The Hercules Free Constitution Press Sub Policies (As of 07/03/2020)

 

Do not threaten, harass, or bully

We do not tolerate the harassment, threatening, or bullying of people on our site; nor do we tolerate communities dedicated to this behavior.

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HFCP is a place for connection and conversation, and in that context, we define this behavior as anything that works to shut someone out of the conversation through intimidation or abuse, online or off. Depending on the context, this can take on a range of forms, from directing unwanted invective at someone to following them from thread-to-thread, just to name a few. Behavior can be harassing or abusive regardless of whether it occurs in public content (e.g. a post, comment, username, thread name, thread styling, sidebar materials, etc.) or private messages/chat.

 

Being annoying, downvoting, or disagreeing with someone, even strongly, is not harassment. However, menacing someone, directing abuse at a person or group, following them around the site, encouraging others to do any of these actions, or otherwise behaving in a way that would discourage a reasonable person from participating on any Community within Hercules Free Constitution Press crosses the line.

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To report Harassment, please visit this page. 

 

Do not post violent content

Do not post content that encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm against an individual or a group of people; likewise, do not post content that glorifies or encourages the abuse of animals. We understand there are sometimes reasons to post violent content (e.g., educational, newsworthy, artistic, satire, documentary, etc.) so if you’re going to post something violent in nature that does not violate these terms, ensure you provide context to the viewer so the reason for posting is clear. 

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If your content is borderline, please use a NSFW tag. Even mild violence can be difficult for someone to explain to others if they open it unexpectedly.

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To report Violent Content, please visit this page. 

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Promoting Hate Based on Identity or Vulnerability

Rule 1: Remember the human. Each Community Front Page, Thread and Discussion is a place for creating community and belonging, not for attacking marginalized or vulnerable groups of people. Everyone has a right to use The Hercules Free Constitution Press free of harassment, bullying, and threats of violence. Communities and people that incite violence or that promote hate based on identity or vulnerability will be banned.

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Marginalized or vulnerable groups include, but are not limited to, groups based on their actual and perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, immigration status, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, or disability. These include victims of a major violent event and their families. 

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While the rule on hate protects such groups, it does not protect those who promote attacks of hate or who try to hide their hate in bad faith claims of discrimination.

 

Some examples of hateful activities that would violate the rule:

• Any community, thread or loose association of users dedicated to mocking people with physical disabilities. 

• Post describing a racial minority as sub-human and inferior to the racial majority.

• Comment arguing that rape of women should be acceptable and not a crime.

• Meme declaring that it is sickening that people of color have the right to vote. 

Additionally, when evaluating the activity of a community or an individual user, we consider both the context as well as the pattern of behavior. 

 

 

What constitutes spam? Am I a spammer?

Spam on The Hercules Free Constitution Press is generally defined as repeated, unwanted, and/or unsolicited actions, whether automated or manual, that negatively affect HFCP users, HFCP communities, and/or HFCP itself. Spam is a violation of the HFCP User Agreement and Content Policy, punishable by content removal and account suspension or termination. As spam-like behaviors evolve, HFCP will continue to adjust how we mitigate and prevent the spread of spam content.

 

If you detect spam or spam-like behavior, please contact us here.

 

How do I avoid being labeled as a spammer?

• Post authentic content into communities where you have a personal interest.  

• If your contributions to The Hercules Free Constitution Press consist primarily of links to a business that you run, own, or otherwise benefit from, tread carefully, or consider advertising opportunities using our self-serve platform.

• If you’re unsure if your content is considered spammy or unwelcome, contact the moderators of the community to which you’d like to submit. Some Communities, Sub categories, threads may have community-specific rules in addition to the guidelines below.

 

The following are examples of behavior that may be considered spam and are subject to removal/suspension:

• Sending large amounts of private messages to users who are not expecting them.

• Repeatedly posting the same or similar comments in a thread, sub-category or across sub-categories and threads.

• Repeatedly posting unrelated/off-topic/link-farmed content.

• Posting content that includes link redirects as a way to circumvent an existing domain block and/or to disguise a link’s source (excluding communities, sub-category, thread sidebars).

• Linking to harmful third-party content, such as malware, phishing, deceptive pop-ups, etc.

• Programming bots that harm/break HFCP, including bots intended to promote content/products/services.

To report Spam, please visit this page.

Please note: you will receive an auto-response when submitting a spam related report. A human reviews each ticket but we will only respond when we need more information.

 

 

What constitutes vote cheating or vote manipulation?

Vote manipulation is against the The Hercules Free Constitution Press rules, whether it is manual, programmatic, or otherwise. Some common forms of vote cheating are:

• Using multiple accounts, voting services, or any other software to increase or decrease vote scores.

• Asking people to vote up or down certain posts, either on HFCP itself or through attached or other social networks, messaging, etc. for personal gain.

• Forming or joining a group that votes together, either on a specific post, a user's posts, posts from a domain, etc.

Cheating or attempting to manipulate voting will result in your account being banned. Don't do it.

To report Vote Manipulation, please visit this page. 

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Is posting someone's private or personal information okay?

No. The Hercules Free Constitution Free Press is quite open and pro-free speech, but it is not okay to post someone's personal information or post links to personal information. This includes links to public Facebook pages and screenshots of Facebook pages with the names still legible.

