be a victim of an event.
* Otherwise paid or employed to mislead people about their role in the event.
* Threatening to release an individual’s private phone number, residential address or email address.
* Making statements of intent to engage in a sexual activity or advocating for them to engage in a sexual activity.
* Making severe sexualised commentary
* Sharing derogatory sexualised photoshopped imagery or drawings
* Calling for, or making statements of intent to engage in, bullying and/or harassment.
* Posting content that further degrades or expresses disgust towards individuals who are depicted in the process of, or right after, menstruating, urinating, vomiting or defecating
* Creating Pages or groups that are dedicated to attacking individual(s) by:
* Calling for death, or to contract or develop a medical condition.
* Making statements of intent of advocating to engage in sexual activity.
* Making claims that the individual has or may have a sexually transmitted disease.
* Sexualising another adult.
* Sending messages that contain the following attacks when aimed at an individual or group of individuals in the thread:
* Attacks referenced in Tier 1, 2 and 4 of this policy.
* Targeted cursing.
* Calls for death, serious disease, disability, epidemic disease or physical harm.
Tier 2: Target private individuals, limited scope public figures (for example, individuals whose primary fame is limited to their activism, journalism or those who become famous through involuntary means) or public figures who are minors with:
* Calls for death, or to contract or develop a medical condition.
* Female-gendered cursing terms when used in a derogatory way.
* Claims about sexual activity or sexually transmitted diseases except in the context of criminal allegations against adults about non-consensual sexual touching.
* Pages or groups created to attack through:
* Targeted cursing.
* Negative physical descriptions.
* Claims about religious identity or blasphemy.
* Expressions of contempt or disgust.
* Female-gendered cursing terms when used in a derogatory way.
Tier 3: Target public figures by purposefully exposing them to:
* For adults and minors:
* Calls for death, or to contract or develop a medical condition.
* Claims about sexually transmitted diseases
* Female-gendered cursing terms when used in a derogatory way.
* Content that praises, celebrates or mocks their death or medical condition.
* Attacks through negative physical descriptions.
* For minors:
* Comparisons to animals or insects that are culturally perceived as intellectually or physically inferior or to an inanimate object (“cow”, “monkey”, “potato”).
* Content manipulated to highlight, circle or otherwise negatively draw attention to specific physical characteristics (nose, ear and so on).
Tier 4: Target private individuals or limited scope public figures (for example, individuals whose primary fame is limited to their activism, journalism or those who become famous through involuntary means) with:
* Comparisons to animals or insects that are culturally perceived as intellectually or physically inferior or to an inanimate object (“cow”, “monkey”, “potato”).
* Content manipulated to highlight, circle or otherwise negatively draw attention to specific physical characteristics (nose, ear and so on).
* Attacks through negative physical descriptions.
* Content that ranks individuals on physical appearance or personality.
* Content sexualising another adult.
* Content that further degrades individuals who are depicted being physically bullied except in self-defence and fight-sport contexts.
* Content that praises, celebrates or mocks their death or serious physical injury.
* In addition to the above, attacks through Pages or groups:
* Negative character or ability claims.
* First-person voice bullying only if the object targets more than one private individual.
Tier 5: Target private adults (who must self-report) or any private minors or involuntary minor public figures with:
* Targeted cursing.
* Claims about romantic involvement, sexual orientation or gender identity.
* Coordination, advocacy or promotion of exclusion.
* Negative character or ability claims, except in the context of criminal allegations and business reviews against adults. We allow criminal allegations so that people can draw attention to personal experiences or offline events. In cases in which criminal allegations pose offline harm to the named individual, however, we may remove them.
* Expressions of contempt or disgust, except in the context of criminal allegations against adults.
Tier 6: Target private individuals who are minors with:
* Allegations about criminal or illegal behaviour.
* Videos of physical bullying shared in a non-condemning context.
Tier 7: Target private individuals (who must self-report) with:
* First-person voice bullying.
* Unwanted manipulated imagery.
* Comparison to other public, fictional or private individuals on the basis of physical appearance
* Claims about religious identity or blasphemy.
* Comparisons to animals or insects that are not culturally perceived as intellectually or physically inferior (“tiger”, “lion”).
* Neutral or positive physical descriptions.
* Non-negative character or ability claims.
* Any bullying or harassment violation, when shared in an endearing context.
* Attacks through derogatory terms related to a lack of sexual activity.
Do not post:
Tier 1
Content targeting a person or group of people (including all groups except those who are considered non-protected groups described as having carried out violent crimes or sexual offences or representing less than half of a group) on the basis of their aforementioned protected characteristic(s) or immigration status with:
* Violent speech or support in written or visual form
* Dehumanising speech or imagery in the form of comparisons, generalisations or unqualified behavioural statements (in written or visual form) to or about:
* Insects.
