Welcome to ActsSocial

ActsSocial is a faith-first Christian social platform built around the model of the early church in the Book of Acts. We exist to encourage gratitude, prayer, fellowship, and mutual support across the body of Christ, while also welcoming people who are exploring faith, are curious, or simply want to be part of a kinder corner of the internet.

These Community Guidelines describe what kind of community we are trying to build and what behavior keeps that community healthy. They are not a comprehensive list of every possible rule. They are a description of the spirit of the platform, plus specific rules where specificity matters.

By using ActsSocial, you agree to follow these Guidelines. Violations may result in content removal, warnings, suspension, account termination, or referral to law enforcement, depending on the severity and frequency of the violation.

ActsSocial relies on protections under 47 U.S.C. § 230 for its content moderation decisions and reserves all rights and defenses under that statute.

The spirit of ActsSocial

Three principles shape how we expect users to behave on the platform.

1. Edify, don't tear down

Our goal is to build people up. Disagreement is fine. Hostility, mockery, and cruelty are not. Even when you are correcting something you believe is genuinely wrong, do it in a way that treats the other person as a human being made in the image of God.

2. Honesty in love

Speak truthfully, including about hard things. Honesty does not require harshness, and kindness does not require avoiding hard truth. We expect both.

3. Real people, real names

ActsSocial is built around real people forming real relationships. We allow display names and ministry brand names, but we do not allow impersonation, fake identities, or coordinated networks of fake accounts. Be who you say you are.

Who these guidelines apply to

These Guidelines apply to all users of ActsSocial, regardless of religious background. ActsSocial is welcoming to:

  • Christians of any denomination.
  • People exploring faith or with questions about Christianity.
  • People of other faiths who want to participate respectfully.
  • People who are not religious at all.

ActsSocial publishes a Statement of Faith that describes the platform's theological foundation. The Statement of Faith applies to ActsSocial as a company and to certain platform roles, not to general users of the platform. General use of the platform does not require subscribing to any particular doctrine.

Age requirement

ActsSocial is for adults aged 18 and older. We do not allow accounts held by anyone under 18. If you see an account that you believe is operated by a person under 18, please report it using the report tool or email [email protected]. We investigate every report and remove accounts that are not eligible.

Content that is never allowed

Some content is prohibited on ActsSocial under every circumstance. There is no context, no creative framing, and no “educational” exception that makes the following acceptable. Posting any of the following will result in immediate content removal and likely account termination, and in many cases will be reported to law enforcement:

Child sexual abuse material (CSAM)

Any visual or textual content that sexualizes minors is prohibited. This includes:

  • Images or videos of actual minors in sexual situations.
  • Computer-generated or AI-generated sexual content depicting minors.
  • Sexual stories or roleplay involving minors.
  • Solicitation of minors for sexual contact, whether online or offline.
  • Content that grooms minors for future exploitation, including befriending strategies, isolation tactics, or normalization content.

All apparent CSAM on ActsSocial is reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) through the CyberTipline, as required by United States federal law (18 U.S.C. § 2258A). Associated content and account data are preserved for at least 90 days to support investigation.

Violent extremism and terrorism

ActsSocial does not allow:

  • Promotion of terrorist organizations or terrorist acts.
  • Recruitment for violent extremist movements.
  • Specific threats of violence against any person or group.
  • Glorification of mass casualty events.
  • Instructions for creating weapons designed to cause mass casualties.

Imminent threats of violence

Threats of violence against identifiable individuals or groups are removed and may be reported to law enforcement. This includes “I'm going to harm X,” “someone should do something about Y,” and similar language that a reasonable person would read as a credible threat.

Doxxing and personal information

Do not post another person's:

  • Home address.
  • Phone number, unless they have publicly shared it.
  • Workplace address, unless they have publicly shared it.
  • Social security number, driver's license number, or other government identification.
  • Financial account numbers.
  • Medical records or specific medical conditions.
  • Sexual orientation, gender identity, or immigration status, if they have not publicly disclosed it themselves.

