Moderation Policy

1. What this Policy covers

This Policy applies to anything you post, send or do on the Platform that other members, staff or the public can see or be affected by, including:

• forum posts and replies;
• member profiles, direct messages and connection requests;
• college reviews;
• marketplace listings, service pitches and orders;
• Dream Wall posts, team/study-group content, and other community spaces; and
• any content submitted through a report-and-review flow elsewhere on the Platform.

We moderate content or conduct that:

• is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, hateful, harassing or threatening;
• impersonates another person or organisation, or is otherwise deceptive;
• infringes someone else's intellectual property or privacy;
• is spam, an unsolicited commercial pitch, or a scraping/automation abuse of the Platform;
• discloses another person's personal data without their consent;
• attempts to circumvent security, rate-limits or payment flows; or
• otherwise breaches the Acceptable Use section of our Terms of Service.

Fraud and misuse connected to the Ambassador Program (fake referrals, fabricated evidence, disposable accounts and similar) are covered by our separate Fraud & Misuse Policy, which shares the appeal mechanism described in Section 5 below.

2. How a report reaches us

Members can report a forum post, a member, a review, or a marketplace listing directly from the Platform. Every report is logged and queued for staff review — nothing is auto-actioned without a human decision, except automated content filters applied at submission time (e.g. blocking obviously malicious input before it is ever posted).

We aim to review every report within 48 hours of it being filed. Our admin console tracks how long each report has been open against this target so overdue reports are visible to staff. This is an operating target, not a guaranteed turnaround time, and may take longer for complex cases.

3. The enforcement ladder

Staff choose the enforcement step that fits the severity and history of the conduct — we do not always start at the lowest step, and a single severe violation can result in immediate suspension or removal. Every enforcement action taken from a report is recorded with the short clause reference below, so there is always a documented basis for the decision.

• MOD-1 — Warning. For a first or minor violation, we may leave the content in place (or ask you to edit it) and record a warning on your account. No further action is taken unless the behaviour repeats.
• MOD-2 — Content removal.
  • MOD-2.1 — the specific reported post, review or listing is removed.
  • MOD-2.2— all of a member's content of that type is removed, used for repeat or severe violations where removing a single item would not be sufficient.
• MOD-3 — Account suspension.
  • MOD-3.1 — a temporary suspension pending further review, where we need to investigate before deciding on a final outcome.
  • MOD-3.2 — a suspension imposed once a violation is confirmed. A suspended account is signed out and cannot log back in until the suspension is lifted.
• MOD-4 — Termination. For the most severe or repeated violations, we may permanently close your account, as set out in Section 18 (Suspension, termination and survival) of our Terms of Service.

4. Confidentiality and no retaliation

We keep reporter identities confidential from the reported member wherever possible, and only share what is necessary to investigate and, where relevant, to run the appeal process below. Retaliating against someone for filing a good-faith report is itself a violation of this Policy.

5. How to appeal

If an enforcement action (MOD-2, MOD-3 or MOD-4 above) was taken against your content or account and you believe it was made in error, you can appeal it:

• Appeals must be filed within 14 days of the action being taken.
• Sign in and submit your appeal referencing the action taken against you, together with your reason for disputing it. If you don't have the report reference, contact contact@marshallridgeconsulting.in and we will look it up for you.
• A member may have one open appeal per enforcement action at a time.
• A staff member who was not the original decision-maker reviews the appeal and records a decision — upheld (the action stands) or overturned (the action was wrong) — together with a short written reason.
• If your appeal is overturned, we take the appropriate corrective step (for example, restoring content or lifting a suspension).

This appeal process, and the equivalent process for fraud/misuse enforcement, is described further in our Fraud & Misuse Policy.

6. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Moderation Policy from time to time, for example to add new enforcement steps or clarify existing ones. Changes apply prospectively from the date they are published; we will revise the "Last updated" date above when we do.

7. Contact

Questions about a moderation decision, or about this Policy generally, can be sent to contact@marshallridgeconsulting.in.