* Animals that are culturally perceived as intellectually or physically inferior.
* Filth, bacteria, disease and faeces.
* Sexual predator.
* Subhumanity.
* Violent and sexual criminals
* Other criminals (including, but not limited to, “thieves”, “bank robbers” or saying “All [protected characteristic or quasi-protected characteristic] are ‘criminals'”).
* Statements denying existence.
* Mocking the concept, events or victims of hate crimes, even if no real person is depicted in an image.
* Designated dehumanising comparisons, generalisations or behavioural statements (in written or visual form) that include:
* Black people and apes or ape-like creatures.
* Black people and farm equipment.
* Caricatures of Black people in the form of blackface.
* Jewish people and rats.
* Jewish people running the world or controlling major institutions such as media networks, the economy or the government.
* Denying or distorting information about the Holocaust.
* Muslim people and pigs.
* Muslim person and sexual relations with goats or pigs.
* Mexican people and worm-like creatures.
* Women as household objects or referring to women as property or “objects”.
* Transgender or non-binary people referred to as “it”.
* Dalits, scheduled caste or “lower caste” people as menial labourers.
Tier 2
Content targeting a person or group of people on the basis of their protected characteristic(s) with:
* Generalisations that state inferiority (in written or visual form) in the following ways:
* Physical deficiencies are defined as those about:
* Hygiene, including, but not limited to: filthy, dirty, smelly.
* Physical appearance, including, but not limited to: ugly, hideous.
* Mental deficiencies are defined as those about:
* Intellectual capacity, including, but not limited to: dumb, stupid, idiots.
* Education, including, but not limited to: illiterate, uneducated.
* Mental health, including, but not limited to: mentally ill, retarded, crazy, insane.
* Moral deficiencies are defined as those about:
* Character traits culturally perceived as negative, including, but not limited to: coward, liar, arrogant, ignorant.
* Derogatory terms related to sexual activity, including, but not limited to: whore, slut, perverts.
* Other statements of inferiority, which we define as:
* Expressions about being less than adequate, including, but not limited to: worthless, useless.
* Expressions about being better/worse than another protected characteristic, including, but not limited to: “I believe that males are superior to females.”
* Expressions about deviating from the norm, including, but not limited to: freaks, abnormal.
* Expressions of contempt (in written or visual form), which we define as:
* Self-admission to intolerance on the basis of protected characteristics, including, but not limited to: homophobic, islamophobic, racist.
* Expressions that a protected characteristic shouldn’t exist.
* Expressions of hate, including, but not limited to: despise, hate.
* Expressions of dismissal, including, but not limited to: don’t respect, don’t like, don’t care for
* Expressions of disgust (in written or visual form), which we define as:
* Expressions suggesting that the target causes sickness, including, but not limited to: vomit, throw up.
* Expressions of repulsion or distaste, including, but not limited to: vile, disgusting, yuck.
* Cursing, except certain gender-based cursing in a romantic break-up context, defined as:
* Referring to the target as genitalia or anus, including, but not limited to: cunt, dick, asshole.
* Profane terms or phrases with the intent to insult, including, but not limited to: fuck, bitch, motherfucker.
* Terms or phrases calling for engagement in sexual activity, or contact with genitalia, anus, faeces or urine, including, but not limited to: suck my dick, kiss my ass, eat shit.
Tier 3
Content targeting a person or group of people on the basis of their protected characteristic(s) with any of the following:
* Segregation in the form of calls for action, statements of intent, aspirational or conditional statements, or statements advocating or supporting segregation.
* Exclusion in the form of calls for action, statements of intent, aspirational or conditional statements, or statements advocating or supporting, defined as
* Explicit exclusion, which means things such as expelling certain groups or saying they are not allowed.
* Political exclusion, which means denying the right to political participation.
* Economic exclusion, which means denying access to economic entitlements and limiting participation in the labour market.
* Social exclusion, which means things such as denying access to spaces (physical and online) and social services, except for gender-based exclusion in health and positive support groups.
Content that describes or negatively targets people with slurs, where slurs are defined as words that are inherently offensive and used as insulting labels for the above characteristics.
Do not post content that falls into the following categories:
Harm against people
* Outing:
* Content that exposes the identity or locations affiliated with anyone who is alleged to:
* Be a member of an outing-risk group; and/or
* Share familial and/or romantic relationships with a member(s) of an outing-risk group; and/or
* Have performed professional activities in support of an outing-risk group (except for political figures)
* Content that exposes the undercover status of law enforcement, military or security personnel if:
* The content contains the agent’s full name or other explicit identification and explicitly mentions their undercover status.
