Community guidelines

What Community is for

Community is the optional part of Withya where adults ask questions, answer each other, connect with nearby families at a similar stage, and send direct messages. It exists for the ordinary business of raising a small child: what worked, what did not, and what nobody warned you about.

Your community identity belongs to you as an adult. Nothing from a child's profile is published here automatically: no care records, no memories, no photos, no assistant conversations. Anything visible to other people is something you chose to write.

These guidelines are part of the terms and conditions. They apply to posts, replies, profiles, connection requests, direct messages and anything you attach to them.

Child safety standards

Withya is an app about children, used by the adults who care for them. Child safety is not a section of these rules; it is the reason they exist.

Child sexual abuse and exploitation is prohibited

Withya prohibits child sexual abuse and exploitation, known as CSAE, absolutely and without exception on every part of Withya. This includes child sexual abuse material, CSAM, in any form; the sexualization of a minor in image, video, drawing, text or caption; grooming, sextortion, or any attempt to solicit a minor for a sexual purpose; trafficking a minor; and promoting, glorifying, normalizing or seeking any of the above. It also covers using Withya to advertise, link to, or arrange access to such material anywhere else.

It includes images, video and other material that has been generated, edited, "nudified" or otherwise altered, with AI or with any other tool, to sexualize a child or to make a child appear undressed. This applies whether the child shown is real or not, and whether or not the material is labeled as AI-generated. Making, asking for or sharing this kind of material, or a tool or prompt for making it, is treated the same as sharing child sexual abuse material.

There is no artistic, documentary, educational or parental exemption to this rule, and no exemption for material that was drawn, generated or altered rather than photographed.

How to report it

You can report posts, replies, messages and members, and block members, from within the app. Reporting takes just a few taps. Blocking someone stops their messages and connection requests to you and hides their content from you.

You can also report a child safety concern directly to [email protected], whether or not you have a Withya account. You do not need to be the person who saw it first, and you do not need to be certain. Please do not send us the material itself, even to prove a report. Tell us where it is instead.

What we do about it

We treat a CSAE report as the highest-priority category of report we receive, and reports are reviewed by a person. When we become aware of apparent child sexual abuse material on Withya, we remove it, we terminate the account responsible, and we preserve what the law requires us to preserve. We report apparent child sexual abuse material, and other child sexual exploitation the law requires us to report, such as the enticement or trafficking of a child, to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), or to the relevant authority, as required by law. Where a child appears to be in immediate danger, we may also contact law enforcement.

Compliance with child safety law

Withya is committed to complying with the child safety and child protection laws that apply where it is offered, including US federal reporting requirements for apparent child sexual abuse material, and with the child safety policies of the App Store and Google Play. We review these standards as the product and the law change, and we cooperate with valid legal requests from law enforcement and child protection authorities.

Designated contact

The designated point of contact for child safety, including CSAE concerns raised by a user, a platform or an authority, is [email protected], addressed to Withya.

What is not allowed

Beyond the child safety standards above, do not post, send or share:

• Content that endangers a child, including dangerous practices presented as care advice.
• Any image or video of a real child that has been generated or altered with AI to show the child doing, wearing or saying something they did not, or to place them somewhere they were not, and any sexualized, "nudified" or intimate image or video of any person that has been generated or altered. See AI-generated and altered content.
• Harassment, bullying, threats, stalking, or repeated unwanted contact after someone has stopped replying or blocked you.
• Hate speech or attacks on a person or group based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, caste, disability, illness, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, immigration status or family structure.
• Sexual content, nudity, graphic violence or shock content.
• Intimate images of anyone shared without their consent, whether real or digitally altered. See intimate images shared without consent.
• Content that encourages, promotes or gives instructions for suicide or self-harm. See self-harm and crisis.
• Another person's private information without their consent, including a photo of someone else's child, a home address, a phone number, a workplace or medical details.
• Medical claims presented as fact, treatment instructions, prescription or dosing directions, or discouraging someone from seeking care for a child.
• Synthetic or AI-generated images, video, audio or text presented as real in a way that could deceive or mislead, including fabricated content about a real person.
• Spam, repetitive posting, scams, multi-level marketing, affiliate selling, advertising or recruiting.
• Impersonating another person, a clinician, a public body or Withya.
• Illegal content, or arranging anything illegal, including content prohibited under the laws that apply to us and to you, such as the information technology intermediary rules in India.
• Content that infringes someone else's copyright or trademark. See the copyright and DMCA policy.
• Malware, harmful code, or links designed to deceive people or damage their devices.
• Automated collection, bulk messaging, or attempts to get around a block, a report or a removed account.

Disagreement is fine. Blunt is fine. Contempt for another parent's choices is not.

AI-generated and altered content

You can use tools, including AI tools, to help you write. What you share is still your responsibility. Do not present AI-generated or altered images, video, audio or text as real, and do not use them to show a real person saying or doing something they did not say or do. Where the law asks for AI-generated or altered content to be labeled, label it clearly.

Withya may label content that appears to be AI-generated or altered, ask you to label it, limit who can see it, or remove it.

Some content is not allowed at all, labeled or not: any image or video of a real child that has been generated or altered with AI to show the child doing, wearing or saying something they did not, or to place them somewhere they were not, and any sexualized, "nudified" or intimate image or video of any person that has been generated or altered. Sexualized material of this kind showing a child, real or not, is treated as child sexual abuse material under the child safety standards above.

