Content Moderation Policy

This document describes how Meade County Local ("MCL") moderates content on the Platform. Our goal is to maintain a safe, welcoming community while respecting free expression. All moderation actions are guided by our Community Guidelines and these procedures.

1. Moderation Team

MCL content is moderated by a team of community volunteers and platform administrators. Moderators are:

• Administrators — Platform operators with full access to all moderation tools, user management, and system settings.
• Moderators — Trusted community members who can review flagged content, hide posts and comments, and approve or remove content from the moderation queue.

All moderators must hold the Verified Local badge and agree to act impartially and in good faith. Moderators may not take action on content involving themselves or close personal relationships — those cases are escalated to administrators.

2. How Content Is Flagged

Content enters the moderation queue through the following channels:

• User reports — Any registered user can report a post or comment that they believe violates our Community Guidelines.
• Moderator action — Moderators can hide content directly from the feed while browsing.
• Automated detection — MCL uses automated keyword-based filtering to flag obvious violations (spam, profanity, rapid-fire posting, etc.). Automated flags are always reviewed by a human moderator before any action is taken.

3. Review Process

When content is flagged:

1. Content is hidden — The post or comment is immediately hidden from the public feed (marked as not visible) while under review. This is a precautionary measure, not a final decision.
2. Moderator review — A moderator reviews the content against our Community Guidelines. They may view the full context including the user's post history.
3. Decision — The moderator takes one of the following actions:
   • Approve — Content is restored to the public feed. No strike is recorded.
   • Remove — Content is permanently removed. A strike may be recorded against the author's account.
4. Notification — The content author is notified of the decision. If content was removed, the notification includes the reason.

4. Enforcement Ladder

MCL uses a progressive enforcement system. The severity of consequences depends on the nature of the violation and the user's history:

Immediate escalation: Certain violations skip directly to Level 4 or 5 regardless of prior history. These include: credible threats of violence, content that exploits or endangers minors, doxxing (posting someone's private information), and illegal activity.

5. Special Content Categories

Trading Post Listings (For Sale, Wanted, Trade)

In addition to Community Guidelines, trading post listings must comply with the Terms of Service Section 6 regarding consumer protection. Listings for illegal items, controlled substances, weapons prohibited by Kentucky law, or stolen property will be immediately removed and the account permanently banned.

Copyright Claims

Copyright-related content removal is handled under our separate DMCA Policy. DMCA takedowns do not count as Community Guidelines violations and do not result in strikes against the user's account unless the infringement was clearly intentional and repeated.

Minor Safety

Content that depicts, solicits, or endangers minors is treated with zero tolerance. Such content is immediately removed and reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and local law enforcement as required by federal law. The associated account is permanently banned without appeal.

6. Appeals Process

Users may appeal any moderation decision:

1. Submit — Submit an appeal through the Appeals page in your account. When an enforcement action is applied, your notification will include a direct link to file an appeal. You may also contact [email protected] for assistance.
2. Review — An administrator (not the original moderator) will review the appeal within 7 business days.
3. Outcome — The administrator will either uphold the original decision, reverse it (restoring content and/or removing the strike), or modify the enforcement level. You will be notified of the decision via in-app notification and email.
4. Final — Administrator decisions on appeals are final. Repeated frivolous appeals may be disregarded.

7. Moderator Accountability

• All moderation actions are logged in an audit trail (via activity logging).
• Administrators regularly review moderation logs for consistency and fairness.
• Moderators who abuse their privileges, show bias, or act in bad faith will have their moderator role revoked.
• Community members may report moderator misconduct to [email protected].

8. Content Retention After Moderation

Hidden content is retained for 90 days to allow for appeals, then permanently deleted per our Data Retention Policy. Media associated with removed content is unpinned from IPFS at the time of permanent deletion.

9. Transparency

MCL is committed to transparency in moderation. We will periodically publish aggregate moderation statistics (number of reports received, actions taken, appeals processed) without identifying individual users or specific content.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Content Moderation Policy as the platform evolves. Registered users will be notified of material changes. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent revision.

11. Contact

For questions about moderation, to report moderator misconduct, or to appeal a moderation decision, contact [email protected].