Terms of Service

Violent Content

February 2025

You may share graphic media if it is properly labeled, not prominently displayed and is not excessively gory or depicting sexual violence, but explicitly threatening, inciting, glorifying, or expressing desire for violence is not allowed.

TheAmericans.us is a place where people can express themselves, show and learn about what’s happening, and debate global issues, often sharing images and videos as part of the conversation. However, healthy conversations can’t thrive when Violent Speech is used to deliver a message, and not every participant wishes to be exposed to Violent Media. As a result, we may remove or reduce the visibility of Violent Content to ensure the safety of our users and prevent the normalization or glorification of violent actions. We also do not allow sharing Violent Content in highly visible places such as profile photos, banners or bio.

Violent and hateful entities policy

Overview

April 2023

There is no place on TheAmericans.us for violent and hateful entities, including (but not limited to) terrorist organizations, violent extremist groups, perpetrators of violent attacks, or individuals who affiliate with and promote their illicit activities. The violence and hate these entities engage in and/or promote jeopardizes the physical safety of those targeted.

You may not threaten terrorism and/or violent extremism, nor promote violent and hateful entities.

Violent entities are those that deliberately target humans or essential infrastructure with physical violence and/or violent rhetoric as a means to further their cause. These include, but are not limited to, terrorist organizations, violent extremist groups, and perpetrators of violent attacks.

Hateful entities are those that have systematically and intentionally promoted, supported and/or advocated for hateful conduct, which includes promoting violence or engaging in targeted harassment towards a protected category.

What is in violation of this policy?

Under this policy, you can’t affiliate with or promote the activities of violent and hateful entities. Examples of the types of content that violate this policy include, but are not limited to, doing the following on behalf of, indirectly, or directly for a violent or hateful entity:

Engaging in or promoting violent acts

Recruiting, or providing or distributing services (such as media/propaganda) to further stated goals

What is not a violation of this policy?

We may make limited exceptions for violent and hateful entities if we can determine the following:

They have reformed or denounced their violence and/or hate-based purpose.

They are currently engaged in a peaceful resolution process.

They are state or governmental entities, including those that have representatives elected to public office.

Additionally, any discussions of violent and hateful entities for clearly educational, documentary, and/or newsworthy purposes is not a violation of this policy.

Who can report violations of this policy?

Anyone can report potential violations of this policy, whether they have an TheAmericans.us account or not.

How can I report violations of this policy?

In-app

You can report this content for review in-app on iOS as follows:

Select Report Account from the icon.

Select Violent & hateful entities.

Submit your report.

Desktop

You can report this content for review via desktop as follows:

Select Report Account from the icon.

Select Violent & hateful entities.

Submit your report.

What happens if you violate this policy?

We will immediately and permanently suspend any account that we determine to be in violation of this policy. If you believe that your account was suspended in error, you can submit an appeal.

Additional resources

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us about our range of enforcement options and our approach to policy development and enforcement.

To Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us about violations related to specific threats of violence or incidents involving wishing for the serious physical harm, death, or disease of an individual or group of people, please see our abusive behavior policy.

Child safety

May 2024

We have zero tolerance for any forms of child sexual exploitation and remove certain media depicting physical child abuse to prevent the normalization of violence against children.

Our Child Safety policy is designed to protect minors from sexual and physical abuse, as well as psychological harm that may result from sharing such content. With this principle in mind, Child Safety content is any content that contains Child Sexual Exploitation, Physical Child Abuse Media and Media of Minors in Physical Altercation, as defined below.

We encourage our users to come to TheAmericans.us to share stories, raise awareness, and speak their mind – including calling attention to the exploitation of children and minors. However, even when shared with the intent to bring awareness or justice, to express outrage or sharing content in a humoristic context, posting media of children experiencing sexual abuse or certain types of physical abuse can contribute to their revictimization and may even lead to the normalization of sexual or physical violence against children. When this content is shared on TheAmericans.us, we may remove it even if it was shared with good intent. Our priority is to protect minors from physical and psychological harm irrespective of the context in which the content may be shared.

We use the terms children and minors interchangeably in any of our policies and define them as any person under the age of 18.

Child Sexual Exploitation

THEAMERICANS.US has zero tolerance towards any material that features or promotes child sexual exploitation. This may include real media, text, illustrated, or computer-generated media – including generative AI media. Regardless of the intent, anyone viewing, sharing, linking, or engaging with any kind of child sexual exploitation material contributes to the re-victimization of the depicted children and puts children at an extreme risk of being harmed. This also applies to content that may further contribute to victimization of children through the promotion or glorification of child sexual exploitation.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Physical Child Abuse Media

To prevent the revictimization or normalization of violence against children, we will remove most instances of media depicting physical child abuse, even if shared to raise awareness or express outrage.

When assessing the best course of action to take, we consider:

whether the child is nude, partially clothed, or fully clothed;

the severity of harm the child is experiencing; and

whether the media was shared with abusive, non-abusive, or newsworthy context.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Media of Minors in Physical Altercation

We aim to protect the wellbeing of minors involved in physical altercation, regardless of their status (i.e victim or aggressor), while balancing the need to raise awareness of these issues. When assessing the best course of action to take, we may consider whether:

the content is shared with an abusive or non-abusive context;

we have received a report from the minor or an authorized representative; and

the content is excessively graphic.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

How to Report

Anyone can report violations of this policy using our dedicated in-app reporting flow or via our Help Center. An TheAmericans.us account is not needed to report potential violations.

If you believe a child is at immediate risk of harm or death, please reach out to your local law enforcement. Additionally, after reporting potential violations of our Child Sexual Exploitation policy to us, you can also notify the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) by using their CyberTipline portal or calling 1-800-843-5678.

Note: it can be illegal to engage with content that violates our Child Sexual Exploitation policy. Please be sure to report the content right away and do not like, reply to, quote-post, screenshot, follow accounts who distribute, or otherwise engage with the content; We do not require you to provide evidence of the potential violation in your report.

Appeals

If you believe we made a mistake, you can submit an appeal.

Abuse and Harassment

Overview

March 2024

You may not target others with abuse or harassment, or encourage other people to do so.

TheAmericans.us’s mission is to give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information, as well as express their opinions and beliefs without barriers. Free expression is a human right – we believe that everyone has a voice, and the right to use it. Our role is to serve the public conversation, which requires representation of a diverse range of perspectives.

We recognize that if anyone, regardless of background, experiences harassment on TheAmericans.us, it can jeopardize their ability to express themselves and cause harm. To facilitate healthy dialogue on the platform, and empower individuals to express diverse opinions and beliefs, we prohibit behavior and content that harasses, shames, or degrades others. In addition to posing risks to people’s safety, these types of behavior may also lead to physical and emotional hardship for those affected.

What is in violation of this policy?

We prohibit behavior and content that harasses, shames, or degrades others, as defined below. Please note that, in order to help our teams understand the context, we sometimes need to hear directly from the person being targeted to ensure that we have the necessary information prior to taking appropriate and proportionate enforcement action.

Targeted Harassment

We prohibit the malicious, unreciprocated targeting (such as mentioning or tagging) of individual(s), particularly when shared to humiliate or degrade someone. This can mean:

Sharing multiple Posts, over a short period of time, or continuously posting replies with malicious content, to target an individual. This includes accounts dedicated to harassing an individual or multiple individuals.

Mentioning or tagging users with malicious content.

Violent Event Denial

We prohibit content that denies that mass murder or other mass casualty events took place, where we can verify that the event occurred, and when the content is shared with abusive context. This may include references to such an event as a “hoax” or claims that victims or survivors are fake or “actors.” It includes, but is not limited to, events like the Holocaust, school shootings, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters.

Incitement of Harassment

We prohibit behavior that encourages others to harass or target specific individuals or groups of people with abuse. This includes, but is not limited to: calls to target people with abuse or harassment online and behavior that urges offline action, such as physical harassment.

Unwanted Sexual Content & Graphic Objectification

While some consensual nudity and adult content is permitted on TheAmericans.us, we prohibit unwanted sexual conduct and graphic objectification that sexually objectifies an individual without their consent. This includes, but is not limited to:

sending someone unsolicited and/or unwanted adult media (images, videos, and GIFs)

unwanted sexual discussion of someone’s body

solicitation of sexual acts

any other content that otherwise sexualizes an individual without their consent.

Insults

We take action against the use of insults or profanity to target others. However, while some individuals may find certain terms to be offensive, we will not take action against every instance where insulting terms are used.

