Community guidelines

Atlas is for confrontation over ideas, not people. Debates here are direct, heated, and sometimes uncomfortable, and that is by design. These guidelines are not a civility pledge, and we do not referee tone. A few things are never acceptable here, whatever side you are on and however strongly you feel.

These apply regardless of your position, the topic, or how heated a debate gets. Breaking any of them can get your account suspended or banned.

• Doxxing. Sharing, or threatening to share, anyone's home address, workplace, phone number, financial details, or other private identifying information, or trying to reveal who is behind a made up name. That covers the person you are talking to, a viewer, and anyone else. More on this below.
• Threats and incitement. Threatening violence against a person or a group, or calling on others to do so, on stage, in chat, or anywhere else on Atlas.
• Coordinated harassment. Organizing or joining a brigade: flooding someone's queue, chat, or profile as a group to intimidate rather than talk, or taking a dispute off Atlas to harass someone.
• Sexual content involving minors. Zero tolerance, no exceptions. It is reported to the relevant authorities.
• Dehumanization and slurs. Arguing against an idea, a policy, or a group is what Atlas is for. Directing slurs or dehumanizing language at a real person because of their race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability is not debate. It is harassment, and it is not allowed.
• Illegal content and activity. Anything else that is illegal under United States law, including facilitating illegal transactions or sharing terrorist content.
• Impersonation and manipulation. Pretending to be someone you are not, or using bots or fake accounts to stack a queue.
• Minors on the platform. You must be 18 or older to create an account or take part.

Some people take part on Atlas under a made up name. That choice is theirs, and everyone else has to respect it. Doxxing means exposing who someone is or how to find them, and it is never allowed.

• Don't share anyone's private details. That includes someone's real name when they are using a made up one, their home address, phone number, email, workplace, school, photos of them, and their accounts on other sites.
• Don't try to work out who someone is. Don't guess, hint at, or announce who is behind a made up name, and don't ask others to help find out. A wrong guess is not allowed either: it can put a stranger at risk.
• Don't ask someone to say who they are. Asking someone for their real name, where they live, or where they work is not allowed. Whether to share any of that is up to them.

Breaking this rule is handled the same way as the other rules here. Live moderation looks for it in chat and on stage: the first time is a private warning, and after that you can't chat or are muted for a minute. Repeats are passed to the host and the Atlas team, and doxxing can mean a permanent ban. Sharing your own details is up to you, but think twice: everyone watching can see them.

Atlas is a place for controversial opinions on purpose. An opinion being offensive, wrong, upsetting, or unpopular is not by itself a violation. We will not remove a debate because someone found the other side's argument distasteful.

You must be 18 or older to create an account, post an opinion, or join a queue. Atlas hosts live, largely unmoderated debate with public chat, and that carries real legal exposure. Watching without an account is open to everyone.

• No debate is ended automatically. Chat and what is said on stage are checked as they happen for slurs, threats, harassment, and doxxing. Someone who crosses a line gets a private warning first, and after that loses chat or is muted for a minute. No system ends a debate. A live debate is ended when a person acts: the person being targeted, or a moderator responding to a report.
• Leaving is always yours. Leaving the stage ends your own participation at any time. No justification needed.
• Reporting stops the harm first. Flagging one of the violations above (doxxing, threats, slurs) lets either person on stage end or mute the room immediately. That does not wait for an investigation. It stops the harm, and we sort out what happened afterwards.
• Afterwards. A first offense usually means a warning and removal of the offending content. A second means a temporary suspension. Doxxing, threats, being under 18, or sexual content involving a minor mean an immediate permanent ban.
• Appeals. Anyone banned or suspended can appeal once, in writing, and will get a real answer.
• No public callouts. We do not publicize enforcement actions against specific people. The goal is stopping harm, not making examples.

A report control is available on every live debate, opinion, and profile. Reporting during a live debate can trigger an immediate mute or cutoff while it is reviewed. We aim to review every report within 24 hours. Reporting in bad faith is itself something we act on.

Questions about these guidelines go to support@joinatlas.live.