Community Guidelines

URL: wouch.app/community-guidelines Last updated: [date at publish]

Why this page exists

Wouch is a place where people meet and work on things that matter to them. That makes how people treat each other on the platform load-bearing. These guidelines describe what we ask of you, what you can ask of others, and what happens when something goes wrong.

We have written these in plain language. They are part of our Terms of Service.

The principles underneath

Three principles guide every specific guideline below.

Treat others as people working on something. Everyone on Wouch is doing the same kind of careful work you are. The person on the other end of a conversation is not a profile, a notification, or an opportunity. They are a person.

Be honest, including about uncertainty. Honest doesn't mean uncensored. It means representing yourself as you actually are, including the parts you are still figuring out. We have built the platform to make honesty the easy answer.

Take care of each other's nervous systems. Especially in moments of vulnerability or conflict. Take the extra minute. Read what you wrote before sending it. Ask the question you actually mean.

What we ask of you, specifically

In your profile

Use your real first name, or a name you actually go by. Don't impersonate someone else.
Use photos of yourself, taken in the last two years. No filters that materially change your appearance. No stock images, no group photos as your primary photo, no photos of your children.
Be honest about your age. We do not permit minors on the platform.
Write your own prompts. Don't paste from social media or have someone else write them for you.

In conversations

Lead with what you actually mean. Use the first message to say something true rather than something charming.
Pace yourself with the other person. Sustained intensity early in a conversation is something we watch for; it is not what we want here.
If a conversation isn't working, you can unmatch. There is no penalty. Saying goodbye is also acceptable; ghosting is acceptable too - we are not in the business of policing how people end conversations. But noticing when ghosting is your pattern is part of the work.
Take a screenshot only when you have a specific reason. Treating someone's vulnerability as content for elsewhere is a form of harm.

Across the platform

Don't use Wouch to sell anything, recruit for anything, or promote anything outside Wouch.
Don't try to move conversations off Wouch in the first few exchanges, before you've actually figured out whether you want to keep talking.
If someone has shared something difficult with you, don't share it with anyone else. We take this seriously.

What is not acceptable

Some things end an account. We list them here so it is clear in advance.

Harassment or threats. Sustained unwanted contact, threats of harm, sexual coercion, stalking behaviour.
Hate speech or discrimination. Slurs or attacks based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or other protected characteristic.
Sexual content involving minors. Any sexual content of, or directed at, anyone under 18.
Non-consensual sexual content. Sharing sexual images of someone without their consent. Requesting sexual images coercively. Sexual content sent to someone who has not agreed to receive it.
Impersonation. Pretending to be someone else, including a real person, a fictional persona designed to deceive, or a bot operated as a human.
Doxxing. Sharing identifying information about another user (name, address, workplace) without their consent.
Coordinated harm. Multiple accounts operating in coordination to harass, deceive, or manipulate.
Scams or fraud. Romance scams, financial fraud, requesting money, soliciting cryptocurrency.
Solicitation of illegal activity. Buying or selling illegal goods or services.
Severe violations of Wouch's posture. Using the platform in a way that requires us to invoke our safety boundary rules at the most serious level, such that another user has been put at risk of harm.

These behaviours result in immediate account closure and may be reported to authorities where the conduct constitutes a crime under applicable law.

What happens when something goes wrong

If you experience something concerning

Use the report path: in the app, three-dot menu → Report. Tell us what happened. You can also email safety@wouch.app. We respond within 72 hours; serious safety reports get same-day attention.

Reports are read by humans on our Trust & Safety team. They are reviewed against the guidelines on this page and against our internal Safety Boundary rules. The reviewing team will let you know what we found and what we did, while respecting the privacy of the other user.

If what you are experiencing is severe, please also use crisis resources: wouch.app/crisis-resources.

If you are reported

We tell you when we have received a report about you (unless telling you would put the reporter at risk). We tell you what behaviour the report concerns, without identifying the reporter. You have a chance to share your perspective before we decide.

Most reports result in a brief written notice, a temporary restriction, or no action. Severe violations result in account closure. You can request human review of any decision; the path is wouch.app/your-data-rights or in-app Settings → Help → Request review.

How decisions are made

When a report comes in, our Trust & Safety team reviews:

The specific behaviour reported.
The conversation or surface where it occurred.
The pattern, if there is one.
The other user's history on the platform.

For serious or ambiguous cases, the case is escalated to clinical governance. The most serious cases (those touching crisis, abuse disclosure, or coordinated harm) are reviewed by a senior clinician.

We document our decisions. You can ask for the reasoning behind a decision involving you; we will give it to you as plainly as we can while protecting the privacy of others involved.

What we don't do

We do not pre-screen every conversation on Wouch. We rely on a combination of report-based moderation, behavioural pattern detection (only for users who have opted into observation), and a focused set of safety rules that block specific kinds of high-risk pairings before they happen.

We do not publish a list of banned users.

We do not share details of one user's conduct with another user. If you have been treated badly by someone here, we will do what we can within the platform; we cannot tell you what we did to them specifically.