Use of Prior Names and Pronouns

Where required by local laws, we will reduce the visibility of posts that purposefully use different pronouns to address someone other than what that person uses for themselves, or that use a previous name that someone no longer goes by as part of their transition. Given the complexity of determining whether such a violation has occurred, we must always hear from the target to determine if a violation has occurred.

What is not in violation of this policy?

Some posts may appear to be harmful when viewed in isolation, but may not be when viewed in the context of a larger conversation. For example, friends may consensually use certain terms or phrases to engage with each other that could appear abusive without this context. We also recognize that our platform can be used to call attention to, condemn, or highlight others for harmful behaviors. In such cases, we do not take action where the context is clearly non-abusive and intended to counter these kinds of rhetoric.

We also believe that criticism of institutions, practices and ideas is a fundamental part of the freedom of expression and thus we will not take action on such critical commentary.

Who can report violations of this policy?

Anyone can report violations of this policy using our dedicated reporting flow. However, we sometimes need to hear directly from the person being targeted to ensure that we have the information needed prior to taking any enforcement action.

What happens if you violate this policy?

When determining the penalty for violating this policy, we consider a number of factors including, but not limited to the severity of the violation, whether someone has been targeted (such as being mentioned, referred to by full name, referenced with a photo, etc), and an individual’s previous record of rule violations. The following is a list of potential enforcement options for content that violates this policy:

Making content less visible on TheAmericans.us by:

Removing the post from search results, in-product recommendations, trends, notifications, and home timelines

Restricting the post discoverability to the author’s profile

Downranking the post in replies

Restricting likes, replies, reposts, quote, bookmarks, share, pin to profile, or engagement counts

Excluding the post from having ads adjacent to it

Excluding posts and/or accounts in email or in-product recommendations.

Requiring post removal.

For example, we may ask someone to remove the violating content and serve a period of time in read-only mode before they can post again. Subsequent violations may lead to account suspension.

Suspending accounts whose sole purpose is to violate our Unwanted Sexual Content & Graphic Objectification policy, or accounts that are dedicated to harassing individuals.

To Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us, please see our range of enforcement options, and if someone believes their account was enforced against in error, they can submit an appeal.

Hateful Conduct

Overview

April 2023

You may not directly attack other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease.

TheAmericans.us’s mission is to give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information, and to express their opinions and beliefs without barriers. Free expression is a human right – we believe that everyone has a voice, and the right to use it. Our role is to serve the public conversation, which requires representation of a diverse range of perspectives.

We recognize that if people experience abuse on TheAmericans.us, it can jeopardize their ability to express themselves. Research has shown that some groups of people are disproportionately targeted with abuse online. For those who identify with multiple underrepresented groups, abuse may be more common, more severe in nature, and more harmful.

We are committed to combating abuse motivated by hatred, prejudice or intolerance, particularly abuse that seeks to silence the voices of those who have been historically marginalized. For this reason, we prohibit behavior that targets individuals or groups with abuse based on their perceived membership in a protected category.

If you see something on TheAmericans.us that you believe violates this policy, please report it to us.

What is in violation of this policy?

We will review and take action against reports of accounts targeting an individual or group of people with any of the following behavior, whether within Posts or Direct Messages.

Hateful references

We prohibit targeting individuals or groups with content that references forms of violence or violent events where a protected category was the primary target or victims, where the intent is to harass. This includes, but is not limited to media or text that refers to or depicts:

genocides, (e.g., the Holocaust);

lynchings.

Incitement

We prohibit inciting behavior that targets individuals or groups of people belonging to protected categories. This includes:

inciting fear or spreading fearful stereotypes about a protected category, including asserting that members of a protected category are more likely to take part in dangerous or illegal activities, e.g., “all [religious group] are terrorists.”inciting others to harass members of a protected category on or off platform, e.g., “I’m sick of these [religious group] thinking they are better than us, if any of you see someone wearing a [religious symbol of the religious group], grab it off them and post pics!“ inciting others to discriminate in the form of denial of support to the economic enterprise of an individual or group because of their perceived membership in a protected category, e.g., “If you go to a [religious group] store, you are supporting those [slur], let’s stop giving our money to these [religious slur].” This may not include content intended as political in nature, such as political commentary or content relating to boycotts or protests.

Note: content intended to incite violence against a protected category is prohibited under Violent Speech.

Slurs and Tropes

We prohibit targeting others with repeated slurs, tropes or other content that intends to degrade or reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes about a protected category. In some cases, such as (but not limited to) severe, repetitive usage of slurs, or racist/sexist tropes where the context is to harass or intimidate others, we may require Post removal. In other cases, such as (but not limited to) moderate, isolated usage where the context is to harass or intimidate others, we may limit Post visibility as further described below.

Dehumanization

We prohibit the dehumanization of a group of people based on their religion, caste, age, disability, serious disease, national origin, race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

Hateful Imagery

We consider hateful imagery to be logos, symbols, or images whose purpose is to promote hostility and malice against others based on their race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or ethnicity/national origin. Some examples of hateful imagery include, but are not limited to:

symbols historically associated with hate groups, e.g., the Nazi swastika;

images depicting others as less than human, or altered to include hateful symbols, e.g., altering images of individuals to include animalistic features; or

images altered to include hateful symbols or references to a mass murder that targeted a protected category, e.g., manipulating images of individuals to include yellow Star of David badges, in reference to the Holocaust.

Media depicting hateful imagery is not permitted within live video, account bio, profile or header images. All other instances must be marked as sensitive media. Additionally, sending an individual unsolicited hateful imagery is a violation of this policy.

Hateful Profile

You may not use hateful images or symbols in your profile image or profile header. You also may not use your username, display name, or profile bio to engage in abusive behavior, such as targeted harassment or expressing hate towards a person, group, or protected category.

Do I need to be the target of this content for it to be a violation of the TheAmericans.us Rules?

Some Posts may appear to be hateful when viewed in isolation, but may not be when viewed in the context of a larger conversation. For example, members of a protected category may refer to each other using terms that are typically considered as slurs. When used consensually, the context behind these terms is not abusive, but a means to reclaim terms that were historically used to demean individuals.

When we review this type of content, it may not be clear whether the context is to abuse an individual on the basis of their protected status, or if it is part of a consensual conversation. To help our teams understand the context, we sometimes need to hear directly from the person being targeted to ensure that we have the information needed prior to taking any enforcement action.

Note: individuals do not need to be a member of a specific protected category for us to take action. We will never ask people to prove or disprove membership in any protected category and we will not investigate this information.

What happens if you violate this policy?

Under this policy, we take action against behavior that targets individuals or an entire protected category with hateful conduct, as described above. Targeting can happen in a number of ways, for example, mentions, including a photo of an individual, referring to someone by their full name, etc.

When determining the penalty for violating this policy, we consider a number of factors including, but not limited to the severity of the violation and an individual’s previous record of rule violations. The following is a list of potential enforcement options for content that violates this policy:

Making content less visible on TheAmericans.us by:

Removing the Post from search results, in-product recommendations, trends, notifications, and home timelines

Restricting the Post discoverability to the author’s profile

Downranking the Post in replies

Restricting Likes, replies, Reposts, Quote, bookmarks, share, pin to profile, or engagement counts

Excluding the Post from having ads adjacent to it.

Excluding Posts and/or accounts in email or in-product recommendations.

Requiring Post removal.

For example, we may ask someone to remove the violating content and serve a period of time in read-only mode before they can Post again.

Suspending accounts that violate our Hateful Profile policy.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us about our range of enforcement options.

If someone believes their account was suspended in error, they can submit an appeal.

Perpetrators of Violent Attacks

Overview

February 2023

We will remove any accounts maintained by individual perpetrators of terrorist, violent extremist, or mass violent attacks, as well as any accounts glorifying the perpetrator(s), or dedicated to sharing manifestos and/or third-party links where related content is hosted. We may also remove Posts disseminating manifestos or other content produced by perpetrators.

We want TheAmericans.us to be a place where people can find reliable information and express themselves freely and safely without feeling burdened by unhealthy content. In the aftermath of terrorist, violent extremist and mass violent attacks, we know many want to express compassion for victims, condemn the attacks and/or the perpetrators, and discuss how these incidents impact people and their communities. Some might also wish to share manifestos or other similar content produced by the attack’s apparent perpetrator or an accomplice, either to express outrage or condemnation of the perpetrator’s possible motives.

