Gizmo Community Guidelines

Core Values

• Respect & Kindness – Treat others with courtesy and assume good intent
• Inclusive Creativity – Everyone is welcome to build and collaborate
• Creative Freedom & Accountability – Express yourself freely and responsibly
• Learning & Remixing – Share knowledge and give proper credit

General Principles (Apply Everywhere)

• Respect others – No harassment, hate speech, or threats
• Protect privacy – Don't share personal information without permission
• Use only content you have rights to – Including code, images, music, and text
• Keep content appropriate – When in doubt, limit your audience
• No illegal or dangerous activity – Don't facilitate wrongdoing
• Be genuine – No scams, impersonation, or deceptive practices

Content-Specific Guidelines

Harassment & Bullying

Not allowed:

• Creating content to mock or embarrass specific individuals
• Targeted abuse, intimidation, or malicious comments
• Simple insults, name-calling, or dismissive comments designed to make other users feel bad
• Mean-spirited comments that serve no constructive purpose
• Hate speech or slurs aimed at protected groups
• Threats or posting someone's personal information without consent
• Persistent unwanted contact after someone asks you to stop

Hateful Content & Discrimination

Not allowed:

• Content promoting discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, etc.
• Symbols, imagery, or propaganda associated with extremist ideologies
• Content that dehumanizes or degrades individuals or groups

Sexual Content

Not allowed:

• Pornography or sexually explicit material
• Focused nudity
• Any sexualization of minors
• Sexual solicitation or promoting commercial sex acts
• Graphic sexual discussion

Violence & Graphic Content

Not allowed:

• Glorifying or promoting real violence against people or animals
• Graphic depictions of realistic violence or gore
• Threatening violence against individuals or groups
• Promoting self-harm or suicide
• Expressions of suicidal ideation or encouraging self-harm
• Agreeing with or supporting statements about self-harm or suicide
• Instructions for committing violent acts
• Realistic imagery of firearms, weapons, or dangerous objects that could promote or evoke violence

Allowed:

• Stylized or fictional weapons in gaming contexts (game mechanics, fantasy weapons, sci-fi blasters)
• Historical or educational content about weapons in appropriate academic context
• Toy weapons that are obviously fake or theatrical props
• Kitchen knives, utility tools, or similar items in their normal functional contexts

Not eligible for recommendation:

• Graphic or gratuitous depictions of severe illness, injury, or death
• Content focused on bodily functions or waste
• Intentionally, viscerally disturbing human body imagery
• Medical or cosmetic procedures that contain graphic imagery
• Imagery of severe animal suffering or animal death
• Extreme jumpscares with excessively loud audio that could pose health risks

Illegal Activities & Regulated Goods

Not allowed:

• Promoting illegal activities or providing instructions for illegal behavior
• Facilitating the sale of illegal or regulated products
• Attempting to circumvent our moderation systems

Not eligible for recommendation:

• Content promoting or facilitating gambling activities
• Content primarily focused on tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, or other drug use
• Casual references to being under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• References to nicotine products including vapes or similar products
• Financial services or investment advice
• Weight loss products or cosmetic procedures
• Pharmaceutical products or medical advice
• Content primarily focused on dating or adult services

Context matters: Educational content about substance awareness or references in clearly non-drug contexts may be evaluated differently.

Harmful or Deceptive Information

Not allowed:

• Spreading false information that could cause harm
• Impersonating others or misleading about content sources
• Manipulating content to deceive (e.g. deepfakes without disclosure)
• Promoting dangerous health claims or advice
• Intentionally misspelling or altering brand names in a derogatory manner (including Gizmo or Atma Sciences)

Privacy & Personal Information

Not allowed:

• Sharing someone's personal information without permission
• Creating Gizmos designed to collect sensitive user data
• Creating Gizmos that mislead users about data collection

Intellectual Property

Not allowed:

• Copying others' work without permission or attribution
• Creating Gizmos that facilitate copyright infringement
• Using branded content suggesting endorsement without permission

Remixing & Derivative Works

Allowed:

• Building upon others' work when you add substantial creative changes or improvements
• Using existing Gizmos as inspiration for new creations with your own unique elements
• Combining multiple sources to create something meaningfully different

Not allowed:

• Making minimal changes to someone's work and presenting it as your own creation
• Copying code, assets, or content wholesale without meaningful transformation
• Claiming original authorship of work that is primarily based on others' contributions

When building on others' work, be transparent about your sources and give appropriate credit where possible.

Engagement Bait and Misleading Content

Not allowed:

• Posts that promise special effects, rewards, or outcomes for likes, comments, or interactions that don't deliver meaningful value
• "Wait for it" or "something magical will happen" content that leads to anticlimactic or non-existent payoffs
• Instructions to perform repetitive actions (tapping, clicking) with false promises of special results
• Clickbait-style prompts that waste users' time with no genuine educational, entertaining, or valuable content

Content should provide authentic value and not manipulate users into engagement through false promises.

Political Content

Not allowed:

• Content about current politicians or active political campaigns
• Content related to ongoing wars, conflicts, or geopolitical disputes
• Content focused on politically divisive issues or controversial political topics

Allowed:

• Educational content about historical political figures
• Educational content explaining how government systems work
• Non-partisan civic education about political processes and history

Language & Profanity Standards

Not allowed:

• Direct personal attacks using profanity or vulgar language directed at other users
• Excessive profanity that exceeds standards appropriate for a general audience

Generally acceptable:

• Casual profanity not directed at individuals when used in creative or expressive context
• Mild profanity that fits within community standards for general audiences

Context matters: We distinguish between casual expression and aggressive personal attacks when evaluating language use.

Technical Safety & Malicious Code

Not allowed:

• Code designed to consume excessive system resources (memory, CPU, processing power)
• Malicious redirects or attempts to take users to harmful external sites
• Code that attempts to collect sensitive user data without clear disclosure
• Functions designed to bypass or circumvent platform safety measures
• Content with rapid flashing patterns that could trigger seizures (over 5 flashes per second with high contrast)

Generally acceptable:

• Standard interactive features and animations
• Reasonable computational tasks for games and creative applications
• Visual effects with moderate color changes or transitions

Our systems monitor for performance and safety issues to maintain platform stability.

Moderation Approach

We use a tiered approach for recommendation eligibility based on content visibility:

• Private: Basic safety rules; more flexibility for experimentation
• Followers: Must fully comply with guidelines for recommendation eligibility
• Public: Highest review standards; must be appropriate for all audiences to be eligible for recommendation

When you post content to a public feed, our recommendation engine evaluates it against these guidelines to determine whether it will receive distribution to other users. Content that doesn't meet these standards may still be visible to direct visitors but won't be recommended in feeds.

Promoting a Gizmo to a wider tier triggers automated checks and, when necessary, human review.

Enforcement & Reporting

• Detection: We use automated tools and human moderators
• Reporting: Use the "Report" button on any Gizmo, comment, or profile
• Actions: Depending on severity: warning, content removal, feature limits, or account suspension
• Appeals: We may make mistakes. If you believe a decision was made in error, email [email protected] with details

Support Resources

If you're experiencing harassment:

• Block the user and report the behavior
• For emergencies, contact local authorities first, then inform us

Keeping It Current

We update these guidelines as our community grows. By using Gizmo, you agree to follow these rules—thanks for helping keep our community creative, welcoming, and safe!