 

Posting someone's personal information will get you banned. When posting screenshots, be sure to edit out any personally identifiable information to avoid running afoul of this rule.

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Public figures can be an exception to this rule, such as posting professional links to contact a congressman or the CEO of a company. But don't post anything inviting harassment, don't harass, and don't cheer on or upvote obvious vigilantism.

 

To report a Personal Information violation, please visit this page. 

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Do Not Post Involuntary Pornography

The Hercules Free Constitution Press prohibits the dissemination of images or video depicting any person in a state of nudity or engaged in any act of sexual conduct apparently created or posted without their permission, including depictions that have been faked.

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Images or video of intimate parts of a person’s body, even if the person is clothed or in public, are also not allowed if apparently created or posted without their permission and contextualized in a salacious manner (e.g., “creepshots” or “upskirt” imagery). Additionally, do not post images or video of another person for the specific purpose of faking explicit content or soliciting “lookalike” pornography.

To report Involuntary Pornography, please visit this page. 

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Do Not Post Sexual or Suggestive Content Involving Minors

The Hercules Free Constitution Press prohibits any sexual or suggestive content involving minors or someone who appears to be a minor.

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This includes child sexual abuse imagery, child pornography, and any other content, including fantasy content (e.g. stories, “loli”/anime cartoons), that depicts encourages or promotes pedophilia, child sexual exploitation, or otherwise sexualizes minors or someone who appears to be a minor. Depending on the context, this can in some cases include depictions of minors that are fully clothed and not engaged in overtly sexual acts.

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If you are unsure about a piece of content involving a minor or someone who appears to be a minor, do not post it.

To report content that Sexualizes Minors, please visit this page. 

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Do not impersonate an individual or entity

The Hercules Free Constitution Press does not allow content that impersonates individuals or entities in a misleading or deceptive manner. This not only includes using a HFCP Member account to impersonate someone, but also encompasses things such as domains that mimic others, as well as deepfakes or other manipulated content presented to mislead, or falsely attributed to an individual or entity. While we permit satire and parody, we will always take into account the context of any particular content. 

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If you are being impersonated, or if you believe you’ve found content in violation of these guidelines, please report it here.

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The Hercules Free Constitution Press policy against transactions involving prohibited goods or services

Content is prohibited if it uses The Hercules Free Constitution Press to solicit or facilitate any transaction or gift involving certain goods and services.

You may not use The Hercules Free Constitution Press to solicit or facilitate any transaction or gift involving certain goods and services, including

• Firearms, ammunition, explosives, legally controlled firearms parts or accessories (e.g., bump stock-type devices, silencers/suppressors, etc.), or 3D printing files to produce any of the aforementioned;

• Drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, or any controlled substances (except advertisements placed in accordance with our advertising policy);

• Paid services involving physical sexual contact;

• Stolen goods;

• Personal information;

• Falsified official documents or currency

• Fraudulent services

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When considering a gift or transaction of goods or services not prohibited by this policy, keep in mind that The Hercules Free Constitution Press is not intended to be used as a marketplace and takes no responsibility for any transactions individual users might decide to undertake in spite of this. Always remember: you are dealing with strangers on the internet.

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Don't break the site

Don't break the site or do anything that interferes with normal use of the site. Do not interrupt the serving of The Hercules Free Constitution Press, introduce malicious code onto The Hercules Free Constitution Press, make it difficult for anyone else to use The Hercules Free Constitution Press due to your actions, block sponsored headlines, create programs that violate any of our other API rules, or assist anyone in misusing The Hercules Free Constitution Press in any way.

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Quarantined sub-communities

Quarantined communities

On a platform as open and diverse as The Hercules Free Constitution Press, there will sometimes be communities that, while not prohibited, average The Hercules Free Constitution Pressers may nevertheless find highly offensive or upsetting. In other cases, communities may be dedicated to promoting hoaxes (yes we used that word) that warrant additional scrutiny, as there are some things that are either verifiable or falsifiable and not seriously up for debate (eg, the Holocaust did happen and the number of people who died is well documented). In these circumstances, The Hercules Free Constitution Press Administrators may apply a quarantine.

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The purpose of quarantining a community is to prevent its content from being accidentally viewed by those who do not knowingly wish to do so, or viewed without appropriate context. Quarantined community, sub-communities, threads and their subscribers are still fully obliged to abide by The Hercules Free Constitution Press’ Content Policy and remain subject to enforcement measures.  

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Quarantined communities will display a warning that requires users to explicitly opt-in to viewing the content. They generate no revenue, do not appear in non-subscription-based feeds (eg Popular), and are not included in search or recommendations. The Hercules Free Constitution Press may also enforce a number of additional product restrictions that exist currently or as they may develop in the future (eg removing custom styling tools).  

Moderators will be notified via modmail if their community has been placed in quarantine.

 

Appealing a Quarantine

To be removed from quarantine, community, sub-community and thread moderators may present an appeal here. The appeal should include a detailed accounting of changes to community moderation practices. (Appropriate changes may vary from community to community and could include techniques such as adding more moderators, creating new rules, employing more aggressive auto-moderation tools, adjusting community styling, etc.) The appeal should also offer evidence of sustained, consistent enforcement of these changes over a period of at least one month, demonstrating meaningful reform of the community.

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Moderators should only submit credible appeals that are supported by notable and sustained community transformation. Moderators are encouraged to take the time they need to craft a successful appeal.