1. Purpose and Scope
The Union News Fair Play Policy establishes the community standards and behavioral expectations for all users of the Union News platform, website (unionnews.net), and related services. This policy exists to ensure that Union News remains a space where diverse viewpoints are shared respectfully, bias is identified through honest community participation, and every user feels safe contributing their opinion. This policy applies to all user-generated content, including posts, comments, bias tags, polls, trivia games, videos, and messages shared through the platform.
Union News is founded on the principle of political neutrality. The platform does not endorse, support, or oppose any political party, ideology, or viewpoint. All users, regardless of their political affiliation, are equally welcome and equally subject to the rules outlined in this policy.
2. Community Guidelines
All Union News users are expected to adhere to the following community guidelines when interacting on the platform:
- Be Respectful: Engage with other users and their opinions with civility, even when you disagree. Personal attacks, name-calling, and harassment are never acceptable.
- Be Honest: When tagging news content as Biased, Unbiased, or Neutral, base your assessment on the content itself, not on your personal feelings toward the news outlet, journalist, or political viewpoint.
- Be Constructive: When commenting on posts or participating in discussions, contribute meaningfully to the conversation. Spam, trolling, and low-effort content that adds no value are prohibited.
- Be Inclusive: Union News is for everyone. Do not discriminate against or demean other users based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, disability, age, or any other protected characteristic.
- Be Responsible: You are responsible for the content you create and share. Verify information before posting, and acknowledge corrections when errors are identified.
3. Bias Tagging Rules
The bias tagging system is a core feature of Union News, enabling the community to collectively assess the fairness and accuracy of news content. To maintain the integrity of this system, the following rules apply:
- Bias tags (Biased, Unbiased, Neutral) should reflect your genuine assessment of the news content's objectivity, not your agreement or disagreement with the viewpoint expressed.
- Coordinated bias tagging — organizing groups to mass-tag content with a specific label to manipulate community metrics — is strictly prohibited and will be treated as a violation of this policy.
- You may change your bias tag on a piece of content at any time if your assessment changes, but rapid tag-switching designed to manipulate the system is prohibited.
- Bias tags are aggregated anonymously. Individual tagging decisions are not publicly attributed to specific users, but Union News reserves the right to review individual tagging patterns when investigating potential policy violations.
- After twenty-four (24) hours, posts are converted to stats pages showing aggregate community opinion data. These stats reflect collective community input and are not editorial positions of UnionNews LLC.
4. Prohibited Content
The following types of content are strictly prohibited on the Union News platform. Posting, sharing, or promoting any of the following may result in content removal, account suspension, or permanent banning:
- Hate Speech: Content that promotes violence, hatred, or discrimination against individuals or groups based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, disability, age, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.
- Threats and Harassment: Direct or indirect threats of violence, intimidation, stalking, doxxing (publishing private information), or sustained targeted harassment of any individual or group.
- Misinformation and Deepfakes: Deliberately fabricated news content, manipulated media (deepfakes), or knowingly false information presented as fact with the intent to deceive. Union News exists to combat fake news, and users who deliberately spread it undermine the platform's mission.
- Spam and Manipulation: Automated posting, bot activity, repetitive unsolicited messages, fake engagement (artificial likes, follows, or votes), and any other activity designed to manipulate platform metrics.
- Illegal Content: Content that promotes, facilitates, or depicts illegal activities, including but not limited to drug trafficking, human trafficking, child exploitation, fraud, and copyright infringement.
- Explicit Content: Sexually explicit material, gratuitous violence, or graphic content that is not directly relevant to a news story being discussed.
- Impersonation: Pretending to be another person, organization, or entity, including creating fake accounts that mimic real individuals or news outlets.
- Commercial Spam: Unauthorized advertising, promotional content, or solicitation that has not been approved through Union News's official sponsored listing program.
5. Content Flagging System
Union News empowers users to flag content that they believe violates this Fair Play Policy. The flagging system operates with the following thresholds to balance community self-moderation with platform oversight:
- 5 Flags (Inform Threshold): When a piece of content receives five (5) flags from unique users, the content creator is notified that their content has been flagged and is encouraged to review it against the community guidelines. The content remains visible pending further review.