This applies even if the information is technically available through public records. The relevant question is whether posting it on ActsSocial is being used to threaten, harass, or intimidate.

Non-consensual intimate imagery

Sharing or threatening to share sexual or intimate images of another person without their consent is prohibited and is illegal in most jurisdictions. This includes “revenge porn” and AI-generated deepfakes of identifiable real people.

Human trafficking and exploitation

Content that facilitates or promotes human trafficking, sexual exploitation, or forced labor is prohibited. ActsSocial cooperates with law enforcement on trafficking investigations.

Sexually explicit content

ActsSocial is a faith-first platform and not a venue for sexually explicit content. We do not allow:

  • Pornography or sexually explicit images and videos.
  • Detailed sexual narratives or roleplay.
  • Solicitation for sex work.

Educational discussions of sexuality (marriage preparation, Christian sexual ethics, recovery from sexual sin, medical information) are allowed and welcomed when handled with appropriate care.

Illegal goods and services

Do not use ActsSocial to sell, promote, or distribute:

  • Illegal drugs or unauthorized prescription medications.
  • Firearms or regulated weapons (sale and transfer).
  • Stolen property.
  • Counterfeit goods.
  • Forged documents.
  • Hacking services.
  • Any service that is illegal in the buyer's or seller's jurisdiction.

Content that requires care

The following kinds of content are not banned outright, but require thoughtful handling. Failing to handle these with care may result in content removal even if the underlying topic is permitted.

Discussing mental health, suicide, and self-harm

ActsSocial cares deeply about users in mental health crisis. We allow:

  • Sharing your own story of struggle, including past suicidal ideation, in a way that supports healing.
  • Asking for prayer for yourself or someone else who is struggling.
  • Sharing resources, including crisis hotlines and Christian counseling networks.
  • Pastoral and theological reflection on suffering, grief, and mental health.

We do not allow:

  • Content that promotes, glorifies, or provides instructions for suicide or self-harm.
  • Content that mocks or shames people who are struggling with mental health.
  • Content that tells people their faith would be stronger if they just stopped seeking professional help.

If you are in crisis, please reach out. In the United States, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Outside the United States, please contact your local emergency services or a local crisis line.

Discussing sin and repentance

ActsSocial is built on the Christian belief that all people are sinners in need of grace. Sermons, teachings, testimonies, and pastoral conversations about specific sins are part of the life of the platform. When discussing sin, especially the sins of other people:

  • Distinguish between behavior and the person. “This is a sin” is permitted. “This person is subhuman” is not.
  • Do not identify specific private individuals as sinners unless they have publicly self-identified or are a public figure being held to account for public conduct.
  • Recognize that some topics, including LGBTQ+ identity, divorce, and addiction, involve real people in your community who are watching how you talk about them.
  • Focus on grace and restoration where appropriate. Self-righteousness is itself a sin.

Theological disagreement

Christianity is not monolithic. ActsSocial includes Reformed, Wesleyan, Pentecostal, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and many other traditions. We allow vigorous theological discussion across denominational lines. We do not allow:

  • Personal attacks dressed up as theological correction.
  • Posting with the primary goal of stirring conflict between denominations rather than seeking truth.
  • Sustained harassment of users whose theology you disagree with.

A useful test: would you be willing to say this to the other person's face, in love, at a coffee shop? If not, reconsider.

Political content

ActsSocial does not ban political content. Christians have always engaged the public square, and we believe political conscience is a legitimate part of discipleship. We do require:

  • Honesty: do not knowingly post false claims about elections, candidates, or public officials.
  • Distinction between conviction and contempt: you can disagree strongly with a politician's policies without dehumanizing them or their voters.
  • Restraint on intra-Christian political contempt: avoid casting fellow believers as enemies because they voted differently.

ActsSocial itself does not endorse candidates, parties, or political movements as an institution.

