Community Rules

Kitsu Community Guidelines

Everything you need to know to be an awesome community member and leader within our community can be found here. This should help you navigate the dos and don’ts of Kitsu.

How to behave on Kitsu

Civility

Treat each other respectfully. Comments which are overly aggressive, personally insulting or needlessly abusive are prohibited. Of course there will be heated discussions and disagreements; that's normal human emotion interjecting itself into your very rational debate. Your frustrations can be a very real part of your argument but you can still remain respectful and refrain from personal attacks or harassment. Attack the idea, not the person.

Self Expression

Be creative, exchange ideas, build and join groups around the things you care about, or just read along quietly if you prefer. You're welcome at Kitsu so long as you adhere to the very basic rule of being civil. We believe in you. Don't make us tell Mom.

Harassment

Harassment is behavior directed at a specific person or group that causes substantial emotional distress and serves no legitimate purpose. Do not engage in or provide a platform for harassment of users or groups. This includes posts and comments which portrays specific users in a negative light or ignores their wishes. If a user chooses to block you it’s their decision. Attempts to bypass or protest this is not accepted. Harassment will not be tolerated.

Privacy Violations

Do not post your own or other people's private information, which includes but is not limited to real names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and nonconsensual sexualized images or media (often referred to as “revenge porn”). We are against doxxing regardless of how awful you may think a person is. It can lead to dangerous real life situations and unnecessary legal consequences. Doxxing is a form of harassment, and we're not cool with it.

Malicious Speech

Don't encourage violence or hatred on the basis of things like race, ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other characteristics. Refrain from the use of slurs or otherwise offensive remarks meant to target users or groups based on any of the above mentioned characteristics.

We want honest and open discussion on Kitsu and for that to happen, we encourage you to behave in such a way that others feel welcome and secure in the community. You're free to express your opinion; however, it crosses the line into malicious speech when it, directly or indirectly, incites or propagates violence, hatred, or makes people fear that you or others will act against them in a violent manner. We reserve the right to flush anything overtly malicious right down our digital toilet.

Disinformation, Misinformation, and Propaganda.

Don’t post or repost content that is verifiably false or misleading. Sharing content that is intended to intentionally deceive or may cause public harm is prohibited. Content that may cause public harm includes but is not limited to threats to democracy, health, and other topics which may impact a person or group negatively.

Recognize that content and ideas circulated on online platforms — including hate, prejudice and disinformation — can have real and concrete consequences in the real world. This can disproportionately affect marginalized groups, including but not limited to: disabled, neurodiverse, indigenous, gender-diverse, or LGBTQIA+ individuals, as well as members of racial and religious minorities.

NSFW Content

Kitsu is home to a diverse population with different standards and needs. Please label not safe for work content accordingly. NSFW content is, in general terms, content that may be inappropriate in a professional environment, including images that are sexually suggestive or contain nudity, news photos or videos that have potentially upsetting or graphic content, excessive explicit language in videos, etc. This allows users to simply scroll past the NSFW content and still allow you the freedom to post it without conflict.

Spam

Sending or posting spam is not allowed. Spam is defined as the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited messages, especially advertising, as well as sending or posting messages or links repeatedly on the same site.

Group Name Squatting

Group names are a key part of creating a common identity, and we want everyone to be able to get access to the names that suit them best. Please only create communities that you plan on actively participating in so that others can use those names if you will not. Do not squat on Group names.

Harm to Minors

Be thoughtful when posting anything involving a minor. Don't post or solicit anything relating to minors that is sexually suggestive or violent. Don't bully or harass minors, even if you are one.

Promotion or Glorification of Self-Harm

Do not post content that actively promotes or glorifies self-harm. This includes content that urges or encourages others to: cut or injure themselves; embrace anorexia, bulimia, or other eating disorders; or commit suicide. Online communities can be extraordinarily helpful to people struggling with these difficult conditions, and we welcome communities on these topics that do not actively encourage this kind of behavior. We believe in facilitating awareness, support and recovery.

Gore, Mutilation, Bestiality, or Necrophilia

Don't post the mutilation, torture, or abuse of human beings, animals, or their remains.

Terrorism

The support of terrorist groups, their propaganda, or recruiting efforts on Kitsu is prohibited. We encourage political discourse and a wide breadth of opinions, but not the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.

Vote Manipulation

Do not engage in behaviors to drive up artificial traffic or popularity of content. Conversely, do not create artificial opposition to content.

Don't post deceptive or fraudulent links in your posts. This includes giving links misleading descriptions, putting the wrong “source” field in a post, or embedding links to interstitial or pop-up ads.

Piracy and Stolen Content

Please support legal content through suggesting reputable sources to watch and read media. We get it, it’s tough to sometimes find this content in some regions, but just remember that legal content supports artists which means more content for you. Don’t be surprised when we moderate and remove links to illegal or pirated content, as it both negatively impacts the reputation of Kitsu and hurts creators.

Copyright/Trademark Infringement

Don’t infringe the copyright or trademark of others. If you don’t have the right to use the copyright or trademark owned by someone else, don’t post it on Kitsu. We respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement as per the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Confusion or Impersonation

Don't do things that would cause confusion between you, your community, and a person or company. Satire and parody are acceptable, but you cannot misrepresent yourself as a different person or company.

Unlawful Use

Illegal behavior, including but not limited to fraud, phishing, promoting harm to minors, or inciting violence is not acceptable and will result in termination of your account/s.

Violations

Any user found violating any of these rules, may be punished at the sole discretion of Kitsu through any of the following means: permanent removal from Kitsu, partial removal, temporary removal, and/or removal of functionality. Please don’t violate these rules. That’s not fun for anyone.