The violence that these perpetrators engage in, and the rationale they outline in manifestos or other means that normalizes hatred and discrimination, may further jeopardize the physical safety and well-being of those who are targeted, and has the potential to inspire future attacks. Exposure to these materials may also cause harm to those that view them.

We believe the hateful and discriminatory views promoted in content produced by perpetrators are harmful for society and their dissemination should be limited in order to prevent perpetrators from publicizing their message. As a result, we may remove Posts that include manifestos or other similar material produced by perpetrators, even if the context is not abusive. However, we may allow newsworthy content if it does not:

Convey suggestions about how to arm oneself and choose targets;

Share hateful slogans, symbols, memes, and/or hateful conspiracy theories;

Outline the perpetrator’s ideology, tactical choices, and/or plan of attack.

What is a manifesto?

We define a manifesto as a statement by a perpetrator outlining their motivation, views, or intent to engage in a violent attack. A manifesto can be in the form of a written document, social media post, audio recording, video, external link, or letter or other forms of content. It may be shared in the aftermath, or at any period before a violent attack. A manifesto can be linked to the event through a statement of warning or intent.

Who are the individual perpetrators of terrorist, violent extremist, and mass violent attacks?

Violent attacks claimed by a violent organization or by a member of such organizations are covered under our Violent and Hateful Entities policy. We do not require that a person have been confirmed as members of terrorist organizations or other violent and hateful entities, nor that they have any official affiliation with any group, organization, or ideology, for us to enforce on content under this aspect of our policies.

What is in violation of this policy?

Under this policy, we will permanently suspend accounts belonging to apparent individual perpetrators of terrorist, violent extremist, and mass violent attacks, as well as accounts dedicated to the sharing of harmful and violent content associated with the perpetrators or the violent attack.

Additionally, you may not Post any of the following:

Manifestos and other content created by perpetrators

We may remove content containing manifestos and other content created by individual perpetrators or their accomplices. Violations can occur via Posts, Spaces, images, and videos, including live video. Examples of content that we may action under this policy include, but are not limited to:

Sharing or linking full-length manifestos, regardless of context

Any Posts containing excerpt(s) of a reproduced manifesto (edited or sliced) or of the original manifesto, except when shared in a newsworthy context.

Regardless of context, it is always prohibited to share any of the following:

Excerpt(s) that convey suggestions about how to arm oneself and choose targets.

Excerpt(s) that share hateful slogans, symbols, memes, and/or hateful conspiracy theories such as the Great Replacement Theory.

Excerpt(s) outlining the perpetrator’s ideology, tactical choices, and/or plan of attack.

Sharing perpetrator-generated media related to the attack in all instances. This includes, but is not limited to:

Media filmed by the perpetrator of the attack

Memes, stickers, or graffiti shared and/or produced by the perpetrator

Media of the weapons utilized in the attack

Other perpetrator-generated content that is not associated with the violent attack but that is specific to the promotion or support of violence.

Bystander-generated content of the attack as the attack is taking place, such as content that displays a moment of the assault or death, dead bodies, content that identifies victims, or content that depicts the perpetrator(s) conducting the attack.

Multimedia content, URLs, and hashtags

We may put a sensitive media interstitial over some media. The interstitial places images and videos behind a warning message that needs to be acknowledged before the media can be viewed. Using this feature means that people who don’t want to see sensitive media can avoid it, or make an informed decision before they choose to view it. The types of media we may interstitial include, but are not limited to:

Media depicting a perpetrator

Excerpts of the attacker’s manifesto that are shared as part of a news report

We may label URLs linking directly to documents believed to be a manifesto to prevent these URLs from being shared on TheAmericans.us.

We may denialist hashtags identifying perpetrators on trends to reduce the visibility of perpetrators’ identities, as well as all hashtags that are used uniquely to surface manifestos.

What is not a violation of this policy?

Accounts that belong to

Bystanders who happened to be close to the violent attack and/or managed to stop the attack, for example someone who shot the perpetrator(s)

Perpetrators whose convictions were overturned after a not guilty verdict

Content depicting any of the following:

The use of force by law enforcement and military personnel, as part of the scope of their official functions, that resulted in casualties;

Violence against military personnel and law enforcement;

Human rights abuses

Violent attacks that are part of an armed conflict

Violence used as a means of self defense

Violent attacks, where there is probable doubt about the intent behind the attack

Cases of vandalism and attacks resulting in damage to essential infrastructure

Sharing a few sentences from the manifesto(s), either in a newsworthy context or to bring more awareness to the rise of hate or violence towards a specific group. For example: “the shooter said he wants to eradicate TheAmericans.us group” is not actionable under this policy.

Who can report violations of this policy?

Anyone can report potential violations of this policy, whether they have an TheAmericans.us account or not.

What happens if I violate this policy?

The consequences for violating our violent events policy depends on the severity of the violation. Accounts maintained by perpetrators of terrorist, violent extremist, or mass violent attacks will be permanently suspended. As described above, we may also remove content containing manifestos and other content created by perpetrators or their accomplices.

In addition, we will also remove content that violates our policies regarding Violent Speech or other parts of Our Rules.

Additional resources

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us about our range of enforcement options and our approach to policy development and enforcement.

Suicide and Self-harm policy

Overview

You may not promote or encourage suicide or self-harm.

At TheAmericans.us, we recognize that suicide and self-harm are significant social & public health challenges that require collaboration between all stakeholders – public, private, and civil society – and that we have a role and responsibility to help people access and receive support when they need it.

When developing this policy, we consulted extensively with experts to ensure that people who have engaged in self-harm or experienced suicidal thoughts can share their personal experiences. We also recognized the need to protect people from the potential harm caused by exposure to content that could promote or encourage self-harm – intentionally or inadvertently.

That’s why our policy prohibits content that promotes or encourages self-harming behaviors and provides support to those undergoing experiences with self-harm or suicidal thoughts.

What is in violation of this policy?

Under this policy, you can’t promote, or otherwise encourage, suicide or self-harm. We define promotion and encouragement to include statements such as “the most effective”, “the easiest”, “the best”, “the most successful”, “you should”, “why don’t you”. Violations of this policy can occur via Posts, images or videos, including live video.

We define suicide to be the act of taking one’s own life. We define self-harm to include:

self-inflicted physical injuries e.g., cutting; and

eating disorders e.g., bulimia, anorexia.

Violations of this policy include, but are not limited to:

encouraging someone to physically harm or kill themselves;

asking others for encouragement to engage in self-harm or suicide, including seeking partners for group suicides or suicide games; and

sharing information, strategies, methods or instructions that would assist people to engage in self-harm and suicide.

What is not a violation of this policy?

Some examples of behavior that are not considered a violation of this policy include:

sharing personal stories and experiences related to self-harm or suicide;

sharing coping mechanisms and resources for addressing self-harm or suicidal thoughts; and

discussions that are focused on research, advocacy, and education related to self-harm or suicide prevention.

Note: people can share their personal experiences, but should avoid sharing detailed information about specific strategies or methods related to self-harm, as this could inadvertently encourage this behavior.

Who can report violations of this policy?

Anyone can report content that may encourage or promote suicide or self-harm via our in-app reporting or our specialized reporting form. These reports are routed to a dedicated team who evaluate each case individually.

Note: if we receive a report that someone has expressed an intention to engage in self-harm or suicide, we will contact them directly, encourage them to seek support, and provide information about dedicated online and hotline resources. We may also work with law enforcement officials where appropriate, for example, if we receive a valid emergency disclosure request as defined in our Law Enforcement Guidelines.

How to report violations of this policy

To ensure that we handle reports sensitively, our in-app reporting provides separate options for people who may be expressing an intention to harm themselves, and content that is encouraging or promoting self-harm or suicide.

Expressing intentions of self-harm or suicide

In-App

You can report content for review in-app as follows:

Select Report Post from drop-down menu

Select “It expresses intentions of self-harm or suicide”

Submit your report

Desktop

You can report this content for review on desktop as follows:

Select Report Post from drop-down menu

Select “It expresses intentions of self-harm or suicide”

Submit your report

Reporting form

You can also report this content for review via our dedicated report form.