Health information

You may share your own health story, ask for prayer for a health condition, and discuss general wellness. You may not:

  • Pose as a doctor or medical professional if you are not one.
  • Make specific medical claims about products you are selling.
  • Tell people to discontinue prescribed medication based on theological views.
  • Promote alternative treatments for serious conditions in ways that would discourage evidence-based care.

ActsSocial's Statement of Faith reflects the company's values. The Statement does not require general users to share these views, and discussion of difficult topics (including abortion, end-of-life decisions, and political differences on these matters) is permitted by general users subject to the rules in these Guidelines.

Financial content

Financial and stewardship discussions are welcome. Be careful about:

  • Investment advice. If you are not a licensed financial advisor, do not present yourself as one.
  • Multi-level marketing schemes. ActsSocial has zero tolerance for MLM schemes targeting religious communities. We remove MLM recruitment content.
  • Prosperity gospel scams. Promising specific financial returns in exchange for “seed faith” donations is prohibited.
  • Cryptocurrency promotion that resembles pump-and-dump or rug-pull schemes.

Behavior toward other users

Harassment and bullying

Harassment is targeted behavior that demeans, threatens, or intimidates another user. It includes:

  • Repeated unwanted contact after the recipient has asked you to stop.
  • Coordinated pile-ons against a specific user.
  • Sustained mockery of a user's appearance, mental health, or personal struggles.
  • Spreading malicious rumors about a user.

Disagreement is not harassment. Strong criticism of public figures, including public ministry leaders, is not harassment when it is on the merits. The line is whether the behavior is aimed at the merits of the issue or at hurting the person.

Hate speech

ActsSocial does not allow content that demeans, dehumanizes, or attacks people based on:

  • Race, ethnicity, or national origin.
  • Religious affiliation, including non-Christian religions and the non-religious.
  • Sex or gender.
  • Sexual orientation or gender identity.
  • Disability.
  • Veteran status.

ActsSocial holds traditional Christian theological positions, including positions on marriage and sexuality that some users will disagree with. Teaching these positions in good faith is permitted. Using them as cover for personal cruelty is not. The Statement of Faith is a doctrinal document, not a license to abuse other users.

Sexual harassment

Unwanted sexual advances, sexualized comments about another user's body, and unsolicited sexual images are prohibited. Report sexual harassment using the report button on the offending content or message.

Stalking

Following a user across the platform with the intent to harass, monitoring their activity in a way that causes them reasonable fear, and using ActsSocial to facilitate offline stalking are prohibited.

Platform integrity

Authenticity

Do not:

  • Impersonate another person, ministry, or organization.
  • Create multiple accounts to evade enforcement, manipulate engagement, or coordinate inauthentic behavior.
  • Buy or sell ActsSocial accounts.
  • Use bots or automation to post, comment, follow, or otherwise generate engagement, except through approved ActsSocial APIs.

Spam

Do not post repetitive content, unsolicited promotional content, or content with the primary purpose of redirecting users off the platform to unrelated destinations.

Scams and fraud

Do not use ActsSocial to:

  • Solicit donations for fake charities.
  • Promise specific financial outcomes from “seed faith” or similar schemes.
  • Run advance fee fraud.
  • Phish for credentials or payment information.
  • Impersonate ActsSocial customer service, ActsSocial staff, or major ministry brands to extract money or personal information.

Manipulating engagement

Do not buy followers, buy reactions, participate in “engagement pods,” or otherwise artificially inflate the apparent popularity of a post, account, or ministry.

Evading enforcement

If your account is suspended or terminated, do not create a new account to circumvent the enforcement action. We treat evasion as a separate violation and we ban evasion accounts.

Specific features and their rules

Prayer requests

Prayer requests are core to ActsSocial. When you post a prayer request:

  • Do not include another person's last name, address, phone number, or other identifying information without their consent.
  • Do not use prayer requests as a way to defame, attack, or expose people.
  • Use the privacy controls to choose whether your prayer request is public, visible to your friends, or visible only to a small group.