* The imagery identifies the faces of the law enforcement personnel and explicitly mentions their undercover status.
* Swatting, specifically statements of intent, calls to action, representing, supporting, advocating for, depicting, admitting to or speaking positively about it.
* Depicting, promoting, advocating for or encouraging participation in a high-risk viral challenge.
Harm against animals
Statements of intent, calls to action, representing, supporting or advocating for, or depicting, admitting to or promoting:
* Acts of physical harm against animals committed by you or your associates except in cases of hunting, fishing, religious sacrifice, food preparation or processing, pest or vermin, self-defence or redemption.
* Staged animal vs animal fights, including acts committed by a third party.
Harm against property
Statements of intent, calls to action, representing, supporting or advocating for harm against property that depicts, admits to or promotes the following acts committed by you or your associates:
* Vandalism.
* Hacking when the intent is to hijack a domain, corrupt or disrupt cyber systems, seek ransoms or gain unauthorised access to data systems.
* Theft when committed by you or your associates, as well as positive statements about theft when committed by a third party.
Voter and/or census fraud
* Offers to buy or sell votes with cash or gifts
* Statements that advocate, provide instructions or show explicit intent to illegally participate in a voting or census process
Do not post:
Threats that could lead to death (and other forms of high-severity violence) and admission of past violence targeting people or places where threat is defined as any of the following:
* Statements of intent to commit high-severity violence. This includes content where a symbol represents the target and/or includes a visual of an armament or method to represent violence.
* Calls for high-severity violence, including content where no target is specified but a symbol represents the target and/or includes a visual of an armament or method that represents violence.
* Statements advocating for high-severity violence.
* Aspirational or conditional statements to commit high-severity violence.
* Statements admitting to committing high-severity violence, except when shared in a context of redemption, self-defence or when committed by law enforcement, military or state security personnel.
Content that asks, admits to offering or offers services for hire to kill others (for example, hitmen, mercenaries, assassins) or advocates for the use of a hitman, mercenary or assassin against a target
Admissions, statements of intent or advocacy, calls to action or aspirational or conditional statements to kidnap or abduct a target or that promotes, supports or advocates for kidnapping or abduction
Content that depicts kidnappings or abductions if it is clear that the content is not being shared by a victim or their family as a plea for help, or shared for informational, condemnation or awareness-raising purposes
Threats of high-severity violence using digitally produced or altered imagery to target living people with armaments, methods of violence or dismemberment
Threats that lead to serious injury (mid-severity violence) and admission of past violence toward private individuals, unnamed specified persons, minor public figures, high-risk persons or high-risk groups where threat is defined as any of the following:
* Statements of intent to commit violence or
* Statements advocating violence or
* Calls for mid-severity violence. including content where no target is specified but a symbol represents the target, or
* Aspirational or conditional statements to commit violence or
* Statements admitting to committing mid-severity violence, except when shared in a context of redemption, self-defence, fight-sports context or when committed by law enforcement, military or state security personnel.
Content about other target(s) apart from private individuals, minor public figures, high-risk persons or high-risk groups and any credible:
* Statements of intent to commit violence or
* Calls for action of violence or
* Statements advocating for violence or
* Aspirational or conditional statements to commit violence
Threats that lead to physical harm (or other forms of lower-severity violence) towards private individuals (self-reporting required) or minor public figures, where threat is defined as any of the following:
* Private individuals (name and/or face match are required) or minor public figures that includes:
* Statements of intent or advocacy, calls for action, aspirational or conditional statements to commit low-severity violence
Instructions on how to make or use weapons if there is evidence of a goal to seriously injure or kill people through:
* Language explicitly stating that goal, or
* Photos or videos that show or simulate the end result (serious injury or death) as part of the instruction.
* Unless the aforementioned content is shared as part of recreational self defence, for military training purposes, commercial video games or news coverage (posted by a Page or with a news logo).
Providing instructions on how to make or use explosives, unless there is clear context that the content is for a non-violent purpose (for example, part of commercial video games, clear scientific/educational purpose, fireworks or specifically for fishing)
Any content containing statements of intent, calls for action, conditional or aspirational statements, or advocating for violence due to voting, voter registration or the administration or outcome of an election
Statements of intent or advocacy, calls to action or aspirational or conditional statements to bring weapons to locations, including, but not limited to, places of worship, educational facilities, polling places or locations used to count votes or administer an election (or encouraging others to do the same).