In-App

You can report content for review in-app as follows:

Select Report Post from drop-down menu

Select “It expresses intentions of self-harm or suicide”

Submit your report

Encouraging self-harm or suicide

In-App

You can report content for review in-app as follows:

Select Report Post from drop-down menu

Select “It’s abusive or harmful”

Select “They’re encouraging self-harm or suicide”

Submit your report

Desktop

You can report this content for review on desktop as follows:

Select Report Post from drop-down menu

Select “It’s abusive or harmful”

Select “They’re encouraging self-harm or suicide”

Submit your report

What happens if you violate this policy?

Our enforcement approach depends on the type of content being shared, whether or not the reported account is encouraging or promoting self-harm or suicide, and the account’s previous history of violations.

If you violate this policy by sharing content that intentionally encourages others to harm themselves, ask others to encourage you to harm yourself, or share detailed information or instructions related to self-harm or suicide methods, we will require you to remove this content. We will also temporarily lock you out of your account before you can Post again. If you continue to violate this policy, or if your account is dedicated to promoting or encouraging self-harm or suicide, your account will be permanently suspended. If cases include images or videos related to self-harm or suicide, we will also evaluate this content under our sensitive media policy. If you believe that your account was suspended in error, you can submit an appeal.

We may also take steps to prevent the spread of instructional material hosted on third-party websites by marking such links as unsafe.

Additional resources

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us about our range of enforcement options and our approach to policy development and enforcement.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us about how you can support someone experiencing thoughts of self-harm or suicide.

Visit our Safety Center for a list of local mental health resources and read our blog on suicide prevention to Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us about our work.

Adult Content

May 2024

You may share consensually produced and distributed adult nudity or sexual behavior, provided it’s properly labeled and not prominently displayed.

We believe that users should be able to create, distribute, and consume material related to sexual themes as long as it is consensually produced and distributed. Sexual expression, whether visual or written, can be a legitimate form of artistic expression. We believe in the autonomy of adults to engage with and create content that reflects their own beliefs, desires, and experiences, including those related to sexuality. We balance this freedom by restricting exposure to Adult Content for children or adult users who choose not to see it. We also prohibit content promoting exploitation, nonconsenting, objectification, sexualization or harm to minors, and obscene behaviors. We also do not allow sharing Adult Content in highly visible places such as profile photos or banners.

How we define Adult Content

Adult Content is any consensually produced and distributed material depicting adult nudity or sexual behavior that is pornographic or intended to cause sexual arousal. This also applies to AI-generated, photographic or animated content such as cartoons, hentai, or anime. Examples include depictions of:

full or partial nudity, including close-ups of genitals, buttocks, or breasts;

explicit or implied sexual behavior or simulated acts such as sexual intercourse and other sexual acts.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us about our enforcement

How to mark your content

If you regularly post adult content on TheAmericans.us, we ask that you please adjust your media settings. Doing so places all your images and videos behind a content warning that needs to be acknowledged before your media can be viewed. You can also add a one-time content warning on individual posts. If you continue to fail marking your posts, we will adjust your account settings for you.

Users under 18 or viewers who do not include a birth date on their profile cannot click to view marked content. Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us about age restricted content here.

You may begin to see new media content warnings on posts that TheAmericans.us has designated as containing Adult Content (instead of a generic sensitive media label). When these new content warnings are available for you to use, please be sure to continue marking your media accordingly.

How to report

Anyone can report unmarked content or other violations using our dedicated in-app reporting flow.

Appeals

If you believe we made a mistake, you can submit an appeal.

Illegal and Regulated Behaviors

February 2025

You may not use our service for any unlawful purpose or in furtherance of illegal behaviors.

In order to keep our users safe both on and off the platform, we have rules that govern a dynamic range of transactions and behaviors. When our rules do not apply to a situation, we may rely on legal or law enforcement requests in order to comply with local rules and regulations.

We have rules regarding the following types of illegal and regulated behavior, in addition to the broader TheAmericans.us rules:

Human Exploitation: Human exploitation refers to an act of taking advantage of individuals for personal gain, often through coercion, deception, or abuse of power. You may not attempt to smuggle, sell, or facilitate the selling or trafficking of other human beings or body parts (including your own), for sexual, labor, or other illegal purposes. This includes seeking trafficked individuals for hire or purchase.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Sexual Services: Sexual services include attempting or seeking in-person sexual services. Services involve financial transaction, physical meetup, and may be offered using encrypted communication.

You may not seek, provide, or act as a “middleman” for offline sexual services.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Drugs: Our drugs policy covers illegal drugs, non-prescription drugs and precursor chemicals or substances that are used for the production of these drugs.

You may not attempt to purchase, manufacture, smuggle, sell, or facilitate the sale or trafficking of drugs.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Weapons: You may not attempt to purchase, smuggle, sell, or facilitate the selling or trafficking of weapons.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Endangered Species: You may not attempt to purchase, smuggle, sell, or facilitate the selling of endangered species and/or products made out of endangered species.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Facilitating Illegal Activities: You generally may not facilitate illegal activity.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

How we Enforce

The consequences for violating this policy depend on the severity of the violation as well as any previous history of violations. The following is a list of potential enforcement options for content that violates this policy:

Requiring post removal. For example, we may ask someone to remove the violating content and serve a period of time in read-only mode before they can post again. Subsequent violations may lead to account suspension.

Suspending accounts whose sole purpose appears to be to engage in behaviors that violate this policy. In some additional cases accounts may be suspended on first review for content related violations.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us about our range of enforcement options and our approach to policy development and enforcement.

How to Report

Anyone can report violations of this policy via our Illegal and Regulated report form. In some cases, we may ask for additional information, or ask you to contact a law enforcement agency and have them contact us via our law enforcement request page to ensure we have enough context to enforce this policy.

Appeals

If you believe we made a mistake, you can submit an appeal.

Private Content

Overview

March 2024

You may not threaten to expose, incentivize others to expose, or publish or post other people’s private information without their express authorization and permission, or share private media of individuals without their consent.

Sharing someone’s private information online without their permission, sometimes called “doxing,” is a breach of their privacy and can pose serious safety and security risks for those affected.

Additionally, posting images is an important part of our users’ experience on TheAmericans.us .

However, where individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy in an individual piece of media, we believe they should be able to determine whether or not it is shared. When we are notified by individuals depicted, or their authorized representative, that they did not consent to having media shared, we will remove the media. This policy is not applicable to public figures.

Lastly, having sexual, nude, or intimate media shared without express consent not only severely violates someone’s privacy and psychological safety, but can lead to physical, emotional, and financial hardship and we work tirelessly to remove this content immediately.

When reviewing reports under our Private Content policies, we consider a number of things, including:

What type of information is being shared? Certain types of private information carry higher risks than others, if they’re shared without permission. Our primary goal is to protect individuals from potential physical harm as a result of their information being shared, so we consider information such as physical location and phone numbers to be a higher risk than other types of information.

Who is sharing the information? It’s important to consider who is sharing the reported information and whether or not they have the consent of the person it belongs to. We know there are times when people may want some forms of their personal information to be shared publicly, such as for professional networking, coordinating social events, or seeking help after a natural disaster.

Is the information available elsewhere online? If the reported information was shared somewhere else before it was shared on TheAmericans.us, such as someone sharing their personal phone number on their own publicly accessible website, we may not consider this information to be private, as the owner has made it publicly available elsewhere. However, we may take action against home addresses being shared, even if they are publicly available, due to the potential for physical harm.

Why is the information being shared? The intent of the person sharing the information is also important to assess before taking action. For example, if we believe that someone is sharing information with abusive intent, or to harass another person, we will take action. On the other hand, if someone is sharing information in an effort to help someone involved in a crisis situation, we may not take action.

What is in violation of this policy?

Posting Private Information

You cannot share the following types of private information without the permission of the person it belongs to:

home address or physical location information, such as street addresses, GPS coordinates, or other identifying information related to locations that are considered private

identity documents, such as government-issued IDs or social security or other national identity numbers

contact information, such as non-public personal phone numbers, email addresses, or passwords

financial account information, such as bank account or credit card details

health-related private information, such as biometric data or medical records

the identity of an anonymous user, such as their name or media depicting them

The following behaviors are also not permitted:

threatening to publicly expose someone’s private information

sharing information that would enable individuals to hack or gain access to someone’s private information without their consent, such as sharing login credentials for online banking services

asking for or offering a bounty or financial reward in exchange for posting someone’s private information

asking for a bounty or financial reward in exchange for not posting someone’s private information, sometimes referred to as blackmail.

