Community Guidelines
These rules apply to every podcast, episode, live room, profile, clip, chat message and direct message on FortifyCast. They exist so that hosts can have bold, honest conversations and listeners can join those conversations without being harassed, deceived or exposed to content they never agreed to. Last updated May 2026.
Our principles
FortifyCast is a home for genuine creators and the people who listen to them. Disagreement is welcome. Strong opinions are welcome. Deliberate harm is not. When a rule below is broken, we act on the specific piece of content first, and on the account only when the pattern justifies it.
Content that is not allowed
- Hate speech. Content that attacks or dehumanises people based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, caste or any other protected characteristic. Allowed: a comedian critiquing an ideology by name. Not allowed: a monologue calling for members of a religion to be denied basic rights.
- Harassment and threats. Targeted abuse, stalking, doxxing, credible threats of violence, or coordinated pile-ons directed at a named person. Allowed: criticising a public figure's public actions. Not allowed: reading out a private phone number on a live room and telling listeners to call.
- Sexual and adult content. Pornography, sexually explicit audio, and any sexual content involving minors. Discussions of sex, relationships and health are fine when they are informational rather than explicit. Any content that sexualises a minor is reported to the appropriate authorities and results in immediate permanent removal.
- Graphic violence and self-harm. Glorification of violence, detailed instructions for self-harm or suicide. Personal stories of survival are welcome and we surface safety resources alongside them.
- Illegal activity. Promotion of illegal drug sales, weapons sales, human trafficking, fraud, hacking, or other unlawful conduct in the jurisdictions where you or your audience live.
- Harmful misinformation. Deliberately false claims about elections, public health emergencies, or safety topics that could plausibly cause real-world damage. Debate about contested political topics is welcome. Fabricated facts presented as reporting are not.
- Copyright infringement. Uploading music, audio, cover art or other content you do not own or have a licence for. This includes playing full copyrighted songs during a live room.
- Spam, scams and impersonation. Misleading promotion, fake giveaways, phishing links, or pretending to be a person or organisation you are not. Parody accounts are allowed when they are obvious and labelled.
Live broadcast rules
Live audio carries the same rules as published episodes, plus a few that only make sense in a live context. Hosts are responsible for moderating their own rooms. Do not bring guests on stage you have reason to believe will violate these guidelines. Do not play copyrighted music through the room. Do not read out or display other people's private information, including phone numbers, addresses, or messages sent to you in confidence. If a listener sends a call-in request that turns abusive on stage, remove them and use the block button.
Copyright and DMCA
If you believe content on FortifyCast infringes your copyright, send a notice to copyright@fortifycast.com that includes: identification of the copyrighted work, the URL of the infringing content, your contact information, and a good-faith statement that you are the rights holder or authorised to act on their behalf. We respond to valid notices promptly and notify the poster so they can file a counter-notice if the use was licensed or fair.
Enforcement ladder
Our default is proportionality. A first minor violation usually gets a warning and the content taken down. Repeated or serious violations move up the ladder:
- Warning. The content is removed and the account is notified with a reference to the rule that was broken.
- Feature restriction. The account temporarily loses access to a specific feature, for example live rooms, chat, gifting, or direct messages.
- Temporary suspension. The account is signed out and cannot use FortifyCast for a set number of days.
- Permanent removal. The account and its content are removed from FortifyCast. Reserved for repeat violators and for severe first offences such as child safety violations, credible threats of violence, or coordinated fraud.
How we moderate
We combine three signals: user reports, automated detection (for example, known copyrighted audio fingerprints and known scam link patterns), and human review. Every enforcement action above a warning is reviewed by a person before it is applied. We keep a private audit log of every action so we can review our own consistency over time.
How to report
Anyone can report. In the app, open the show, episode, profile or live room and use the report option. Or write to trust@fortifycast.com with a link to the content and a short description of what rule you think it breaks. Reports are confidential; we do not reveal the reporter's identity to the reported account.
Appeals
If we took action on your account and you believe it was a mistake, email appeals@fortifycast.com with your username and a brief explanation of what you think we got wrong. A different team member from the one who made the original decision reviews the case. We aim to respond within three business days.