Do not post:
Content that shares or solicits any of the following private information, either on KYP Naija or through external links:
Personally identifiable information about yourself or others
* Personal identity: identifying individuals through government-issued numbers.
* National identification number (for example Social Security Number (NIN), passport number, National Insurance/Health Service Number, Personal Public Service Number (PPS), Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)).
* Government IDs of law enforcement, military or security personnel.
* Personal information: directly identifying an individual, by indicating the ID number or registration information and the individual’s name.
* Records or official documentation of civil registry information (marriage, birth, death, name change or gender recognition and so on).
* Immigration and work status documents (for example, green cards, work permits, visas or immigration papers).
* Driving licences or licence plates, except when licence plates are shared to facilitate in finding missing people or animals.
* Credit Privacy Number (CPN).
* Digital identity: authenticating access to an online identity
* Email addresses with passwords.
* Digital identities with passwords.
* Passwords, pins or codes to access private information.
Other private information
* Personal contact information of others such as phone numbers, addresses and email addresses, except when shared or solicited to promote charitable causes, find missing people, animals or objects, or contact business service providers.
* Financial information.
* Personal financial information about yourself or others, including:
* Non-public financial records or statements.
* Bank account numbers with security or pin codes.
* Digital payment method information with login details, security or pin codes.
* Credit or debit card information with validity dates or security pins or codes.
* Financial information about businesses or organisations, unless originally shared by the organisation itself, including:
* Financial records or statements except when the financial records of the business are publicly available (for example, listed on stock exchanges or regulatory agencies etc.)
* Bank account numbers accompanied by security or pin codes.
* Digital payment method information accompanied by login details, security or pin codes.
* Residential information
* Imagery that displays the external view of private residences if all of the following conditions apply:
* The residence is a single-family home, or the resident’s unit number is identified in the image/caption.
* The city/neighbourhood or GPS pin (for example, a pin from Google Maps) are identified.
* The content identifies the resident(s).
* That same resident objects to the exposure of their private residence, or there is context of organising protests against the resident (this does not include embassies that also serve as residences).
* Content that exposes information about safe houses by sharing any of the below, unless the safe house is actively promoting information about their facility
* Actual address (note: “Post Box only” is allowed).
* Images of the safe house.
* Identifiable city/neighbourhood of the safe house.
* Information exposing the identity of the safe house residents.
* Medical information
* Records or official documentation displaying medical, psychological, biometric or genetic hereditary of others.
* Information obtained from hacked sources.
* Except in limited cases of newsworthiness, content claimed or confirmed to come from a hacked source, regardless of whether the affected person is a public figure or a private individual.
The following content also may be removed:
* A reported photo or video of people where the person depicted in the image is:
* A minor under the age of 13, and the content was reported by the minor or a parent or legal guardian.
* A minor between the ages of 13 and 18 years old, and the content was reported by the minor.
* An adult, where the content was reported by the adult from outside the United States and applicable law may provide rights to removal.
* Any person who is incapacitated and unable to report the content on their own.
Do not:
* Post, share, engage with content or create accounts, Groups, Pages, Events or other assets, either manually or automatically, at very high frequencies.
* Attempt to or successfully sell, buy or exchange site privileges, engagement, or product features, such as accounts, admin roles, permission to post, Pages, Groups, likes, etc., except in the case of clearly identified branded content, as defined by our Branded Content Policies.
* Require or claim that users are required to engage with content (e.g. liking, sharing) before they are able to view or interact with promised content.
* Encourage likes, shares, follows, clicks or the use of apps or websites under false pretences, such as:
* Offering false or non-existent services or functionality (e.g. “Get a ‘Dislike’ button!”)
* Failing to direct to promised content (e.g. “Click here for a discount code at Nordstrom”; false play buttons)
* The deceptive or misleading use of URLs, defined as:
* Cloaking: Presenting different content to KYP Naija users and KYP Naija crawlers or tools.
* Misleading content: Content contains a link that promises one type of content but delivers something substantially different.
* Deceptive redirect behaviour: Websites that require an action (e.g. captcha, watch ad, click here) in order to view the expected landing page content and the domain name of the URL changes after the required action is complete.
* Like/share-gating: Landing pages that require users to like, share, or otherwise engage with content before gaining access to content.
* Deceptive landing page functionality: Websites that have a misleading user interface, which results in accidental traffic being generated (e.g. pop-ups/unders, clickjacking, etc.).
* Typosquatting: An external website pretends to be a reputable brand or service by using a name, domain or content that features typos, misspellings or other means to impersonate well-known brands using a landing page similar to another, trusted site to mislead visitors (e.g. www.faceb00k.com, www.face_book.com).
* And other behaviours that are substantially similar to the above.