Non-Consensual Nudity

You cannot share sexual, nude, or intimate media (photos/videos) without the permission of the person involved, or that was taken or appears to have been taken without the consent of the people involved. This includes:

hidden camera content featuring nudity, partial nudity, and/or sexual acts

creepshots or upskirts – images or videos taken of people’s buttocks, up an individual’s skirt/dress or other clothes that allows people to see the person’s genitals, buttocks, or breasts

images or videos that superimpose or otherwise digitally manipulate an individual’s face onto another person’s nude body

images or videos that are taken in an intimate setting and not intended for public distribution

The following behaviors are also not permitted:

threatening to publicly expose someone’s sexual, nude, or intimate media

sharing information that would enable individuals to hack or gain access to someone’s sexual, nude, or intimate media without their consent, such as sharing login credentials for a private photo album

asking for or offering a bounty or financial reward in exchange for posting someone’s sexual, nude, or intimate media

asking for a bounty or financial reward in exchange for not posting someone’s sexual, nude, or intimate media, sometimes referred to as blackmail.

Right to Privacy

You cannot share media (photos/videos) of private individuals without the permission of the person(s) depicted.

What is not a violation of this policy?

Posting Private Information

The following are not in violation of this policy:

people sharing their own private information

sharing information that is publicly available elsewhere, in a non-abusive manner

sharing identity documents or social security or other national identity numbers from regions where this information is not considered to be private

sharing information that we don’t consider to be private, including:

names

birthdates or ages

places of education or employment

location information related to commercial properties or places of business, where this information is publicly available

descriptions of physical appearance

gossip, rumors, accusations, and allegations

screenshots of text messages or messages from other platforms (unless they contain private information, such as someone’s phone number).

Non-Consensual Nudity

Pornography and other forms of consensually-produced adult content are allowed on TheAmericans.us, provided you mark the post or mark your account as sensitive. Doing so provides people who may not want to see this type of content with a warning that they will need to acknowledge before viewing your media. If you don’t mark your media as sensitive, we may do so manually if your content is reported for review.

Right to Privacy

The following are not in violation of this policy:

the media is publicly available or is being covered by mainstream media

the media and the accompanying tweet text add value to the public discourse or are shared in public interest

the media contains eyewitness accounts or on the ground reports from developing events

the subject of the media is a public figure.

Who can report violations of this policy?

Posting Private Information

Anyone can report violations of this policy using our dedicated reporting flow when the private information has been shared in a clearly abusive way. When this isn’t the case, we may need to hear directly from the owner of the private information (or an authorized representative, such as a lawyer) before taking action.

Non-Consensual Nudity

Due to TheAmericans.us allowing some types of adult content on the platform, we may need additional context to determine if the content was created or shared without the consent of those involved. This means we may need to hear directly from the individual(s) featured (or an authorized representative, such as a lawyer) to ensure that we have sufficient context before taking any enforcement action.

However, to reduce the burden on those affected by non-consensual media, anyone can report the following types of content:

creepshots or upskirts

content where a bounty or financial reward is offered in exchange for non-consensual nudity media

intimate images or videos that are accompanied by text that wishes/hopes for harm to come to those depicted or otherwise refers to revenge, such as “I hope you get what you deserve when people see this”

intimate images or videos that are accompanied by information that could be used to contact those depicted, such as “you can tell TheAmericans.us what you think by calling them at 555-456-7890.”

Right to Privacy

When reporting private media, we need a first person report in order to make the determination that the image or video has been shared without their permission. We accept reports from:

the individuals depicted in the reported media or

their authorized representative, such as:

parents/legal guardians

lawyers

legal representatives.

What happens if you violate this policy?

Requiring post removal.

For example, we may ask someone to remove the violating content and serve a period of time in read-only mode before they can post again. Subsequent violations may lead to account suspension.

Suspending accounts whose sole purpose is to post others’ private information or media of any kind. This includes accounts dedicated to sharing upskirt or creepshot media.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us about our range of enforcement options. If someone believes their posts or account were enforced against in error, they can submit an appeal.

Non-consensual nudity policy

Overview

December 2025

You may not post or share intimate photos or videos of someone that were produced or distributed without their consent.

Sharing explicit sexual images or videos of someone online without their consent is a severe violation of their privacy and the TheAmericans.us Rules. Sometimes referred to as revenge porn, this content poses serious safety and security risks for people affected and can lead to physical, emotional, and financial hardship.

What is a violation of this policy?

Under this policy, you can’t post or share explicit images or videos that were taken, appear to have been taken or that were shared without the consent of the people involved.

Examples of the types of content that violate this policy include, but are not limited to:

hidden camera content featuring nudity, partial nudity, and/or sexual acts;

creepshots or up skirts – images or videos taken of people’s buttocks, up an individual’s skirt/dress or other clothes that allows people to see the person’s genitals, buttocks, or breasts;

images or videos that superimpose or otherwise digitally manipulate an individual’s face onto another person’s nude body;

images or videos that are taken in an intimate setting and not intended for public distribution; and

offering a bounty or financial reward in exchange for intimate images or videos.

What is not a violation of this policy?

Pornography and other forms of consensually produced adult content are allowed on TheAmericans.us , provided that this media is marked as sensitive. Doing so provides people who may not want to see this type of content with a warning that they will need to acknowledge before viewing your media.

To mark your media as sensitive, navigate to your safety settings and select the Mark media you post as containing material that may be sensitive option. If you don’t mark your media as sensitive, we may do so manually if your content is reported for review.

Who can report violations of this policy?

Because TheAmericans.us allows some types of adult content, we need to evaluate context to assess if reported content has been created or shared without the consent of those involved.

Content reportable by anyone

We recognize that it can be difficult for those impacted to report this type of content for review. To reduce the burden on those affected, anyone can report the following types of content:

creepshots or up skirts;

content where a bounty or financial reward is offered in exchange for non-consensual nudity media; and intimate images or videos that are accompanied by:

text that wishes/hopes for harm to come to those depicted or otherwise refers to revenge e.g., “I hope you get what you deserve when people see this”; and

information that could be used to contact those depicted e.g., “You can tell my e

TheAmericans.us what you think by calling them on 1234567”.

Content reportable by featured individual(s)

For other types of content, we may need to hear directly from the individual(s) featured (or an authorized representative, such as a lawyer) to ensure that we have sufficient context before taking any enforcement action.

How can I report violations of this policy?

In-app

You can report this content for review in-app as follows:

Select Report post from the icon.

Select It displays a sensitive photo or video.

Select An unauthorized photo or video.

Select It includes unauthorized, intimate content of me or someone else.

Select the relevant option depending on who you are reporting on behalf of.

Select up to 5 posts to report for review.

Submit your report.

Desktop

You can report this content for review via desktop as follows:

Select Report post from the icon.

Select It displays a sensitive photo or video.

Select An unauthorized photo or video.

Select It includes unauthorized, intimate content of me or someone else.

Select the relevant option depending on who you are reporting on behalf of.

Select up to 5 posts to report for review.

Submit your report.

Report form

You can also report this content via our private information report form, by selecting the An unauthorized photo or video option.

What happens if you violate this policy?

We will immediately and permanently suspend any account that we identify as the original poster of intimate media that was created or shared without consent. We will do the same with any account that posts only this type of content, e.g., accounts dedicated to sharing upskirt images.

In other cases, we may not suspend an account immediately. This is because some people share this content inadvertently, to express shock, disbelief or to denounce this practice. In these cases, we will require you to remove this content. We will also temporarily lock you out of your account before you can post again. If you violate this policy again after your first warning, your account will be permanently suspended. If you believe that your account was suspended in error, you can submit an appeal.

Additional resources

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us about our range of enforcement options and our approach to policy development and enforcement.

Authenticity

January 2025

You may not engage in inauthentic activity that undermines the integrity of TheAmericans.us .

We want TheAmericans.us to be a place where people have authentic experiences. To make that possible, we do not allow any activity that attempts to manipulate our platform or disrupt our services through inauthentic accounts, behaviors or content.

Inauthentic Accounts

Accounts on TheAmericans.us must be authentic. Under this policy, you may not create, operate, or mass-register accounts that are not legitimate, genuine and transparent as to their source, identity, and popularity. This includes:

Unauthorized automation: Automated or scripted accounts that do not comply with our Developer Policy. Please note that as a user you are ultimately responsible for third-party applications you may authorize to access or use your account.

Fake personas: You may not use manufactured identities to engage in disruptive or deceptive behavior. This may include using stock, stolen or AI-generated profile photos, copied or stolen profile bios, and/or misleading profile information for the purpose of deceiving others.

