Trust & Safety

If you or someone you know is in crisis, trained people are ready to talk right now, for free:

If someone is in immediate danger, contact local emergency services (911 in the US and Canada, 999 in the UK, 112 in Ireland and the EU, 000 in Australia, 111 in New Zealand). Avelune is peer support. It does not have trained crisis counsellors and cannot guarantee how quickly a report is seen, so a crisis line or emergency services come first.

The Resources page has more lines and things to try in the moment, and the help guides cover hard days, being bullied and being worried about a friend.

• Block someone to stop seeing their posts and stop them messaging you. Mute them to quietly stop seeing their posts. Neither one sends them a notification. Both are on their profile.
• I'm worried about them. When you report a post, comment or message, you can choose this instead of "It breaks a rule". It goes to the admin only, the person is never told who sent it, and nothing is removed.
• Quick exit. Settings, then Privacy, adds an Exit button to every page. Tapping it, or pressing Escape twice, swaps the tab to an ordinary page straight away. On the help pages, Resources and this page, the Leave this page button does the same for everyone, signed in or not.
• Discreet mode. Also in Settings, then Privacy: the browser tab can say "Notes" instead of Avelune, and a passcode can lock the app on a shared phone or laptop.
• Talk to a listener. On the Talk page, when listeners are around, you can ask one of the member volunteers who listen to message you one to one. The admin also checks in on people who seem to be having a hard time.

What's welcome:

• Sharing your experiences with mental health honestly
• Asking for support or offering it to others
• Discussing coping strategies and wellness practices
• Respectful disagreement and different perspectives

What's not allowed:

• Content that promotes or glorifies self-harm or suicide (we follow safe messaging guidelines)
• Harassment, threats, or targeted abuse of any user
• Sharing personal information of others without their consent
• Spam, advertising, or promotional content
• Public invite links to Discord or other group servers in posts, replies or Commons
• Impersonating other users or real individuals
• Content involving minors in any harmful context

You can flag posts, comments, messages, and Commons messages using the flag button on any piece of content. Avelune is run by one person, the admin, with a few member volunteers helping. Reports go to the admin, and some rule-break reports are also read by a volunteer moderator (see below). We aim to review reports within 24 hours.

Every report stays anonymous: the person you report about is never shown who reported them. Rule-break reports on posts and comments may be read by a member volunteer moderator as part of how we review them. A moderator can hide a post or reply that breaks the guidelines, lock replies on a post that is turning into a pile-on, or close a report where nothing is wrong. Once trusted, a moderator can also remove a post or reply and pause an account's posting for an hour or a day; a paused account can still read, message the admin and use Talk. The admin can undo anything a moderator does. A moderator cannot see who filed the report or who posted the reported content, and is never shown a report that touches on an immediate safety concern, self-harm or sexual content, no matter how it was filed.

Reports on direct messages, group messages, and Commons chat messages are reviewed by an admin only, never a volunteer. The same is true if you flag something as "I'm worried about them" rather than a rule break: it goes to an admin only, and the person you're concerned about is never told. Only an admin can warn, suspend an account, or issue a ban. A volunteer can never take any of those actions. If you think a removal was a mistake, the "say so here" link on your Removed page goes to the admin only, never to a moderator.

Feedback works the same way. A volunteer moderator may sort what you send into the right place and, for simple things like a thank-you, an idea going on the board or a how-do-I question, send one of the admin's ready replies from the admin account. Bugs, anything personal and safety concerns stay with the admin. Listener chats are checked automatically for signs that someone may be in danger. Who helps on Avelune explains each role.

We may take the following actions to enforce these policies:

• Hide or delete content that violates our guidelines
• Send a warning, which you see the next time you open Avelune and read before carrying on
• Suspend accounts temporarily
• Permanently ban accounts

Serious violations, like imminent harm or illegal content, are actioned immediately without warning. Repeated violations of any rule can result in a suspension or a permanent ban.

To appeal a warning, a removal or any other action, or to raise a concern, use Feedback, in the More menu. Say what happened and why you disagree. Every submission is read.