Digital Moderation Policy | Version 1.0
Effective February 2026 Purpose of This Policy The South Carolina Forum exists to create a respectful deliberative space for people in South Carolina to share issues, exchange ideas, and engage in constructive conversation. This moderation policy is designed to enable participants to contribute openly, thoughtfully, and safely without fear of harassment, abuse, or misuse of the platform.
The South Carolina Forum is committed to fostering open, cross-partisan dialogue grounded in mutual respect. We welcome disagreement and debate, but not behavior that silences, targets, or harms others.
This policy applies to all participation on Go Vocal and across The South Carolina Forum’s social media channels.
Community Engagement Guidelines To support meaningful conversations, the following content is not permitted and may be removed at the discretion of The South Carolina Forum team:
Personal attacks, insults, or abusive behavior: This includes harassment, intimidation, or hostile language directed at individuals or groups. It also includes discriminatory comments based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, or other protected characteristics.
Offensive language or profanity: Use of vulgar, obscene, or inflammatory language that undermines respectful engagement
Marketing or advertising content: Promotional material, fundraising appeals, or spam unrelated to the purpose of The South Carolina Forum
Sharing personal information about others: Posting private or identifying information about another individual without their explicit consent
Copyrighted material: Images, text, or other content shared without the rights or permission to do so
These guidelines are posted on the Go Vocal engagement phase before a participant provides input using an open-text format on the platform.
Enforcement in Go Vocal For Go Vocal, content that violates this policy will be flagged using the existing filters and reviewed by The South Carolina Forum Team. Participants will receive this automated communication:
Your post, "{{input_title}}", was flagged for review by our automated moderation system. If the post complies with our Community Engagement Guidelines, the flag will be cleared and no further action will be taken.
If we determine your post violates the Guidelines, it may be removed. Please note that accounts with three violations may be suspended; where there is evidence that multiple accounts are controlled by the same individual, we may suspend all associated accounts.
If you require any clarification, please contact us at
[email protected]. Thank you.
If the comment is deemed a breach of this policy, it will be removed from Go Vocal. The comment will be included in a state-level internal tracker with the rationale for the removal, as well as the backend of Go Vocal but not visible to other users. The internal tracker will only be available to The South Carolina Forum team members and not referenced publicly.
Participants who violate the policy three times will be blocked from further participation. If blocked, participants will receive communication from The South Carolina Forum that states:
We are writing to inform you that your access to the Go Vocal platform was terminated due to repeated violations of our Community Engagement Guidelines. After multiple instances of non-compliant behavior, we determined that continued participation was not consistent with the standards required for use of the platform. This decision is in accordance with our moderation policy.
If there is evidence that a blocked individual is using multiple email accounts to bypass enforcement, all associated accounts will be blocked.
NOTE: During Phase 1A (Idea Mapping), when the public is posting free-form text, The South Carolina Forum team will review new and flagged content daily at 5:00 AM and 5:00 PM (New York time) while the activity is live.
Implementation in Social MediaFor social media, moderation is conducted manually by The South Carolina Forum team through a human moderator. The moderator will proactively engage with users to share neutral, fact-based information about The South Carolina Forum and its activities to foster a productive engagement that advances the objectives of the initiative.
Content that violates the Community Engagement Guidelines may also be subject to the relevant social media platform’s rules and enforcement actions.
If the moderator identifies content that breaches the Community Engagement Guidelines, they may hide the comment, especially when it targets specific groups or is likely to escalate. Hiding allows the original user to still see their comment, while preventing it from being visible to others.
Moderation decisions are made to protect the integrity of dialogue and community safety, not to suppress differing viewpoints or political perspectives.
Safeguarding There may be instances where participants share sensitive information or raise concerns that suggest psychological or emotional needs beyond the scope of The South Carolina Forum’s mandate. While The South Carolina Forum does not provide counseling or crisis services, moderators will acknowledge the comment in a respectful and supportive manner to avoid further harm. Where appropriate, the moderation team will provide the individual with relevant, publicly available state-level support resources and encourage them to seek assistance directly from those services.