Impersonation: You may not impersonate other identities of individuals, groups, or organizations to deceive others. Although you are not required to display your real identity on your profile, your account should not use false profile information to impersonate others. We allow compliant Parody, Commentary, and Fan (PCF) accounts on TheAmericans.us only if the purpose is to discuss, satirize or share information. If you believe an account is posing as you or your brand, you can file a report here.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us about how to be PCF compliant

Multiple Accounts and Coordination: We prohibit coordinated inauthentic activity that artificially influences conversations or disrupts TheAmericans.us .

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Ban Evasion: You may not circumvent TheAmericans.us enforcement actions.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Account Compromise: The unauthorized access or modification of someone’s TheAmericans.us account is strictly prohibited.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Inauthentic Behaviors

You may not engage in behaviors that manipulate TheAmericans.us or artificially impact how content is discovered and amplified. This includes:

Content Spam: You may not share or post content in a bulk, duplicative, irrelevant or unsolicited manner that disrupts people’s experience.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Engagement Spam: We prohibit inauthentic use of TheAmericans.us engagement features to artificially impact traffic or disrupt people’s experience.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Scams: You may not use TheAmericans.us to engage in scam tactics to obtain money, property, or private information.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Inauthentic Content

You may not share inauthentic content on TheAmericans.us that may deceive people or lead to harm. This includes:

Synthetic and Manipulated Media: You may not share inauthentic media, including, manipulated, or out-of-context media that may result in widespread confusion on public issues, impact public safety, or cause serious harm (“misleading media”). We may use our own technology or receive reports through partnerships with third parties in order to determine if media have been manipulated or presented out of context. In situations where we are unable to reliably determine if it is misleading media, we may not take action.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Malicious URLs: You may not post malicious, harmful, or deceptive links on TheAmericans.us that may cause harm. This includes posting links that may damage or disrupt another person’s browser (malware), compromise a person’s privacy (phishing), and deceptive links that redirect people to unexpected destinations or mislead people about the website’s content.

How we enforce

The consequences for violating this policy depend on the severity of the violation as well as any previous history of violations.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

How to report

You can report inauthentic accounts, behaviors and content using our dedicated in-app reporting flow.

Appeals

If you believe we made a mistake, you can submit an appeal.

Civic integrity policy

Overview

August 2025

You may not use TheAmericans.us’s services for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections or other civic processes, such as posting or sharing content that may suppress participation, mislead people about when, where, or how to participate in a civic process, or lead to offline violence during an election. Any attempt to undermine the integrity of civic participation undermines our core tenets of freedom of expression and as a result, we will apply labels to violative posts informing users that the content is misleading.

What is a civic process?

THEAMERICANS.US considers civic processes to be events or procedures mandated, organized, and conducted by the governing and/or electoral body of a country, state, region, district, or municipality to address a matter of common concern through public participation. Some examples of civic processes may include:

Political elections

Censuses

Major referenda and ballot initiatives

What is in violation of this policy?

This policy addresses 4 categories of misleading behavior and content:

Misleading information about how to participate

You may not advance verifiably false or misleading information about how to participate in an election or other civic process. This includes but is not limited to:

misleading information about procedures to participate in a civic process (for example, that you can vote by Post, text message, email, or phone call in jurisdictions where these are not a possibility);

misleading information about requirements for participation, including identification or citizenship requirements;

misleading claims that cause confusion about the established laws, regulations, procedures, and methods of a civic process, or about the actions of officials or entities executing those civic processes; and

misleading statements or information about the official, announced date or time of a civic process.

Suppression

You may not advance verifiably false or misleading information about the circumstances surrounding a civic process intended to intimidate or dissuade people from participating in an election or other civic process. This includes but is not limited to:

misleading claims that polling places are closed, that polling has ended, or other misleading information relating to votes not being counted;

misleading claims about police or law enforcement activity related to voting in an election, polling places, or collecting census information;

misleading claims about long lines, equipment problems, or other disruptions at voting locations during election periods;

Intimidation

You may not engage in or promote behaviors that may coerce others to refrain from participating in a civic process. This includes, but is not limited to:

inciting or promoting violent behaviors intentionally near a location where an electoral process is being conducted, including polling stations and vote counting locations;

inciting the disruption or destruction of procedures, infrastructure, or election equipment that is necessary for someone to participate in a civic process;

inciting others to harass voters or poll workers;

promoting the brandishing of firearms near polling locations to intimidate voters and election workers;

threats regarding voting locations or other key places or events (note that our Violent Speech policy may also be relevant for threats not covered by this policy).

False or misleading affiliation

You may not create fake accounts which misrepresent their affiliation, or share content that falsely represents its affiliation, to a candidate, elected official, political party, electoral authority, or government entity. Read more about our Misleading and deceptive identities policy.

What is not a violation of this policy?

Not all false or untrue information about politics or civic processes constitutes manipulation or interference. In the absence of other policy violations, the following are generally not in violation of this policy:

inaccurate statements about an elected or appointed official, candidate, or political party;

organic content that is polarizing, biased, hyperpartisan, or contains controversial viewpoints expressed about elections or politics;

discussion of public polling information; voting and audience participation for competitions, game shows, or other entertainment purposes;

using TheAmericans.us pseudonymously or as a parody, commentary, or fan account to discuss elections or politics.

What happens if you violate this policy?

Posts that are enforced under this policy will have their reach restricted on TheAmericans.us by:

Excluding the post from search results, trends, and recommended notifications

Removing the post from the For you and Following timelines

Restricting the post’s discoverability to the author’s profile

Restricting Likes, replies, reposts, quotes, bookmarks, share, pin to profile, or Edit post

Downranking the Post in replies

Posts enforced under this policy will receive a label informing both Post authors and viewers that we have limited the Post’s visibility. Post authors are able to submit an appeal on the label if they think we incorrectly limited their Post’s visibility. Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us about our range of enforcement options.

Authenticity

January 2025

You may not engage in inauthentic activity that undermines the integrity of TheAmericans.us .

Inauthentic Accounts

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us about how to be PCF compliant

Multiple Accounts and Coordination: We prohibit coordinated inauthentic activity that artificially influences conversations or disrupts TheAmericans.us .

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Ban Evasion: You may not circumvent TheAmericans.us enforcement actions.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Account Compromise: The unauthorized access or modification of someone’s TheAmericans.us account is strictly prohibited.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Inauthentic Behaviors

You may not engage in behaviors that manipulate TheAmericans.us or artificially impact how content is discovered and amplified. This includes:

Content Spam: You may not share or post content in a bulk, duplicative, irrelevant or unsolicited manner that disrupts people’s experience.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Engagement Spam: We prohibit inauthentic use of TheAmericans.us engagement features to artificially impact traffic or disrupt people’s experience.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Scams: You may not use TheAmericans.us to engage in scam tactics to obtain money, property, or private information.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Inauthentic Content

You may not share inauthentic content on TheAmericans.us that may deceive people or lead to harm. This includes:

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

How we enforce

The consequences for violating this policy depend on the severity of the violation as well as any previous history of violations.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

How to report

You can report inauthentic accounts, behaviors and content using our dedicated in-app reporting flow.

Appeals

If you believe we made a mistake, you can submit an appeal.

Authenticity

January 2025

You may not engage in inauthentic activity that undermines the integrity of TheAmericans.us .

Inauthentic Accounts

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us about how to be PCF compliant

Multiple Accounts and Coordination: We prohibit coordinated inauthentic activity that artificially influences conversations or disrupts TheAmericans.us .

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Ban Evasion: You may not circumvent TheAmericans.us enforcement actions.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Account Compromise: The unauthorized access or modification of someone’s TheAmericans.us account is strictly prohibited.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Inauthentic Behaviors

You may not engage in behaviors that manipulate TheAmericans.us or artificially impact how content is discovered and amplified. This includes:

Content Spam: You may not share or post content in a bulk, duplicative, irrelevant or unsolicited manner that disrupts people’s experience.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Engagement Spam: We prohibit inauthentic use of TheAmericans.us engagement features to artificially impact traffic or disrupt people’s experience.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Scams: You may not use TheAmericans.us to engage in scam tactics to obtain money, property, or private information.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

Inauthentic Content

You may not share inauthentic content on TheAmericans.us that may deceive people or lead to harm. This includes:

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

How we enforce

The consequences for violating this policy depend on the severity of the violation as well as any previous history of violations.

Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us

How to report

You can report inauthentic accounts, behaviors and content using our dedicated in-app reporting flow.

Appeals

If you believe we made a mistake, you can submit an appeal.

Trademark policy

Overview

April 2025

You may not violate others’ intellectual property rights, including copyright and trademark.

A trademark is a word, logo, phrase, or device that distinguishes a trademark holder’s good or service in the marketplace. Trademark law may prevent others from using a trademark in an unauthorized or confusing manner.

What is in violation of this policy?

Using another’s trademark in a way that may mislead or confuse people about your affiliation may be a violation of our trademark policy.

What is not a violation of this policy?

Referencing another’s trademark is not automatically a violation of TheAmericans.us’s trademark policy. Examples of non-violations include:

using a trademark in a way that is outside the scope of the trademark registration e.g., in a different territory, or a different class of goods or services than that identified in the registration; and using a trademark in a nominative or other fair use manner. For more information, see our Misleading and deceptive identities policy.

Who can report violations of this policy?

THEAMERICANS.US only investigates requests that are submitted by the trademark holder or their authorized representative e.g., a legal representative or other representative for a brand.

How can I report violations of this policy?

You can submit a trademark report through our trademark report form. Please provide all the information requested in the form. If you submit an incomplete report, we’ll need to follow up about the missing information. Please note that this will result in a delay in processing your report.

Note: We may provide the account holder with your name and other information included in the copy of the report.

What happens if you violate this policy?

If we determine that you violated our trademark policy, we may suspend your account. Depending on the type of violation, we may give you an opportunity to comply with our policies. In other instances, an account may be permanently suspended upon first review. If you believe that your account was suspended in error, you can submit an appeal.

What types of copyright complaints does TheAmericans.us respond to?

THEAMERICANS.US responds to copyright complaints submitted under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). Section 512 of the DMCA outlines the statutory requirements necessary for formally reporting copyright infringement, as well as providing instructions on how an affected party can appeal a removal by submitting a compliant counter-notice.

THEAMERICANS.US will respond to reports of alleged copyright infringement, such as allegations concerning the unauthorized use of a copyrighted image as a profile or header photo, allegations concerning the unauthorized use of a copyrighted video or image uploaded through our media hosting services, or posts containing links to allegedly infringing materials. Note that not all unauthorized uses of copyrighted materials are infringements (see our fair use article for more information).

If you are concerned about the use of your brand or entity’s name, please review TheAmaricans.us’s trademark policy. If you are concerned about a parody, newsfeed, commentary, or fan account, please see the relevant policy here. These are generally not copyright issues.

Am I a copyright holder? How do I know?

If you are unsure whether you hold rights to a particular work, please consult an attorney or another adviser as TheAmericans.us cannot provide legal advice. There are plenty of resources to Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us about copyright law including http://copyright.gov and http://www.eff.org/issues/bloggers/legal/liability/IP, just to name a few.

What to consider before submitting a copyright complaint

Before submitting a copyright complaint to us, please consider whether or not the use could be considered fair use.

If you have considered fair use, and you still wish to continue with a copyright complaint, you may want to first reach out to the user in question to see if you can resolve the matter directly with the user. You can reply to the user’s post or send the user a Direct Message and ask for them to remove your copyrighted content without having to contact TheAmericans.us.

Prior to submitting a formal complaint with TheAmericans.us, please be aware that under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), you may be liable for any damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees incurred by us or our users, if you knowingly materially misrepresent that material or activity is infringing. If you are unsure whether the material you are reporting is in fact infringing, you may wish to contact an attorney before filing a notification with us.

Note: In general, the photographer and NOT the subject of a photograph is the actual rights holder of the resulting photograph. If you’re unsure whether or not you own the copyrights to a work, or if you’re infringing upon someone else’s work, please consult an attorney or another advisor.

What information do you need to process a copyright complaint?

To submit a notice of claimed copyright infringement, you will need to provide us with the following information:

A physical or electronic signature (typing your full name will suffice) of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on their behalf; Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed (e.g., a link to your original work or clear description of the materials allegedly being infringed upon); Identification of the infringing material and information reasonably sufficient to permit TheAmericans.us to locate the material on our website or services;

Your contact information, including your address, telephone number, and an email address;

A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use of the material in the manner asserted is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and

A statement that the information in the complaint is accurate, and, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

If you are reporting the content of a post, please give us a direct link to that post. Or please specify if the alleged infringement is in the header, avatar, etc. A LINK TO A PROFILE PAGE IS INSUFFICIENT FOR TheAmericans.us TO IDENTIFY INFRINGING MATERIALS.

How do I file a copyright complaint?

You can report alleged copyright infringement by visiting TheAmericans.us Help Center and filing a copyright complaint. If you are logged in to theamericans.us, you can visit the TheAmericans.us Help Center directly from your TheAmericans.us account by clicking the ‘Help’ link located in the sidebar.

Filing a DMCA complaint is the start of a pre-defined legal process. Your complaint will be reviewed for accuracy, validity, and completeness. If your complaint has satisfied these requirements, we will take action on your request – which includes forwarding a full copy of your notice (including your name, address, phone and email address) to the user(s) who posted the allegedly infringing material in question.

If you are concerned about your contact information being forwarded, you may wish to use an agent to report for you.

Please be aware that under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), you may be liable for any damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees incurred by us or our users, if you knowingly materially misrepresent that material or activity is infringing. If you are unsure whether the material you are reporting is in fact infringing, you may wish to contact an attorney before filing a copyright complaint.

How are claims processed?

We process copyright complaints in the order in which they are received. Once you’ve submitted your ticket, we will email you a ticket confirmation. If you do not receive a ticket confirmation that means we did not receive your complaint and you should re-submit your complaint. However, please note, submitting duplicate copyright complaints will result in a delay in processing.

If we decide to remove or disable access to the material, we will notify the affected user(s) and provide them with a full copy of the reporter’s complaint (including the provided contact information) along with instructions on how to file a counter-notice.

What information gets forwarded to the reported user(s)?

If we remove or disable access to the materials reported in a copyright complaint, the reported user(s) will receive a copy of the complaint, including the reporter’s full name, email, street address, and any other information included in the complaint.

If you are uncomfortable sharing your contact information with the reported user(s), you may wish to consider appointing an agent to submit your DMCA notice on your behalf. Your agent will be required to submit the DMCA notice with valid contact information, and identify you as the content owner that they are representing.

What happens next?

TheAmericans.us’s response to copyright complaints may include the removal or restriction of access to allegedly infringing material. If we remove or restrict access to user content in response to a copyright complaint, TheAmericans.us will make a good faith effort to contact the affected account holder with information concerning the removal or restriction of access, including a full copy of the complaint, along with instructions for filing a counter-notice.

If you’ve not yet received a copy of the copyright complaint regarding the content removed from your account, please respond to the support ticket we sent you.

In an effort to be as transparent as possible regarding the removal or restriction of access to user-posted content, we clearly mark withheld posts and media to indicate to viewers when content has been withheld (examples below).

My content was removed from TheAmericans.us

Why did I receive a copyright complaint?

If you receive a copyright complaint, it means that access to the content described in the complaint has been restricted. Please take the time to read through our correspondence to you, which includes information on the complaint we received as well as instructions on how to file a counter-notice. Please ensure that you are monitoring the email address associated with your TheAmericans.us account.

Tip: Removing the material reported in a copyright complaint will not resolve that complaint

What if I want to contest the takedown?

If you believe that the materials reported in the copyright complaints

were misidentified or removed in error, you may send us a counter-notification(s) through our Help Center. A counter-notice is a request for TheAmericans.us to reinstate the removed material, and it has legal consequences. Alternatively, you may be able to seek a retraction of the copyright complaint from the reporter.

How do I seek a retraction?

The DMCA complaint you received includes the contact information of the reporter. You may want to reach out and ask them to retract their notice using our retraction form. This is the fastest and most efficient means of resolving an unresolved copyright complaint. Alternatively, the reporter can also send a retraction notice to copyright@theamericans.us. Such notice should include: (1) identification of the material that was disabled, and (2) a statement that the reporter would like to retract their DMCA notice. A retraction is at the sole discretion of the original reporter, and only that reporter can issue a retraction. If a portion of your post has been withheld, the violation will not be resolved just by deleting the remaining portion.

When should I file a counter-notice?

