At Commu, we want to create the best possible platform for your needs. Security and comfort of the platform are an important part of this. In our Community Guidelines, we want to define the boundaries and guidelines that we believe will keep our platform safe and welcoming.

In addition to our Terms of Service, we provide the following guidelines for our community. These guidelines are based on a common sense philosophy and apply to all user-generated content and activities on our services.

This document is considered a living document that we will update regularly based on the evolution of the Commu community and service. Additional guidelines or specific exceptions may apply to certain services or features of the Commu service.

Violation of the Community Guidelines may result in:

• editing or deletion of content,
• account closure
• warning to the user.

As part of our Terms, you also agree to be bound by the Community Guidelines.

Interaction with other users

You are responsible for your interactions with other Users, whether online or face-to-face. You must be honest and friendly with other Users. You must not attempt to cheat or otherwise unilaterally take advantage of other Users. Be respectful and considerate of others.

Hate speech and harassment

We do not tolerate hate speech or harassment of any kind. Although these are sometimes subject to interpretation, for us, hate speech is any content or activity that promotes or encourages discrimination, disparagement, harassment, or violence based on the following protected characteristics: race, ethnicity, color, caste, national origin, immigration status, religion, gender, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, serious health condition, and veteran status.

Harassment takes many forms, including harassment, personal attacks, promoting physical harm, hostile raids, and malicious misreporting. In particular, sexual harassment can take the form of unwanted sexual advances and advances, sexual objectification or degrading attacks related to a person’s perceived sexual practices.

Creating a notice on Commu

By creating a notice, you agree that the information you provide is accurate and truthful, in the correct category, of the correct type, and not misleading. You agree that your notice is current, that you are willing to receive communications from users regarding your notice, and that you are willing to provide or receive the service mentioned in the notice. The advertisement you create does not contain any of the prohibited topics listed in the following paragraph. The content does not contain copyrighted material that you are not authorized to distribute in a forward facing manner.

The location of the notice does not have to be marked with your actual location, but the location must be such that you are willing to provide or receive the service mentioned in the notice in that area. 

List of banned activities on Commu

• Sale of goods prohibited
• Prostitution
• Any illegal activity and any solicitation, direction or advice to engage in any illegal activity
  • For example:
  • Getting snuff
  • Illicit drugs and their acquisition
  • Alcohol, intoxicants or tobacco for minors
  • Dissemination of information in violation of privacy
• We also do not allow any substances classified as intoxicants to be requested in Commu.
  • This includes, but is not limited to, tobacco and alcohol.
  • The rule applies to soliciting intoxicants from another user. Not talking about them or offering them in return.
• Looking for sexual partnership and purely relationship-related notices
• Massaging related notices or offering such activity in return.
• Tax avoidance
• Request personal information from anyone under the age of 18
• Hate speech & violent content
• Solicitation and incitement to engage in dangerous activities
  • Among other things, bullying
• Inviting people to or advertising demonstrations
  • Includes anti-demonstration notices
• Edit or attempt to emulate another user, person, or organization
• Use another user’s user account or username or password at any time, or provide a password to a third party or allow a third party to access your account
• Spreading your own political, religious or sexual views
  • Talking about them is allowed, but activities aimed at spreading your own views are not.
  • ALLOWED: “Providing peer support for trans youth”
  • BLOCKED: “Why should you belong to X religion?”
  • ALLOWED: “Chat about climate issues”
  • BLOCKED: “Want to share ideas on how to bring down the government” 
• Asking for a loan or money. Commu is not a bank.
• Notices that count as Freelancer activity
• Ads that are essentially advertising your own paid service.
  
  

Cheating, phishing for information, lying, bullying

As mentioned in the section “Interacting with other users”, you should be honest about your intentions when interacting with other users. We have a zero tolerance policy against any attempt to defraud and we are very happy to work with the authorities to investigate any incidents of such activity. Equally, we will immediately intervene in cases of bullying and, where appropriate, consider them as illegal activity.

Special mentions

• DO NOT start high amount of conversations and immediately offer your contact details or ask for the contact details of the other person. We will consider this an act of phishing.
• DO NOT systematically tell users to switch communications platforms. If you propose changing platforms, always ask if the other user is fine with it.
• DO NOT systematically ask users about unrelated information like family status, living area, daily activities etc. In moderation we often must assume worst and doing this may get your account banned for phishing.

Activities related to sex, sexuality and purely relationship seeking

Commu is not a relationship app and no sexual activity or discussion should take place on our platform. Therefore, please do not ask other users any questions about their relationship situations or preferences, ask them out on a date, or ask them for any appearance-related material. We have zero tolerance for this and any violation of this section will usually result in account closure.

• You can only ask for support in this theme a certain amount of times per month. App will inform you if the limit is exceeded.
• You must have verified your identity to ask for support
• Posts must be placed in a right theme or hey will be deleted.
• All limits are PER HOUSEHOLD. While many members of your family might have Commu, you are not allowed to circumvent the limits through another Commu account, if you live in same household.

Breaking other rules for a sake of circumventing these limits defined in this chapter can be used as hardening criterion when deciding the moderative action we take.

Providing peer support

Providing peer support is, in principle, a highly desirable activity. However, as a user you need to understand the responsibilities and obligations involved. If you wish to provide peer support to another user, you should first consult the Commu Peer Support Guide at https://commuapp.fi/en/how-to-peer-support

If you wish to request peer support on the Platform, you should understand that the person responsible for providing peer support to you may not be trained in any way and that the support they provide may not be appropriate for you. You cannot therefore hold the person providing peer support responsible in any way for the advice or support they give (with the exception of professional representatives of associations and companies who may provide support through their own work. The normal consumer protection rules apply).

If the discussion raises doubts about your own or another person’s acute wellbeing changes, it is best not to go too deep and if you need help you can always ask https://www.tuntuu.fi/apua.html. Sometimes, when providing peer support, it is worth simply encouraging people to seek help from the public sector and, if necessary, to be supportive in lowering the threshold for leaving home.

When providing peer support, remember to feel your own resilience and resources to help others. Be empathetic to yourself and take the conversation as deep as you feel it needs to go.

At https://www.tuntuu.fi/apua.html you will find good chats for asking yourself and others for tips. Local crisis/health centres can also signpost you to the help you need. In emergencies, contact 112.  DO NOT HESITATE TO ASK FOR HELP.

In conversations, especially when it comes to peer support, it is good to be aware that they can be emotional. Old things may come back to you. It is always a good idea to end discussions with good, everyday things that make you feel good. To return to the present moment and turn your thoughts to the future, to the good things and factors.