policies/usage-rules.md

Sideway Policies and Guidelines

# Sideway Usage Rules

Effective: September 17, 2016

Some parts of the Internet lack rules. This isn't one of them.

Sideway exists for people to share their opinions, thoughts, and ideas. People will inevitably
write things other people don't agree with. Sometimes this will enlighten. Other times it will
frustrate.

Sideway is a shared space. We want lots of different ideas to thrive here. So, we need a few ground
rules.

## Content ownership

We give priority to the wishes of the primary content creators, letting them make most of the decisions
about how their content is presented. This includes control over deleting their content regardless
of it containing contributions from others (such as comments, questions, and notes). We allow
the content owner to approve, reject, modify, or delete any contribution made to their published
content.

If there is a conflict between the wishes of the primary content creator and those of someone interacting
with that content by posting comments or other contributions, we generally side with the primary content
creator, respecting their wishes for how their content should be presented.

## Things You Shouldn't Do

### Threats of Violence

Don't threaten violence against anyone. We will do our best to look at what you write in proper
context. But saying "just kidding" later does not make it a joke.

### Hateful Slurs

We think free expression deserves a lot of leeway. So, we generally think the best response to hateful
speech is more speech, not censorship. Still, we reserve the right to take down hateful slurs, which
tend to silence others while adding little if anything.

### Harassment

We don't tolerate harassment on Sideway. This includes:
* Posts that shame specific individuals, including images or altered images.
* Posts with altered or unaltered copies of private communications between private individuals posted
  without the explicit consent of a party to the communication.
* Posts with non-public, personal information intended to target, blackmail, or harass people.
* Repeated personally insulting notes, responses, story requests, or writer requests.
* Intimate or explicit images taken or posted without the subject's explicit consent (including revenge porn).

Sideway supports parody, commentary, and fair use. Users may speak freely about matters and people of public
interest. We support vigorous debate of substantive issues. However, we won't tolerate abusive behavior
directed at private individuals. In deciding whether someone has violated the rules, we will take into account
things like the context and nature of the posted information and applicable privacy laws.

### Harm to Minors

Don't post anything relating to minors that is sexual or violent. Don't bully or harass minors.

### Spam

Don't spam. Don't use deceptive tags or links or otherwise mislead others about what you've posted. Don't
embed malicious code in your posts. Don't use deception to generate revenue or traffic. Don't write posts
aimed primarily at affiliate marketing.

### Mass Registration and Automation

Don't register accounts or post content automatically, systematically, or programmatically.

### Copyright and Trademark Infringement

Respect the copyrights and trademarks of others. Unless you are authorized to use someone else's copyrighted
or trademarked work (either expressly or by legal exceptions and limitations like fair use), don't do it.
It's our policy to respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement under our
[Terms of Service](https://github.com/sideway/policies/blob/master/terms-of-service.md) and the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act.

### Deceptive Impersonation

Don't impersonate someone else to deceive people. Parody and ridicule are fine, but make clear that that's
what you are doing.

### Porn

No porn. There are other places to post it. You know where they are.

### Privacy Violations

Don't post content that violates others' privacy, including personally identifying or confidential information
like credit card numbers, social security numbers, or non-public contact information.

### Phishing and Other Frauds

Don't use Sideway to engage in phishing or fraud.

### Promotion and Glorification of Self-Harm

Don't promote or glorify self-harm, such as cutting, eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia, and suicide.

## If You Break the Rules

If it looks like you've violated these policies, we may send you an email and ask you to explain what you are
up to and why. If you don't adequately explain yourself or fix the problem, we may suspend or block your
account or remove your content. We care a lot about fairness and do our best to act that way. But we reserve
the right to suspend accounts or remove content, without notice, for any reason, particularly to protect our
services, infrastructure, users, or community. We reserve the right to enforce, or not enforce, these
policies at our sole discretion. These policies don't create a duty or contractual obligation for us to act
in any particular manner.

## Changes to this Policy

We can change these Terms at any time. We keep a historical record of all changes to our Terms on
[GitHub](https://github.com/sideway/policies). If a change is material, we'll notify you on the Sideway
site before it take effect. By using Sideway on or after that effective date, you agree to the new Terms.
If you don't agree to them, you should delete your account before they take effect, otherwise your use of
the site and content will be subject to the new Terms.

## Questions

We welcome questions, concerns, and feedback about this policy at [support@sideway.com](mailto:support@sideway.com).