These Content and Community Guidelines (“Guidelines”) govern your use of our website located at https://www.pocketnovel.com and/or the Pocket Novel mobile application (collectively, the “Platform”) and is made available by Pocket FM (“we”, “us” and “our”, which terms shall include Pocket FM Corp., Pocket FM Private Limited and/or any of their affiliates̵). The terms “you” and “your” refer to the user of the Platform.

These Guidelines shall be read with our Terms of Use https://www.pocketfm.com/terms-and-conditions, and our Privacy Policy at https://www.pocketfm.com/privacy-policy, (collectively, “Terms”). The capitalized words used in these guidelines shall have the meaning given to such words in the Terms.

Please note that we may change these Guidelines from time to time and we reserve the right to do so.

At Pocket FM, we value freedom of thought and expression and we believe in being an inclusive and empowering Platform that works for all our users, allowing them to explore their passion and interests. We encourage users to celebrate what makes them unique, while finding a community that does the same. We deeply value that our users come from a multitude of cultures, and we believe it is important to be mindful of the diverse cultural norms and beliefs that our users represent. The content and comments that are posted on the Platform reflect this diversity and plurality and we aim to build a community that is accepting, respectful and at the same time engaging. We believe that creating a safe and supportive environment is a top priority and that feeling safe is essential to helping people feel comfortable with expressing themselves openly and creatively. We also aim to cultivate an environment for authentic interactions by keeping deceptive content and accounts off our Platform. Keeping in mind these values, we have put in place these Guidelines which shall apply to your use of the Platform.

GUIDELINES FOR CONTENT

Any content which violates these Guidelines is not allowed on our Platform and we may remove, limit, or block the distribution of such content and the accounts, individuals, groups and domains that create or spread it based on how much harm it poses. We encourage you to report any content that violates these Guidelines which you may come across by writing to [email protected].

While any intent to cause discomfort, hurt, offend or engage in any illegal or abusive behaviour will no doubt be taken seriously, we believe that content can be hurtful, cause discomfort or offence even without an apparent intent to do so and we encourage you to report such content as well.

1. Harassment, Bullying, Exploitation or Hateful Activities

   Our Platform is not a place for abusive behavior, hateful content, exploitation of people or animals or harassment of any kind. We encourage reporting of any content that harasses another person or defames anyone. In particular, we shall limit the distribution of or remove such content and accounts, including but not limited to:

   • Posting abuses or curse words, slurs, negative stereotypes, caricatures and generalizations;
   • Obscene content or any content or remarks which are racist, sexist, degrading or discriminatory towards any person or group;
   • Malicious recordings, objectifying someone, sexual remarks, making sexual advances or otherwise engaging in sexual misconduct.
   • Extorting or blackmailing any person;
   • Attack on individuals or groups or mocking or attacking the beliefs, sacred symbols, movements, or institutions of individuals or groups based on their actual or perceived race, color, caste, ethnicity, immigration status, national origin, religion or faith, sex or gender identity, sexual orientation, disability or medical condition. If someone blocks you from their account, do not try to contact them from another account.

2. Nudity and Pornography

   Our Platform is not a place for pornography. We shall limit the distribution of or remove mature and explicit content, including:

   • Content depicting sexually explicit, pornographic or nude material;
   • Content depicting sextortion or revenge pornography;
   • Content that exploits or endangers any person (for example, listing of phone numbers, or sharing information encouraging or soliciting prostitution or escort services);
   • Content depicting child pornography (including without limitation, creation, transmission or browsing of child pornography); or
   • Content depicting rape, gangrape and molestation.

   We do our best to differentiate between pornography and other mature content but we may still limit its distribution so people don’t run into it accidentally.

3. Hate Speech and hate propaganda

   We do not allow content that intimidates any person or promotes violence against or targets, demeans or offends any particular religion, caste, ethnicity, community, disability (physical or mental), age or gender. Any kind of content which induces hatred or intends to create or spread hatred or hate propaganda along lines of religion, caste, ethnicity, community, disability (physical or mental) age or gender is also not allowed.

