Gems Moderation, Appeals and Transparency Policy

Effective date: 11 October 2026

This policy explains how SVG Gems enforces the Gems Terms of Service and Community Guidelines, how you can report Content and ask for a decision to be reviewed, how we respond to requests from authorities, and how we account publicly for what we do. It forms part of the Terms of Service.

1. Our approach

1.1 We aim to apply our rules consistently, proportionately and without regard to the viewpoint expressed, while acting quickly where there is a risk of harm.

1.2 No general monitoring. We do not review all Content before it is published and we are not under any obligation to do so. We rely on a combination of automated tools, reports from Members and human review. The absence of action on any Content does not mean that we have reviewed or approved it.

1.3 Discretion. We may take action against Content or Accounts that we reasonably believe breach our Terms, create a risk of harm, or expose SVG Gems, our Members or others to legal liability, even where a specific rule does not expressly cover the situation.

2. How Content is detected

2.1 Automated checks. Text is checked automatically, inside our own systems, when it is saved. Certain categories, including slurs, incitement to violence, encouragement of self-harm and terms associated with child sexual abuse, are blocked before publication. Other terms that can be innocent in context are allowed but flagged for human review.

2.2 Reports from Members. Any signed-in Member can report a post, comment, place, event, crew or profile. Reports are confidential: we do not tell the reported person who made the report, except where the law requires it.

2.3 Community hiding. When several established Accounts independently report the same post or comment, it may be hidden automatically until a moderator has reviewed it. Content that a moderator reviews and restores cannot be hidden again by reports alone.

2.4 Reports by email. Anyone, including people without an Account, can report Content to hello@svggems.com. Reports of child sexual abuse or exploitation, threats to life and doxxing are prioritised.

3. Enforcement actions

Depending on the seriousness of the breach, its context, the harm caused and the Account's history, we may take one or more of the following actions:

Threats of violence, child sexual abuse or exploitation, doxxing, hate campaigns, coordinated manipulation and repeated serious breaches may lead to immediate permanent termination without prior warning.

4. Notice of decisions

Where it is lawful, safe and practical, we will notify you when we remove your Content or restrict your Account, identify the rule concerned, and tell you how to ask for a review. We may withhold or delay notice where giving it could prejudice an investigation, put someone at risk, or reveal how our detection systems work, or where the Content is spam.

5. Asking for a review (appeals)

5.1 If you believe we made a mistake, you may ask for a review within 30 days of the decision by writing to hello@svggems.com with "Appeal" in the subject line. Please include your display name, the Content or Account concerned, and why you believe the decision was wrong.

5.2 Where possible, the review will be carried out by a different person from the one who made the original decision. We aim to respond within 14 days.

5.3 We may restore the Content or Account, uphold the decision, or reach a different decision. Our decision on review is final as far as Gems is concerned. This does not affect any rights you have under applicable law.

5.4 If your report about someone else's Content did not lead to action, you may also ask for that decision to be reviewed in the same way.

6. Complaints about Content from people affected

6.1 If Content on Gems concerns you, for example because it contains your personal information, an image of you or a statement you believe is defamatory, you may ask us to review it by writing to hello@svggems.com with the location of the Content, your relationship to it and the reasons for your complaint.

6.2 Defamation complaints. We will review complaints that Content is defamatory promptly. We may remove or restrict the Content, ask the poster for their response, or keep it available where it appears to be honest opinion, a first-hand account or otherwise lawful. We are not in a position to adjudicate disputed facts and may decline to act where a matter is genuinely disputed, unless we receive an order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

6.3 Intellectual property complaints are handled under the Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy.

7. Requests from law enforcement and public authorities

7.1 Legal process. We disclose information about Members to law enforcement or other authorities only in response to a valid legal process, such as a court order, warrant or production order issued or recognised under the law of St Vincent and the Grenadines, or where we are otherwise legally required to do so. Requests from authorities outside St Vincent and the Grenadines should generally be made through mutual legal assistance or other recognised channels.

7.2 Emergencies. We may disclose information without legal process where we believe in good faith that there is an imminent risk of death or serious physical injury to any person and that disclosure is necessary to prevent it.

7.3 Scope. We review each request to make sure it is lawful and proportionate, and we disclose only the information required. Because location data is blurred before storage and we do not store AI conversations, much of the information an authority might seek does not exist.

7.4 Notice to Members. Unless we are legally prohibited from doing so, or doing so would create a risk of harm or be counterproductive, we will notify a Member before disclosing their information in response to a non-emergency request.

7.5 Preservation. On receipt of an official preservation request we may preserve relevant records for up to 90 days pending receipt of formal legal process.

7.6 Requests should be sent to hello@svggems.com with "Law enforcement request" in the subject line, from an official email address.

8. Accounts of people who have died

If a Member has died, a family member or legal representative may ask us to close the Account by writing to hello@svggems.com with reasonable evidence of the death and of their relationship to the Member.

9. Transparency

9.1 We keep a record of moderation decisions so that our rules are applied consistently and patterns of behaviour can be recognised.

9.2 Once Gems is generally available, we intend to publish, at least once a year, a summary of the number of reports received, the categories of breach, the actions taken, the number and outcome of appeals, and the number of requests received from authorities.

10. Governance

10.1 Gems is operated by SVG Gems. Our Terms and policies are approved by SVG Gems and reviewed at least annually, and whenever there is a significant change to Gems or to the law.

10.2 Moderation is carried out by people authorised by SVG Gems who have agreed to keep Member information confidential, to apply our rules impartially, and to declare and step away from any decision in which they have a personal interest.

10.3 Material changes to our Terms and policies are announced in advance as described in the Terms of Service.