Community Guidelines

Debate Arena is a place to disagree well. These guidelines keep debates useful and safe for everyone. They sit alongside our formal Content Policy, Terms of Service, and User Agreement — if there’s ever a conflict, the formal legal documents govern.

Do

  • Argue the idea, not the person. Attack the strongest version of the other side’s argument, not the individual making it.
  • Back up your claims. Reasons, examples, and evidence beat insults every time.
  • Stay on topic. Keep your comment relevant to the debate statement.
  • Assume good faith. People can disagree with you and still be worth listening to.

Don’t

  • No hate or harassment. No attacks or slurs based on race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or similar. No bullying, threats, or targeted harassment.
  • No violence or dangerous content. No threats, incitement, or promotion of self-harm or violence.
  • No sexual or graphic material. Keep it suitable for a general audience — no pornography, gore, or shock content.
  • No illegal content. Nothing unlawful, and no doxxing or sharing others’ private information.
  • No spam or manipulation. No advertising, scams, vote manipulation, bots, or mass-created accounts.
  • No impersonation. Don’t pretend to be someone else or misrepresent an affiliation.

How moderation works

Every topic and comment is checked before it publishes by a layered system: a keyword filter, an automated toxicity score, and an AI safety review tuned for sensitive and unlawful content. Anything that fails is rejected on submission so you can edit and try again.

After publishing, any member can press Report on a topic or comment. Once enough distinct members report the same item, it’s automatically hidden pending review by a moderator, who will either restore it (no breach) or remove it (confirmed breach). New accounts have a short waiting period before they can vote or report, which limits abuse.

Consequences

Content that breaks these guidelines can be removed, and repeat or serious violations can lead to an account being suspended. If you believe a moderation decision was wrong, contact us (below) — appeals and takedown requests are handled per our Content Removal & Takedown Policy.

Report a problem

Use the in-app Report button, or reach us via the Contact page.