   Our editorial team reserves the right to evaluate all submissions to ensure they adhere to our Guidelines as well as applicable law. Any content found to violate these Guidelines will be rejected and not considered for publication on the Platform.

4. Violence and disturbing content

   We may not allow any content that may cause discomfort on account of their graphic description or goriness. We may not allow content that glorifies violence, or intends to incite violence, or encourages dangerous and illegal activities, or condones/praises individuals or groups involved in violent and/or criminal activities.

   We recognize that educational or informative content may, on occasion, contain violence and the same may be allowed provided that it is responsibly captioned in detail and contains warnings for its violent content.

5. Intellectual Property rights

   Songs, music, thumbnails advertisements, jingles, poems, limericks, plays, novels, short stories, lectures, speeches, articles, software, brand names, logos, tag lines, affiliations, and other similar content, are all subject to intellectual property protection which shall be governed by our terms of use athttps://www.pocketfm.com/terms-and-conditions and copyright policy at https://www.pocketfm.com/copyright.

   You shall not post any content which copies or uses the intellectual property of another person or organization, without due permission or consent. Always take permission and give due credit to users or other individuals if you use their content (or any portion thereof) by attributing the same. In particular, we shall limit the distribution of or remove such content or accounts, including but not limited to:

   • Which infringe the intellectual property right of a third party, including without limitation works of copyright, patents, designs, brand names, logos, and other proprietary devices and signifiers;
   • Which contain any confidential or proprietary information of a third party;
   • Which defame, disparage, or constitute a negative advertisement of any brand or personality.

6. No violation of applicable laws

   All content that is uploaded, posted, commented on, or shared by you (in any manner) on our Platform, must adhere to the applicable laws of all relevant jurisdictions. We shall cooperate with all authorities to the full extent in cases of breach of any laws.

7. Illegal activities

   We prohibit any content or activity that endorses or promotes the violation of applicable laws. Content relating to crime, violence, sale of illegal or regulated goods or services, drugs, and soliciting or selling of sexual services is strictly forbidden.

   This includes content that educates users on illegal activities such as making bombs or doing drugs. You are not allowed to promote, operate, encourage, or endorse online gambling, online real money games of skill, or online lotteries.

   Impersonation of any person (whether your friends or celebrities or brands) and distribution of false or misleading information on our Platform intended to make personal or financial gains shall be considered fraud and we shall act against the same accordingly.

8. Self-harm, abuse, and suicide

   We do not allow any content related to physical, sexual, or psychological maltreatment, neglect, or abuse of a person, whether a child or an adult. Content relating to self-harm, injury, or suicide or which provokes or encourages anyone to commit self-harm is also not allowed. We also do not allow content that identifies or negatively targets the victims or survivors of abuse, assault, self-injury, or domestic or similar violence.

9. Personal content

   We shall not allow any kind of personal content of another person, including information which such person is not or would not be comfortable being posted. We will remove such content forthwith and without notice.

   You are not allowed to share or reveal anyone’s personal data or sensitive personal data or information, including without limitation, phone number, address, financial information, health information and government-issued ID, etc.

10. Fake News

    We do not allow content that contains or promotes deliberate misinformation or misleading claims. We may also prohibit exaggeration or sensationalism which contains non-factual elements and may be harmful to users on the Platform.

    We shall endeavor to distinguish between fake news and satire/parody.

11. Spam

    Any false or misleading advertisements, representations, claims and unwanted communication shall fall under the ambit of commercial spam, which compromises the quality of user engagement on the Platform. Please ensure that the content you share is authentic and will help create a safe environment for people to use and enjoy the Platform. Do not post content if it may annoy users or which is intended to sell goods/services or gain followers.

COMMUNITY GUIDELINES

In order to build an engaging and respectful community on the Platform, we require you to follow these norms.