House rules
Thirteen house rules, posted by the door.
Read them before you join. They apply to everyone, moderators included.
Draft, September 2026. We’ll finish these with the first members before the forum opens. Tell us what’s missing: hello@melanated.community.
Who can join
Adults, 18 and up. The forum centers Black people and Black life, across the diaspora. We don’t ask anyone’s race to join, and everyone here follows the same rules.
The rules
Rules marked zero tolerance skip the warnings and go straight to removal and a ban.
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Rule 1
Come correct.
Disagree with ideas, not people. Name-calling, baiting and pile-ons come down.
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Rule 2
No hate.
That includes anti-Blackness, colorism and misogynoir (hate aimed at Black women), and attacks on anyone for race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexuality, disability or age.
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Rule 3
No harassment.
Don’t follow someone from thread to thread, keep messaging someone who’s asked you to stop, or rally other people to go after a member, here or anywhere else.
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Rule 4
No doxing.
Zero tolerance
Never post someone’s address, phone number, workplace, school, family members or photos of their home, or anything that helps someone find them. Pulling together details that are public elsewhere counts too.
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Rule 5
Keep private things private.
Don’t repost private messages without permission, or post screenshots of members on other sites to mock them.
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Rule 6
No intimate images without consent.
Zero tolerance
Posting one gets you banned. Anyone can ask us to remove one, with or without an account. Here’s how.
Based on: Federal Trade Commission, Complying With the Take It Down Act (May 2026)
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Rule 7
Nothing that sexualizes children.
Zero tolerance
It comes down, the account is banned, and we report it to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s CyberTipline.
Based on: 18 U.S.C. 2258A (Office of the Law Revision Counsel)
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Rule 8
No threats.
Zero tolerance
No threatening anyone and no cheering on violence. Threats come down, and we report credible ones to the police or the FBI.
Based on: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), Directing Your Complaint
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Rule 9
No scams or spam.
Zero tolerance
No pyramid schemes, “investment opportunities,” fake giveaways or recruiting. Scam accounts get banned.
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Rule 10
Say when you’re paid.
If a brand pays you, sends you free products or gives you a commission, say so in the post.
Based on: Federal Trade Commission, FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking
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Rule 11
Share experience, not prescriptions.
Health, money and legal threads are for sharing what happened to you. Nobody here is your doctor, lawyer or financial adviser. If you’re struggling, here’s where to get help.
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Rule 12
Post what’s yours to post.
Your own words and photos, or a short quote with a link to where it came from.
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Rule 13
Look out for yourself too.
Keep your own address, phone number and birth date out of your posts and profile. The safety guide has the rest.
When a rule gets broken
Report it, and a moderator takes it from there. How moderation works covers what moderators can do, how we explain decisions and how to appeal.
Still deciding, with you
- Whether some spaces are for members only, hidden from visitors and search engines.
- Whether members can promote their own businesses, and where.
- How new members get full posting rights, for example a short wait or a first post a moderator approves.