Enforcement, Warnings and Legal Action Policy

Enforcement is proportionate to the harm caused, the intent behind the conduct, and the account's history.

The purpose of enforcement is to protect the people using the Service, not to punish.

Where removal of content is sufficient to end the harm, the account is not sanctioned.

A person is told what was removed and which rule it engaged, except where telling them would create a safety risk or prejudice an investigation.

Rules are applied consistently regardless of a person's contribution count, standing or leaderboard position.

A decision is made by a person. Automated systems may flag content, but they do not close accounts on their own.

We publish this policy so that enforcement can be predicted rather than experienced as arbitrary.

Stage one — removal. The content is taken down and the account holder is told why. No further sanction.

Stage two — formal warning. Recorded against the account and referred to if there is a further breach.

Stage three — feature restriction. Uploading, posting, commenting or voting is disabled for a defined period, ordinarily seven to thirty days.

Stage four — suspension. Access to the account is disabled for a defined period, ordinarily thirty days.

Stage five — closure. The account is permanently closed and the person may not create a new one.

Stages are ordinarily applied in sequence, but we may move directly to a higher stage where the breach is serious.

A warning older than twelve months is not ordinarily counted towards escalation.

The stage applied, the date and the reason are recorded against the account.

Child sexual abuse material, or any sexualised conduct towards a person known or suspected to be under 18. Reported to the authorities without notice to the account holder.

Uploading or requesting examination material that has not yet been sat by all candidates.

Credible threats of violence against any person.

Unauthorised access to, or attempted compromise of, any system or account.

Publication of another person's identity documents, or a coordinated campaign to expose a person.

Each of these results in immediate and permanent closure without a prior warning.

The material is removed on identification, before any assessment of authenticity or intent.

These are the only categories in which the graduated ladder does not apply.

Removal — the content is withdrawn from public view.

Restriction — the content remains but is excluded from listings, search and recommendations.

Reclassification — the content is moved to a more appropriate category, subject or group.

Correction notice — a note is displayed on the content identifying an inaccuracy.

Preservation — removed content and its records are retained where a legal claim, investigation or audit requires it.

Preservation is not publication. Preserved content is not visible to any user.

We may act on content proactively, without a report, where we identify a breach ourselves.

A notice states what was removed or restricted, which document and clause it engaged, and what stage has been applied.

A notice states how to appeal and the deadline for doing so.

A notice is sent to the email address on the account and shown in the account where the account remains accessible.

We do not give notice where doing so would create a safety risk, prejudice an investigation, or is prohibited by law.

We do not disclose the identity of the person who reported the conduct.

Where an account is closed, the notice also explains what happens to the content that account contributed.

Every enforcement decision may be appealed within thirty days.

An appeal is decided by a person who was not involved in the original decision.

We acknowledge an appeal within three working days and decide it within fourteen.

Where an appeal succeeds, the content is restored, the sanction is lifted and the record is expunged from the account's history.

Where an appeal fails, we explain why in terms that engage with the points raised.

A sanction ordinarily remains in force while an appeal is considered, except where the decision is clearly wrong on its face.

A further appeal may be made under the Grievance and Complaints Policy where new evidence emerges.

Appeals are free and no representation is required.

We reserve the right to take civil proceedings against a person whose conduct on the Service causes us loss.

We may seek an injunction, damages, an account of profits, delivery up and costs.

We will ordinarily take proceedings only where the conduct is deliberate, repeated, and where other remedies have failed or are inadequate.

We will take proceedings without hesitation in respect of unauthorised copying of the Service, its collection, its database or its brand.

We may issue a demand to an infringing party's host, registrar, application store, payment provider or advertising network.

We may report conduct to the police, to an examination body, to an educational institution or to a regulator where it appears to warrant it.

A criminal report is made on the facts as we understand them and is not a determination of guilt.

Our decision not to act on one occasion does not waive our right to act on another.

Compliance with our policies is not a defence to a claim brought by a rights holder, an examination body or any other person.

A rights holder may pursue an uploader personally regardless of any action we take or decline to take.

Under the Terms of Use you indemnify us against claims arising from your content or your breach.

Where we receive a lawful order to disclose your identity in connection with a claim, we comply with it in accordance with the Law Enforcement and Legal Requests Policy.

We will ordinarily notify you before disclosing your identity in a civil matter, so that you may take your own advice, unless prohibited from doing so.

We do not provide legal advice or representation to users.

We keep a record of every enforcement action: the account, the content, the rule engaged, the stage applied, the date and the decision maker.

Enforcement records are retained for five years, or longer where a matter remains live.

We may publish periodic aggregate statistics on enforcement, containing no personal data.

We do not publish the identity of a sanctioned account.

An account holder may request the enforcement record relating to their own account under the Privacy Policy.

Questions about a specific decision should go to abuse@lacspace.com; questions about this policy to legal@lacspace.com.