Community Guidelines

Last updated: 30 June 2026

rategale brings together honest business reviews, a social network, and user-to-user ratings. For that to work, people need to trust what they read and feel safe taking part. These Community Guidelines explain what is and isn't allowed. They apply to everything on the Platform — reviews, posts, reels, stories, polls, comments, messages, profiles, business pages, ads and ratings. They are part of our [Terms of Service](/legal/terms).

1. Core principles

• Be honest. Reviews and ratings must reflect real, first-hand experience.
• Be respectful. Disagree without attacking people.
• Be authentic. Be yourself; don't impersonate others or fake your reach.
• Keep people safe. Especially minors.

2. Honest reviews and ratings

Reviews are the heart of rategale. To keep them trustworthy:

• Write from real experience. Only review businesses you actually dealt with.
• No fake or manipulated reviews. Don't post reviews you were paid for without

disclosure, write reviews for your own business or a competitor, or trade reviews.

• No review bombing or coordinated attacks. Don't organize groups to mass-rate a

business or person up or down.

• No retaliation. Don't use reviews or ratings to punish, threaten or harass.
• Stay relevant. Reviews should be about the product, service or experience.

User-to-user ratings carry extra responsibility because they affect real people. Rate based on genuine interactions, not rumor or prejudice. Cooldowns, weighting and anti-abuse systems apply, and abusive rating patterns are removed.

3. Zero tolerance — never allowed

The following are strictly prohibited and may lead to immediate removal, reporting to authorities, and a permanent ban:

• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or any sexualization of minors. All media is

automatically scanned; matches are reported to the authorities (NCMEC) as required by law.

• Grooming or attempts to exploit minors.
• Terrorism and violent-extremist content, or promotion of such organizations.
• Credible threats of violence or incitement to harm.
• Promotion of self-harm or suicide.
• Human trafficking and exploitation.

4. Safety and harassment

Not allowed:

• Harassment and bullying — targeting, intimidating or degrading people.
• Hate speech — attacks based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion,

disability, disease, age, sex, gender identity or sexual orientation.

• Violent or graphic content intended to shock or glorify harm.
• Doxxing — sharing private information (e.g. ID numbers, phone numbers, home

addresses) without consent.

• Non-consensual intimate imagery and sextortion.

5. Authenticity and integrity

Not allowed:

• Impersonation of people, businesses or rategale.
• Fake engagement — bots, bought followers/likes, and manipulation.
• Spam — repetitive, deceptive or unsolicited content and mass messaging.
• Scams, fraud and phishing — deceiving people for money or data.
• Multi-account abuse to evade limits, bans or detection.

6. Adult and sensitive content

• No pornographic content.
• Some content may be sensitive (e.g. certain medical, violent or distressing

imagery). It must be marked appropriately and may be blurred behind a warning. Sensitive content is hidden from minors.

• Regulated goods (e.g. alcohol, gambling, weapons) are restricted and may not be

promoted to minors.

7. Intellectual property

Respect others' rights. Don't post content that infringes copyright or trademarks. If you believe your work was used without permission, see our [Copyright Policy](/legal/copyright).

8. Businesses and ads

Business profiles and advertising must follow these Guidelines and the law. Ads are reviewed before they run. Misleading, deceptive or inappropriate ads are rejected. Businesses must not coerce, bribe or threaten customers over reviews.

9. Special protections for minors (13–17)

We apply stronger defaults for accounts aged 13–17, including: personalized ads off, sensitive content hidden, restricted messaging, and a ban on appearance-based ratings about them. Adults who behave inappropriately toward minors are removed.

10. Reporting and enforcement

• Report any content or account that breaks these Guidelines. Reporter identity is

kept confidential. Misusing reports (mass or false reporting) is itself a violation.

• What happens next: content may be hidden automatically when enough independent

reports are received, then reviewed by our team. Depending on severity we may warn, remove content, limit features, suspend, or permanently ban — and report illegal content to the authorities.

• Appeals: if we take action on your content or account, we generally tell you why

and you can appeal once, which is reviewed by a different reviewer.

11. Changes

We may update these Guidelines as the community and the law evolve. We will update the "Last updated" date above.

For questions, contact [support@rategale.com].