The rules
There is essentially one. It fits in a sentence.
Last updated 9 September 2026.
Argue about ideas. Don't aim at a person.
Almost everything else follows from that. The line here is about who you point at, not what you're willing to discuss.
On this page
What's welcome
Difficult questions. Genuinely difficult ones. Most of the internet rewards agreement, and there is real value in a place where you find out that a third of people think you're wrong about something you were certain of.
So all of this is fine here:
- Money, family, work, and manners. Who pays for what. Whether that was rude. Whether you owe your sister an apology.
- Religion, politics, ethics, and death. Big, old, unresolved questions. People have disagreed about these for thousands of years and are entitled to keep doing it.
- Things you'd be embarrassed to ask out loud. This is anonymous. Use that.
- Opinions most people would call wrong. If you're in the minority, the result will tell you so. That's the service.
- Silly questions. Is cereal soup. Go on.
We are not going to remove an argument for being uncomfortable, unpopular, or on a subject somebody would rather not see. That isn't the job.
What gets removed
All of these are about pointing at a person, not about a topic.
- Identifying a real private person
- No names, usernames, photos, phone numbers, addresses, workplaces, or "my neighbour at number 12". If a reader could work out who you mean, it's too specific. Write "my neighbour" and leave it there. Public figures acting in public — politicians, executives, performers on stage — are fair game for criticism of what they did publicly.
- Private information
- Anyone's medical details, finances, immigration status, sexuality, legal problems, or messages sent to them in confidence. Including your own — you can't consent on behalf of the other people in the story.
- Harassment and threats
- Anything that exists to frighten, humiliate, or pile onto someone. Anything encouraging others to go after a person or a group.
- Attacks on people for who they are
- Slurs, and arguments whose actual point is that a group of people is subhuman. Note the difference: "should immigration be reduced" is a political question and is allowed. Dehumanising immigrants is not a question, it's an attack.
- Encouraging self-harm or violence
- Not as a question, not as a joke, not framed as a side to vote on. If you are struggling, please talk to someone — findahelpline.com lists free confidential lines by country.
- Spam, scams, and rigging
- Adverts disguised as arguments, link farms, and vote manipulation. If you want the top of the list, it costs $5 and gets labelled.
What gets reported, not just removed
Two things are not moderation matters. They are reported to the relevant authorities, and we will cooperate fully:
- Anything sexual involving a person under 18, in any form, described in any way, framed as any kind of question.
- A credible, specific threat to hurt a real person.
There is no version of these that is a joke, and no appeal.
How this is enforced
Every submission is checked automatically for hate, harassment, sexual content, and violence before anyone else can see it. If that check can't run, posting stops entirely. We would rather the site refuse new arguments for an hour than put an unchecked one on a public page.
Automatic checking is imperfect in both directions. It will occasionally block something harmless and occasionally miss something it shouldn't. That is exactly why every argument has a "Report this" button, and why reports are read by a person.
When something is removed, it stops existing for everyone. There are no accounts here, so there is nobody to ban — which means removal is the only tool, and it gets used.
If we got it wrong
If something of yours was blocked or removed and you think that was a mistake, say so: justin@cronkcompanies.com. Include the wording and roughly when you posted it. A person will read it and reply. If we were wrong, we'll say so and put it back.
If something offensive is still up, report it. Reporting it twice is fine. Reporting it and then emailing is better.
If someone posted about you
Use "Report this" on the argument, or email us. You do not have to prove who you are, you do not have to explain yourself at length, and you will not be asked to argue your case in public.
Something that identifies a real private person is removed on request. We would rather remove ten fine arguments than leave one up that shouldn't be.