- 20 Flags (Suspend Threshold): When a piece of content receives twenty (20) flags from unique users, the content is automatically suspended from public view and queued for review by the Union News moderation team. The content creator is notified of the suspension and the reason.
- 50 Flags (Mediate Threshold): When a piece of content receives fifty (50) flags from unique users, the content is immediately removed from the platform and a formal mediation review is initiated. The content creator's account may be temporarily restricted pending the review outcome.
Frivolous or abusive flagging — repeatedly flagging content that does not violate any policy, or coordinating mass-flagging campaigns against specific users — is itself a violation of this policy and may result in enforcement actions against the flagging user.
6. Enforcement Actions
Union News employs a progressive enforcement approach, meaning that the severity of the action taken corresponds to the severity and frequency of the violation. Enforcement actions include, but are not limited to:
- Warning: A formal notification sent to the user explaining the violation and reminding them of the community guidelines. Warnings are recorded on the user's account.
- Content Removal: Removal of specific content that violates this policy. The user is notified of the removal and the reason.
- Temporary Suspension: Temporary restriction of the user's ability to post, comment, tag, or interact on the platform for a specified period (typically 24 hours to 30 days, depending on the severity of the violation).
- Feature Restriction: Selective restriction of specific platform features (such as the ability to create polls, use the video editor, or participate in bias tagging) while allowing basic account access.
- Permanent Ban: Permanent removal of the user's account and all associated content from the platform. Permanent bans are reserved for severe or repeated violations and are reviewed by a super administrator before implementation.
UnionNews LLC reserves the right to skip progressive steps and take immediate action, including permanent banning, in cases of severe violations such as threats of violence, child exploitation content, or other illegal activity.
7. Moderation Process
Content flagged by the community or identified through automated detection is reviewed by the Union News moderation team. Moderators are trained to evaluate content against this Fair Play Policy in a consistent, impartial manner. The moderation process includes:
- Reviewing the flagged content in its full context, including surrounding comments and the original post.
- Evaluating the content against the specific provisions of this policy.
- Making a determination within forty-eight (48) hours of the content reaching the suspension or mediation threshold.
- Notifying the content creator of the determination and any enforcement action taken.
Union News strives to moderate content without political bias. Moderators do not make determinations based on the political viewpoint expressed in content, only on whether the content violates the specific rules outlined in this policy.
8. Appeals Process
Users who believe that an enforcement action was taken against them in error have the right to appeal. To file an appeal:
- Email jesse.croasmun@gmail.com with the subject line "Fair Play Appeal — [Your Username]."
- Include a description of the enforcement action, the date it occurred, and your explanation of why you believe it was made in error.
- Provide any relevant context or evidence supporting your appeal.
Appeals are reviewed by a different member of the moderation team than the one who made the original determination. The appeals review will be completed within ten (10) business days. The decision on appeal is final. During the appeals process, the original enforcement action remains in effect unless the reviewing moderator determines that immediate reinstatement is warranted.
9. Reporting Violations
In addition to using the in-platform flagging system, users may report serious policy violations directly to the Union News team by contacting jesse.croasmun@gmail.com or calling 412-515-4178. Direct reports are appropriate for situations involving immediate threats, illegal activity, or harassment that requires urgent attention. All reports are treated confidentially, and the identity of the reporting user is not disclosed to the person reported.
10. Policy Updates
UnionNews LLC reserves the right to modify this Fair Play Policy at any time to reflect changes in community needs, platform features, or legal requirements. Changes will be posted to this page with an updated "Last updated" date. Material changes will be communicated to users through in-app notifications or email. Your continued use of the Union News platform after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
11. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Fair Play Policy or need to report a violation, please contact us at:
- Email: jesse.croasmun@gmail.com
- Phone: 412-515-4178
- Address: UnionNews LLC, Pittsburgh, PA