When you respond to a prayer request:

  • Be encouraging. Offer to pray, share Scripture, share your own story.
  • Do not turn someone's prayer request into a debate about whether their request is theologically valid.
  • Do not solicit donations or promote products on someone's prayer request.

Direct messages

Direct messages are private between sender and recipient(s). ActsSocial does not routinely read DMs. We may access DM content when responding to a user report, investigating a serious policy violation, or complying with a legal demand.

DM rules:

  • Do not send sexually explicit content, sexual harassment, or threats.
  • Do not use DMs for spam or mass marketing.
  • Do not use DMs to phish or scam.
  • Respect when someone asks you to stop messaging them.

Comments and replies

Comments are a public conversation. Hold yourself to the standard of “would I say this face to face.” Sustained negativity, derailing, and bad faith argumentation are subject to removal.

Short videos and audio posts

All content rules apply to short video and audio content. Pay particular attention to:

  • Music rights: do not upload videos using copyrighted music you do not have rights to.
  • Misleading edits: do not edit clips of public figures in ways that change the apparent meaning of what they said.
  • Children: do not feature children in ways that could be exploitative, even unintentionally.

How we enforce these guidelines

Reporting

If you see content that violates these Guidelines, report it using the report button. Reports are received by our trust and safety team. We do not share reporter identity with the reported user. False reports made in bad faith are themselves a violation of these Guidelines.

Our review process

Trust and safety reviewers examine each report. They consider the content, the context, the reporter's note, and the reported user's history. For serious violations (CSAM, imminent violence threats, sustained harassment), action is taken quickly. For lower-severity violations, we may issue a warning before taking content down.

Some categories of content, especially apparent CSAM, are subject to automated detection in addition to user reports. Automated detection is followed by human review before account-level action is taken.

Possible outcomes

Depending on severity, the outcome of a confirmed violation may include:

  • A warning, with no removal of content.
  • Removal of specific content.
  • Reduced reach (your content is shown to fewer users).
  • Temporary suspension of your account.
  • Permanent termination of your account.
  • Referral to law enforcement, for criminal violations including CSAM, credible threats of violence, and trafficking.

Appeals

If you believe your content was removed in error, or your account was suspended or terminated in error, you may appeal by emailing [email protected] within 30 days of the action. Include your account name, the action you are appealing, and your explanation.

A different reviewer than the one who made the original decision will review your appeal. We respond to appeals within 14 business days.

Repeat violators

Users who repeatedly violate these Guidelines, even for relatively minor violations, may be subject to escalating enforcement up to and including permanent termination. Users who repeatedly post infringing content, CSAM, or coordinated inauthentic behavior will be terminated regardless of the time elapsed between violations.

Practical notes

Use the block and mute tools

You can block another user from interacting with you or seeing your content. You can mute another user to remove their content from your feed without notifying them. These are your tools first. Reporting should be reserved for clear policy violations.

Disagreement is not harassment

Being criticized, especially in public, is not the same as being harassed. If you publicly teach or post, you may receive public disagreement. Distinguish between criticism of your views and personal attacks on you as a human being.

Context matters

A word or phrase that is offensive in one context may be appropriate in another. A discussion of addiction recovery may include language that would be inappropriate in some other contexts. Our reviewers consider context.

Public figures

Public figures, including elected officials, celebrity pastors, and major ministry leaders, are subject to more scrutiny than private individuals. Criticism on the merits of their public conduct is permitted even if pointed.

Updates to these guidelines

We update these Community Guidelines as the platform grows and as new patterns of harmful behavior emerge. When we make material changes, we will:

  • Update the “Last updated” date at the top.
  • Post the updated Guidelines at actssocial.com/community-guidelines.
  • Notify active users by email or in-app notice for material changes that affect what conduct is permitted.

Questions

Questions about these Guidelines can be sent to: