Community Guidelines

Effective date: October 29, 2026 · Last updated: October 29, 2026

SoapBox Republic is a place for adults to disagree about public issues, civilly. These Guidelines are part of our Terms of Service (https://soapboxrepublic.com/terms). They apply to everything you post or submit, including posts, polls, poll suggestions, and reports, and to how you use the Service. Our Poll Terms (https://soapboxrepublic.com/poll-terms) and Privacy Policy (https://soapboxrepublic.com/privacy) explain how polls and your data work.

1. Our principles

• Behavior, not viewpoint. We enforce these rules based on conduct and safety, not on which side you're on. Comparable conduct gets comparable treatment, whatever the party, candidate, ideology, or viewpoint.
• Disagreement is welcome. Unpopular opinions, criticism of public officials and public figures, sharp debate, and changing your mind are all allowed.
• Popularity isn't proof. We don't remove content just because many people dislike it, and we don't keep content up just because many people like it.
• Facts and opinions are different. We may add context or label content, but we don't ask you to agree with anyone.

2. Who can take part

• Adults 18 and older only, one real person per account.
• No bots, fake personas, shared accounts, or new accounts to get around a suspension.

You may

• share opinions, ask questions, and disagree about public issues;
• cite sources, and correct yourself when you're wrong;
• answer polls, suggest polls, and create Community polls when available;
• report content you think breaks these Guidelines, and block or hide people you don't want to hear from.

3. What's not allowed

You may not post, submit, or do any of the following, anywhere on SoapBox Republic:

• Threats and violence: threats, incitement or glorification of violence, or graphic violent content;
• Harassment: bullying, stalking, targeted insults, or pile-ons against a person;
• Hate: attacks on people based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, or another protected characteristic;
• Doxxing and private information: anyone's home address, phone number, private email, ID numbers, or other personal information without permission, or how another member voted;
• Sexual content, and anything that sexualizes or endangers minors. We have zero tolerance for child sexual abuse material. We remove it, close the account, and report it to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC);
• Self-harm: content that encourages suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders;
• Illegal content or activity, including fraud, scams, and selling illegal goods or weapons;
• Impersonation of a person, official, candidate, campaign, election office, or SoapBox Republic;
• Spam and promotion: ads, fundraising, affiliate links, or commercial promotion, unless SoapBox Republic has a written program that allows it;
• Manipulation: coordinated inauthentic behavior, fake or extra accounts, vote brigading, vote rings, point-farming, or evading a suspension;
• Platform abuse: scraping at scale, abusing our systems or rate limits, malware, or trying to get unauthorized access;
• Data harvesting: collecting, selling, or trading other members' personal information, or trying to work out how someone voted or who created a poll;
• Infringement: content that infringes someone's copyright, trademark, or other rights (see Section 9);
• Bad-faith reports: repeatedly filing false or abusive reports.

4. Rules for polls

These apply to every poll, including Community polls and poll suggestions. The Poll Terms add the limits and topics for Community polls. You may not create or submit:

• Push polls: questions built to spread a message, smear, or persuade rather than to learn what people think, including "Would you still support X if you knew…" questions;
• Disguised campaign ads or advocacy, or polls written for, paid for, or coordinated with a candidate, campaign, party, PAC, or ballot-measure committee;
• Paid or sponsored political polls of any kind. SoapBox Republic does not accept paid placement of polls;
• Anything imitating official voting or election materials: fake ballots, voter-registration forms, "vote here" wording, or anything suggesting a SoapBox Republic poll counts in a real election;
• Election misinformation: false or misleading claims about when, where, or how to vote or register, who can vote, or election results or procedures;
• Polls targeting private people: questions about named or identifiable private individuals or SoapBox Republic members;
• Candidate, party, or ballot-measure "who will you vote for" polls, which only SoapBox Republic writes;
• Loaded polls: questions built on a false premise, one-sided wording, or choices that leave out a fair answer;
• health, legal, or financial advice; links; or anyone's personal information.

Community polls (when available): they must be on an approved everyday topic, ask one thing in neutral words, and include "Not sure," which we add automatically. A person reviews every Community poll before it goes public. Approved polls are labeled "Community poll · reviewed by SoapBox Republic" and don't show the creator's name. The label means a person checked the poll against these rules. It isn't an endorsement. Until Community polls are available, you can suggest a poll. Suggestions are reviewed, and if we choose one, SoapBox Republic publishes it under its own name.

5. Elections and voting

• SoapBox Republic polls are opinion polls. They are not voting and don't count in any election. To vote, use your official state or county election office.
• We don't give points, badges, or anything else for registering, voting, or not voting in a real election, or for how anyone votes. Don't offer or ask for anything of value in exchange for votes, on or off SoapBox Republic.
• Don't present SoapBox Republic results as scientific, representative, or official, and don't crop out the "Opinion poll — not a scientific sample" label.

6. How we keep SoapBox Republic safe: filtering, reporting, blocking, and response times

• Review before Community polls go public. When Community polls are available, each one goes through an automatic wording check, which blocks phone numbers, email addresses, street addresses, and links, and then a human review before anyone else can see it. Polls written by SoapBox Republic follow the same rules.
• Report. Every post has a Report option in the app. Pick a reason, and add a note if you like. A person reviews every report. We never tell the person you reported who reported them. When Community polls are available, each one has a Report option too, and a live poll reported by 3 different members is hidden until a reviewer looks at it.
• Block and hide. You can block the author of a post so you no longer see their posts, and, when Community polls are available, hide polls from a member. Blocking is private. The other person isn't told.
• We act fast. We aim to review reports of objectionable content within 24 hours. When content breaks these Guidelines, we remove it, and we suspend or remove the account responsible when that is warranted. Reports about immediate danger, threats, or the safety of a child go to the front of the line.
• Contact us at support@soapboxrepublic.com, or by mail at SoapBox Republic, 150 4th Street #534A, Oakland, CA 94607. The support address is also in the app and on our website. In an emergency, call 911 or your local authorities first. SoapBox Republic is not an emergency service.

7. What happens when someone breaks the rules

We choose a response that fits how serious the conduct is, and how often it has happened:

• removing or hiding a post or poll, rejecting a poll, or asking for changes;
• adding a label or context;
• removing votes, or reversing points and badges;
• limiting features, such as posting or creating polls, for a time;
• suspending or permanently closing the account, especially for threats, child-safety violations, doxxing, or repeat violations.

We may report threats, child sexual abuse material, and other serious illegal content to law enforcement or NCMEC, and we respond to valid legal process as our Privacy Policy describes. Moderation won't be perfect or instant. We make decisions in good faith under these rules and correct mistakes when we find them.

8. Appeals

If we remove your content, reject your poll, take away points, or limit or suspend your account, we'll tell you why where we reasonably can. You may appeal by emailing support@soapboxrepublic.com with "Appeal" in the subject line within 30 days. Where possible, someone other than the original reviewer looks at it, and we reply within 14 days. We may skip appeals for spam, legal requirements, or content that endangers people.

9. Copyright

Only post what you have the right to share. To report copyright infringement, email support@soapboxrepublic.com with the subject line "DMCA notice," following Section 11 of our Terms of Service. Accounts of repeat infringers are closed.

10. Changes and contact

We may update these Guidelines as SoapBox Republic grows. We'll change the "Last updated" date and announce material changes in the app. Questions: support@soapboxrepublic.com.