Enforcement, suspension and termination

• Per item, never per person. An account, a profile, a business, a channel, a developer account, a project, an API key and an app are separate items. A decision applies only to the item it names. Nobody is locked out of signing in, reading their notices, appealing or exporting their data because of a suspension.
• Reasons, always. Every decision comes with a statement of reasons the affected person can read, in plain language.
• Proportionate. We prefer the smallest step that fixes the problem: a warning before a suspension, a suspension before ending, one item before many, except where the harm is serious or urgent.
• One appeal, read by a person. Every decision can be appealed once; a person who did not take the decision reads it where possible.
• Same rules for everyone. Our own businesses and channels follow the same rules and process.

Each channel looks after what is created on it: the accounts that signed up on it, their profiles, the businesses created on it and those businesses’ channels, and so on down. Decisions about an item can be taken by the channel it belongs to and by any channel above it. We operate the top channel and can act on anything on Intersink.

Developer accounts, projects, App Store apps, ad campaigns and ad partners are decided by us only.

A channel can hand a case to the channel above it. Reports of illegal content always reach us as well, and we act on them whatever the channel below has decided.

Warning. Nothing is limited; the notice says what to fix. A warning stays on the record and may be taken into account if the problem happens again.

Suspension. The item is paused as shown below until the suspension is lifted or ends. A suspension may have an end date; otherwise it lasts until it is lifted.

Removal of content or a listing. A specific post, product or page may be removed or hidden without suspending anything else.

Ending (termination). The item is closed for good, after the notice set out below. Closing an item ends only that item.

Payout hold. Money due to a business may be held where there is a real risk of fraud, a chargeback, or a legal requirement, for no longer than needed; we say why and until when.

• Reports from people (anyone signed in can report an account, profile, business or channel; anyone can send a legal request).
• Our own checks and those of channel operators, including automated tools that flag likely problems for a person to look at.
• Orders from courts and authorities, and notices from rights holders (copyright and trademarks).

A report alone never decides anything: one valid report is enough to act, many invalid ones do nothing. Fully automated decisions are not used for suspensions or endings; where an automated tool limits something temporarily (for example a payment that looks fraudulent), a person reviews it and you can ask for that review.

When a decision is taken you receive a notification and the notice appears in Notices and reviews for the item. It contains (the "statement of reasons"):

• what was decided and the item it applies to, and what it limits;
• the facts and circumstances relied on, including whether it followed a report, our own check or an order (never the reporter’s identity);
• the rule, term or law it is based on;
• whether automated tools were used to detect or decide it;
• how long it lasts, or that it lasts until lifted;
• how to appeal, and other ways to seek redress (mediation, out-of-court dispute bodies, courts, regulators).

We may delay or limit the notice only where the law requires (for example a law-enforcement request we must keep confidential), where telling you would put someone at risk, or for deceptive high-volume commercial content such as spam; we then tell you as soon as the reason ends.

• You can appeal each decision once, from the notice, for at least 6 months after it.
• Say what was missed. Short and specific works best; you may add evidence.
• While the appeal is read, the decision stays in place (a payout hold may be reduced if you show it is not needed).
• The deciding channel or we decide the appeal and tell you the outcome and the reason. We aim to decide within 7 days, and within 2 working days where a suspension stops a business from trading.
• If the decision was wrong it is reversed at once: a suspension is lifted, removed content is restored where possible, and any warning is withdrawn.
• If the decision is upheld you can still use the other routes below.

• Business users (UK/EU): our free internal complaint-handling system and mediation with CEDR (the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, cedr.com) under the Platform-to-Business Regulation.
• Users in the EU: a certified out-of-court dispute settlement body under Article 21 of the Digital Services Act, and complaints to the Digital Services Coordinator of your country.
• Users in the UK: complaints to Ofcom about how we meet our duties under the Online Safety Act 2023; for data protection, the Information Commissioner’s Office.
• Users in the United States: your state attorney general or the Federal Trade Commission for consumer issues.
• Everyone: the courts.

A suspension is lifted when the problem is fixed, when an appeal succeeds, when its end date passes, or when the deciding channel decides so. Lifting restores the item as it was. If the same item is under another suspension (for example a channel suspended on its own and as part of its business), it stays suspended until every suspension on it is lifted.

• Business users: at least 30 days’ notice with reasons before we end our service to a business or channel entirely, so you can move your customers and data.
• Immediate ending is possible only where the law or an authority requires it, where we must end it to comply with sanctions, for repeated serious breaches, or where continuing would put people at serious risk (for example fraud on customers, child sexual abuse material, terrorism, malware).
• Consumers: we end an account only after a statement of reasons and, except in the cases above, after a suspension and an opportunity to appeal.
• Developer items: projects and keys can be suspended at once to stop harm; ending a developer account follows the Developer Terms.

• You can export your data for at least 30 days, unless a court or the law prevents it.
• Money owed to you (for example payouts) is paid, less amounts we may lawfully set off such as refunds and chargebacks; invoices due to us remain due.
• Accounts and businesses created on a channel that ends keep signing in and keep their data; their owners are told and can move elsewhere.
• We keep what the law requires (for example invoices, safety and legal records) as set out in the retention schedule.
• Creating a new account or business to get around an ending is itself a breach.

A suspension for unpaid invoices is separate: after the reminder period the business’s billing is suspended and paid features stop until it pays; nothing else is suspended and no data is deleted. A safety suspension does not create charges for features you cannot use; fees for the period may be reduced accordingly.

Sending reports or appeals that are manifestly unfounded, often and on purpose, is itself a breach. After a warning we may stop processing reports from that person for a period, which we tell them, and which they can appeal.

Every decision, appeal and lift is recorded with who took it and when. Channels above can see decisions taken below them. We publish an annual transparency report with numbers of reports, decisions by type and reason, appeals and their outcomes, and orders from authorities.