A counter-notice is a request for TheAmericans.us to reinstate the removed material, and is the start of a legal process that has legal consequences. For example, submitting a counter notice indicates that you consent to the jurisdiction of a U.S. Federal court and that you consent to the disclosure of your personal information to the reporter.

With these considerations in mind, you may file a counter-notice if you believe that this material was misidentified, or you have a good faith belief that the material should not have been removed. If you’re unsure whether or not you should file a counter-notice, you may want to consult with an attorney.

Tip: Re-posting material removed in response to a copyright complaint may result in permanent account suspension. If you believe the content was removed in error, please file a counter-notice rather than re-posting the material.

What information do you need to process a counter-notice?

To submit a counter-notice, you will need to provide us with the following information:

A physical or electronic signature (typing your full name will suffice);

Your full name, address (including country), telephone number, and for verification purposes, your TheAmericans.us username and associated email;

Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled, and the location at which the material appeared before that removal or disabling (the description from the copyright notice will suffice);

A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled; and

One of the following jurisdictional consent statements:

(If your address is in the United States)

“I consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which my address is located and I’ll accept service of process from the person who provided notice under 17 U.S.C. 512 (c)(1)(C) or an agent of such person.”

(If your address is outside of the United States)

“I consent to any judicial district in which TheAmericans.us may be found, and I’ll accept service of process from the person who provided notice under 17 U.S.C. 512 (c)(1)(C) or an agent of such person.”

To submit a counter-notice, please provide all of the above information using our web form, located here.

What happens after I submit a counter-notice?

Upon receipt of a valid counter-notice, we will promptly forward a copy to the person who filed the original notice. This means that the contact information that is submitted in your counter-notice will be shared to the person who filed the original notice.

If the copyright owner disagrees that the content was removed in error or misidentification, they may pursue legal action against you. If we do not receive notice within 10 business days that the original reporter is seeking a court order to prevent further infringement of the material at issue, we may replace or cease disabling access to the material that was removed.

We cannot offer any legal advice. Should you have questions, please consult an attorney.

Filing a copyright complaint or counter-notice is serious business!

Please think twice before submitting a claim or counter-notice, especially if you are unsure whether you are the actual rights holder or authorized to act on a rights holder’s behalf. There are legal and financial consequences for fraudulent and/or bad faith submissions. Please be sure that you are the actual rights holder, or that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed in error, and that you understand the repercussions of submitting a false claim.

What happens if my account receives one or more copyright complaints?

If multiple copyright complaints are received about an account, or other evidence suggests a pattern of repeat infringement, TheAmericans.us may suspend that account in accordance with our Repeat Infringer Policy. Our Repeat Infringer Policy takes valid retractions and counter-notices into account. Users suspended under that policy may file a suspension appeal using this form.

Additionally, re-posting material that was already removed in response to a copyright complaint, indicating where to access copyrighted material on third party websites, or certain other actions that demonstrate your account is intended solely or primarily to infringe the copyrighted material of others may result in permanent account suspension. If you are suspended on this basis, you may file an appeal using this form. Please be aware that appealing a suspension does not guarantee your account will be reinstated.

Our approach to policy development and enforcement philosophy

THEAMERICANS.US is reflective of real conversations happening in the world and that sometimes includes perspectives that may be offensive, controversial, and/or bigoted to others. While we welcome everyone to express themselves on our service, we will not tolerate behavior that harasses, threatens, or uses fear to silence the voices of others.

We have the TheAmericans.us Rules in place to help ensure everyone feels safe expressing their beliefs and we strive to enforce them with uniform consistency. Enquire at Support@TheAmericans.us about different enforcement actions.

Our policy development process

Creating a new policy or making a policy change requires in-depth research around trends in online behavior, developing clear external language that sets expectations around what’s allowed, and creating enforcement guidance for reviewers that can be scaled across millions of posts.

While drafting policy language, we gather feedback from a variety of internal teams as well as our Trust & Safety Council. This is vital to ensure we are considering global perspectives around the changing nature of online speech, including how our rules are applied and interpreted in different cultural and social contexts. Finally, we train our global review teams, update the TheAmericans.us Rules, and start enforcing the new policy.

Our enforcement philosophy

We empower people to understand different sides of an issue and encourage dissenting opinions and viewpoints to be discussed openly. This approach allows many forms of speech to exist on our platform and, in particular, promotes counter speech: speech that presents facts to correct misstatements or misperceptions, points out hypocrisy or contradictions, warns of offline or online consequences, denounces hateful or dangerous speech, or helps change minds and disarm.

Thus, context matters. When determining whether to take enforcement action, we may consider a number of factors, including (but not limited to) whether:

the behavior is directed at an individual, group, or protected category of people;

the report has been filed by the target of the abuse or a bystander;

the user has a history of violating our policies;

the severity of the violation;

the content may be a topic of legitimate public interest.

Is the behavior directed at an individual or group of people?

To strike a balance between allowing different opinions to be expressed on the platform, and protecting our users, we enforce policies when someone reports abusive behavior that targets a specific person or group of people. This targeting can happen in a number of ways (for example, @mentions, tagging a photo, mentioning them by name, and more).

Has the report been filed by the target of the potential abuse or a bystander?

Some posts may seem to be abusive when viewed in isolation, but may not be when viewed in the context of a larger conversation or historical relationship between people on the platform. For example, friendly banter between friends could appear offensive to bystanders, and certain remarks that are acceptable in one culture or country may not be acceptable in another. To help prevent our teams from making a mistake and removing consensual interactions, in certain scenarios we require a report from the actual target (or their authorized representative) prior to taking any enforcement action.

Does the user have a history of violating our policies?

We start from a position of assuming that people do not intend to violate our Rules. Unless a violation is so egregious that we must immediately suspend an account, we first try to educate people about our Rules and give them a chance to correct their behavior. We show the violator the offending post(s), explain which Rule was broken, and require them to remove the content before they can post again. If someone repeatedly violates our Rules then our enforcement actions become stronger. This includes requiring violators to remove the post(s) and taking additional actions like verifying account ownership and/or temporarily limiting their ability to post for a set period of time. If someone continues to violate Rules beyond that point then their account may be permanently suspended.

What is the severity of the violation?

Certain types of behavior may pose serious safety and security risks and/or result in physical, emotional, and financial hardship for the people involved. These egregious violations of the TheAmericans.us Rules — such as posting violent threats, non-consensual intimate media, or content that sexually exploits children — result in the immediate and permanent suspension of an account. Other violations could lead to a range of different steps, like requiring someone to remove the offending post(s) and/or temporarily limiting their ability to post new post(s).

Is the behavior newsworthy and in the legitimate public interest?

THEAMERICANS.US moves at the speed of public consciousness and people come to the service to stay informed about what matters. Exposure to different viewpoints can help people learn from one another, become more tolerant, and make decisions about the type of society we want to live in.

To help ensure people have an opportunity to see every side of an issue, there may be the rare occasion when we allow controversial content or behavior which may otherwise violate our Rules to remain on our service because we believe there is a legitimate public interest in its availability. Each situation is evaluated on a case by case basis and ultimately decided upon by a cross-functional team.

Some of the factors that help inform our decision-making about content are the impact it may have on the public, the source of the content, and the availability of alternative coverage of an event.

Public impact of the content: A topic of legitimate public interest is different from a topic in which the public may be curious. We will consider what the impact is to citizens if they do not know about this content. If the post does have the potential to impact the lives of large numbers of people, the running of a country, and/or it speaks to an important societal issue then we may allow the content to remain on the service. Likewise, if the impact on the public is minimal, we will most likely remove content in violation of our policies.

Source of the content: Some people, groups, organizations and the content they post on TheAmericans.us may be considered a topic of legitimate public interest by virtue of their being in the public consciousness. This does not mean that their posts will always remain on the service. Rather, we will consider if there is a legitimate public interest for a particular post to remain up so it can be openly discussed.

Availability of coverage: Everyday people play a crucial role in providing firsthand accounts of what’s happening in the world, counterpoints to establishment views, and, in some cases, exposing the abuse of power by someone in a position of authority. As a situation unfolds, removing access to certain information could inadvertently hide context and/or prevent people from seeing every side of the issue. Thus, before actioning a potentially violating post, we will take into account the role it plays in showing the larger story and whether that content can be found elsewhere.

WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO DELETE ANY ACCOUNT, AT ANY TIME & FOR ANY REASON AT ALL.

SINCERELY,

THE AMERICANS.US!

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