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Alanna Allies Moderation Policy

This document governs how Alanna Allies peer support groups are moderated. It applies to all posts, comments, and interactions within Allies circles.

Legal Requirements Informing This Policy

Apple App Store Guideline 1.2 (User Generated Content). Apps with user-generated content must include: (1) a mechanism to filter objectionable content before it is posted, (2) a way for users to report objectionable content on every piece of content, (3) the ability to block abusive users so their content disappears from all surfaces, and (4) published contact information so users can reach us about moderation issues. Apple manually tests these during review.

Google Play UGC Policy. Apps must conduct ongoing, effective moderation suited to the type of content hosted, provide an in-app system for reporting and blocking objectionable content and users, and take action on reports. The moderation policy must be documented and linked from the store listing or a policy page.

Section 230(c)(2) of the Communications Decency Act. Provides protection from liability for good-faith content moderation. A documented, consistently applied moderation policy strengthens this protection.

18 U.S.C. § 2258A (CSAM Reporting). If we obtain actual knowledge of apparent child sexual abuse material on our systems, we are legally required to report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children via the CyberTipline as soon as reasonably possible. We must preserve the reported content and associated records for at least one year after filing, along with any other reasonably accessible files or data that may provide context about the reported material or person, stored in a manner consistent with the current National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework. We are not required to proactively scan for such material, but if our moderation or automated systems identify it, the reporting obligation is triggered. Failure to report carries substantial penalties.

REPORT Act (Pub. L. 118-59, 2024). Expands mandatory reporting categories to include child sex trafficking and enticement of a minor, in addition to child sexual abuse material. Also updated the preservation period from 90 days to one year.

State mandatory reporting laws. Florida law requires any person who knows or has reasonable cause to suspect child abuse, abandonment, or neglect, or abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a vulnerable adult, to report immediately. That duty is personal and cannot be delegated. See our internal Abuse Reporting Protocol.

24-hour response standard. Apple expects reported content to be actioned within 24 hours. This is our internal target for all moderation queue items.

Moderation Overview

Alanna Allies are pseudonymous peer support groups for caregivers. They are not group therapy, not led by a licensed professional, and not a crisis service. They are moderated by our internal team to keep each circle safe, supportive, and focused on peer connection.

Allies participation is pseudonymous. Members are verified account holders whose identifying information is never shown to other members.

Moderation is a combination of automated content flagging and manual review by authorized team members. All moderation decisions are made at Alanna’s sole discretion. Content that violates this policy may be hidden or removed without notice, and may be preserved or reported where required by law.

What Moderators Can and Cannot See

Moderators can see:

• The full content of posts and comments within Allies circles
• The posting member’s internal account identifier, not visible to other members
• The member’s moderation history, including prior warnings and strikes
• The member’s onboarding questionnaire responses used for group matching
• Reports filed by other members about the content

Moderators cannot see:

• The member’s chatbot conversations with Alanna
• The member’s journal entries
• The member’s memory notes
• Any content in the Priority Review queue

These restrictions are enforced by our systems, not only by policy.

Other members can never see:

• Any member’s real name, email, phone number, or other identifying information
• Any member’s profile picture — profile pictures are not permitted
• Any member’s account information or moderation history

Prohibited Content

The following content is prohibited in Alanna Allies and will result in removal and a strike:

Harassment and Abuse

• Bullying, name-calling, personal attacks, or demeaning language directed at another member
• Mocking or belittling another member’s caregiving situation, emotions, or experiences
• Threatening, intimidating, or attempting to silence another member
• Deliberately provoking or antagonizing other members
• Stalking behavior or repeated unwanted contact

Identifying Information

• Sharing your own real name, location, workplace, phone number, email, social media handle, or other identifying details
• Attempting to identify, locate, or contact another member outside of the Allies circle
• Sharing another member’s posts or comments outside of the group
• Requesting identifying information from another member

Sexual, Violent, and Illegal Content

• Sexually explicit or suggestive content
• Content that is exploitative of minors in any way
• Graphic descriptions of violence
• Content promoting or glorifying self-harm or suicide
• Content promoting illegal activity, including drug use or abuse
• Content promoting or facilitating abuse or neglect of any person

Hate Speech and Discrimination

• Slurs or derogatory language targeting race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or any protected characteristic
• Content promoting hatred, supremacy, or discrimination against any group
• Dehumanizing language about any individual or group

Spam, Solicitation, and Misinformation

• Soliciting money, products, services, or business from other members
• Promoting or advertising any product, service, company, or external platform
• Posting repetitive or irrelevant content
• Spreading medical misinformation, including unverified treatments, cures, or diagnoses
• Chain messages or viral content not relevant to peer support

Inappropriate Use

• Using the group for purposes other than peer caregiver support
• Posting images of any kind — images are not permitted in Allies
• Impersonating another member or misrepresenting your identity or caregiving situation
• Reporting false emergencies relating to yourself, others, or vulnerable populations
• Deliberately circumventing moderation, including creating new accounts after a ban

What Is Not a Violation

Allies exists for people having a hard time, and moderation should not punish honesty.

• Profanity in a venting context is not a violation. “This fucking sucks” is fine. Profanity directed at another member is not.
• Anger, grief, resentment, and dark humor about caregiving are not violations.
• Expressing dark thoughts about your own experience is not a violation. “I wish this was over” does not earn a strike. If it indicates potential crisis, moderators ensure crisis resources are surfaced and no strike is issued.
• Describing a difficult medical decline is not medical misinformation.

Automated Flagging

Posts and comments are automatically scanned before publication. The system classifies content into the following categories:

How Automated Flagging Works

• Content is scanned at the time of posting, before it becomes visible to the circle
• Content in a hold category is not visible to other members pending review
• Content in a publish-and-review category remains visible pending review
• The member is not notified that their content has been flagged unless a moderator takes action
• Held content appears normally to its author, so the experience is not confusing

User Reporting

Any member of an Allies circle can report a post or comment. Reports are anonymous to other members. The reported member will not know who filed the report.

How to report: tap the report button on any post or comment, select the category that best describes the concern, and optionally add a brief explanation.

What happens after a report:

• The report is added to the moderation queue
• A moderator reviews the reported content, the reporter’s description, and any relevant context
• The moderator decides whether the content violates this policy
• If it does, the moderator takes action
• If it does not, the report is closed with no action

Filing a false or malicious report is itself a violation and may result in a strike.

Strike System

Violations are handled through a three-strike system. Strikes accumulate over the lifetime of the account.

Strike 1: Warning. The member receives a private in-app notification explaining which content violated the policy and why. The violating content is removed.

Strike 2: Final Warning. A second private notification with a clear statement that one more violation will result in removal from Allies. The violating content is removed.

Strike 3: Removal. The member is removed from their circle and banned from all Allies groups for a minimum of 3 months, with an in-app notification explaining the removal. After 3 months the member may request reinstatement by contacting heyalannaai@gmail.com. Reinstatement is not guaranteed and is granted at our sole discretion. The member’s Alanna account remains active.

Immediate Removal (No Strikes Required). The following result in immediate removal without prior warning:

• Threats of violence against any person
• Sharing or requesting sexual content involving minors
• Sharing another member’s identifying information
• Attempting to locate or contact another member outside the group
• Content promoting or facilitating abuse or neglect of any person

Immediate removal carries a minimum 12-month ban. Reinstatement requires review and is granted at our sole discretion.

Escalation for Abuse Disclosures

Content disclosing serious harm to a child or a vulnerable adult is not handled through the strike system. It is escalated to Priority Review, a separate queue handled by a founder.

Any moderator may escalate to Priority Review at any time, including where the automated system did not flag the content. Escalation moves the item and triggers an alert. Moderators do not gain access to Priority Review by escalating into it.

Escalation and moderation are independent. A post may be escalated without a strike, and a strike may be issued without escalation.

Reporting Obligations

The duty to report suspected abuse is personal, immediate, and cannot be delegated. A moderator who suspects abuse of a child or a vulnerable adult reports it themselves, immediately, following our internal Abuse Reporting Protocol, and notifies the founders afterward. This is the one situation where a moderator does not wait for founder review.

Florida law requires reports to be made immediately, and reporters are protected by statutory good-faith immunity. Moderators receive this protocol and training before their first shift.

CSAM Reporting

If any content within Alanna Allies is identified as apparent child sexual abuse material, whether through automated detection, user report, or moderator review, we are required by federal law to:

• Report the content to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children via the CyberTipline as soon as reasonably possible
• Preserve the content and all associated records, including account information and IP address of the posting member, for at least one year after the report
• Preserve any other reasonably accessible files or data that may provide context about the reported material or person
• Store preserved material securely, in a manner consistent with the current NIST Cybersecurity Framework, with access limited to those who need it
• Not notify the posting member that a report has been filed
• Not destroy or alter the content prior to or during the preservation period

The posting member’s account will be immediately and permanently banned from all Alanna services, not just Allies.

This obligation applies regardless of whether the content was posted intentionally or inadvertently.

Blocking

Any member can block another member within their Allies circle. When a member is blocked:

• The blocked member’s posts and comments become invisible to the blocking member across all surfaces
• The blocked member cannot see the blocking member’s posts or comments
• Neither member is notified of the block
• Blocking is reversible by the member who initiated it

Blocking is separate from the moderation and strike system.

In-App Reporting and Contact

Every post and comment in Allies displays a report button. Every member profile displays both a report and a block option.

Users can also reach us about moderation concerns at heyalannaai@gmail.com. This contact information is published in the app and in our Terms of Use.

Moderator Guidelines

Tone and Approach

• Moderators act with the same warmth and care that defines Alanna. Enforcement is firm but never punitive in tone.
• Warning notifications should be clear about what was violated and why, without shaming the member.
• Moderators do not engage in public arguments with members about moderation decisions.

Decision-Making

• When content is ambiguous, moderators consider context. A caregiver venting frustration using strong language is different from a member attacking another member.
• Casual profanity in a venting context is not a violation unless directed at another member.
• Content expressing dark thoughts about a caregiver’s own experience is not a violation. If it indicates potential crisis, moderators ensure crisis resources are surfaced but do not issue a strike.
• When in doubt about a content decision, escalate to the founders before taking action.
• Suspected abuse of a child or a vulnerable adult is the exception. The reporting duty is personal and immediate. Report first, following the Abuse Reporting Protocol, then notify the founders.

Record-Keeping

• Every moderation action is logged with the date, the moderator’s identifier, the content in question, the action taken, and the reason.
• Moderation logs are retained for the lifetime of the member’s account plus 12 months after deletion or removal.
• Exception: when a member exercises a health-data deletion right, we delete or de-identify the underlying post content and retain only the date, category, action taken, and outcome. We retain content beyond that only where the law requires preservation, including the one-year preservation period that follows a report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Conflicts of Interest

• Moderators do not moderate circles they participate in as members.
• If a moderator has a personal connection to a member, they recuse themselves and another moderator handles the review.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this moderation policy as Alanna Allies evolves. Material changes will be communicated to all active Allies members through in-app notification.

Contact

Questions about moderation decisions or this policy can be directed to heyalannaai@gmail.com.

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