Intimate images shared without consent

If an intimate image or video of you has been shared on Withya without your consent, you can ask us to remove it. This applies to real images and to images that have been digitally altered or generated to look like you. You can also make the request on behalf of someone else if you are authorized to act for them.

Email [email protected] with the subject line "Intimate image removal", and include:

1. Your physical or electronic signature. Typing your full name is enough.
2. Enough detail for us to find the content, such as where it appeared, the account that shared it, and a description or screenshot.
3. A brief statement that you believe in good faith that the image was shared without the consent of the person shown, with any information that helps us assess it.
4. Your contact details, so we can reach you about the request.

We remove the content within 48 hours of receiving a valid request, and we make reasonable efforts to find and remove identical copies on Withya. We may also end the account that shared it. You do not need a Withya account to make a request, and you can use the in-app report control as well.

This route is separate from copyright. You do not need to own the copyright in an image to ask us to remove it, and you do not need to use the copyright and DMCA policy.

Self-harm and crisis

Talking honestly about a hard time, including your own mental health, is not against these rules. Content that encourages, promotes or gives instructions for suicide or self-harm is against them, and we may remove it.

If you or someone else is in crisis, call or text 988 in the US or Canada, call Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK, Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia or Tele-MANAS on 14416 in India, or contact your local crisis line or emergency number. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911 in the US or your local emergency number now.

Withya is not a crisis or emergency service, and Community is not a place to get urgent help. Do not rely on a post, a message or a report to us to reach someone in time. If something you see worries you, report it, and where content suggests a threat to someone's life or safety, we may notify the relevant authorities.

Reporting and blocking

Use the report control when something breaks these rules, and the block control when you simply do not want contact with someone. You do not have to explain a block to anyone, and we do not tell the other person that you blocked them.

Reports go to our moderators with the context needed to assess them: the reported item, where it appeared, and the accounts involved. We keep a copy of what was reported so it can be reviewed even if it is later edited or removed. We may contact you for more detail. Do not file reports in bad faith to silence someone; that is itself a breach of these rules.

If someone is in immediate danger, call 911 in the US or your local emergency number first. Reporting to us is not a substitute for calling for help. Where content suggests a threat to someone's life or safety, we may notify the relevant authorities.

Anyone, with or without a Withya account, can also send us a notice about content they believe is illegal. See notices of illegal content.

Notices of illegal content

If you believe something on Withya is illegal, you can tell us whether or not you have an account. Members can use the in-app report control. You can also email [email protected] with the subject line "Illegal content notice", and include:

1. Why you believe the content is illegal, and the law concerned if you know it.
2. Enough detail for us to find the content, such as where it appeared in the app, the account that shared it, the date, and a description.
3. Your name and email address. You do not have to give these if your notice is about child sexual abuse or exploitation.
4. A statement that you believe in good faith that the information in your notice is accurate and complete.

We look at each notice carefully and objectively, and decide whether the content breaks the law or these guidelines. Content that breaks these guidelines may be removed even if it is legal. Where the law requires it, we confirm that we received your notice and tell you what we decided and how you can challenge the decision.

Some concerns have their own routes: child safety concerns can also go to [email protected], intimate images shared without consent follow the removal route above, and copyright claims follow the copyright and DMCA policy.

How we moderate

Posts and replies may be reviewed before they appear, and today they generally are, so they may take a little time to appear. We may also review display names, and content after it appears. A review checks content against these guidelines; it does not check whether what someone wrote is accurate.

Direct messages are possible only between adults who have both agreed to connect. They are not screened before they are delivered. A message that is reported to us may be read and reviewed by a person, and we may also access messages where we need to for safety, security or legal reasons, or to enforce these guidelines.

We do not currently use automated tools to decide on content. We may use automated tools to help detect, prioritize or limit content that may break these guidelines or the law. Decisions to remove content or to restrict an account involve review by a person. When we use automated tools, we will describe them here.

We review reports as quickly as we can, and child safety reports are prioritized. Depending on what we find, we may leave the content in place, label it, remove it, restrict who can see it, warn the account, suspend it, or end it. We also act when we become aware of a breach without a report, and when we receive a valid order from a court or an authority. No review process catches everything, and we do not promise that every breach will be found or removed.

Telling you about a decision

When we remove or restrict your content, or restrict or end your account, we may tell you what we did and why, by email or in the app, and we do so where the law requires it. Where the law requires it, that notice explains what we decided and what it covers, including how long it lasts and where it applies, the facts and the rule or law it was based on, whether it followed a report, whether automated tools were used, and how you can challenge it.

Appeals

If you think we got a decision wrong, reply to any notice we sent, or write to [email protected] with "Appeal" in the subject line, within 6 months of the decision. A person will look at it again, where possible someone who was not involved in the original decision, and we will tell you the outcome. Appealing to us does not affect any right you have to complain to a regulator or to go to court.

If you are in the United Kingdom

You can complain to us about content on Withya that you believe is illegal, about content or an account we removed or restricted, including if you think we did so in error, and about how we are meeting our duties under the Online Safety Act 2023. Use the in-app report control, or email [email protected] with "Complaint" in the subject line. We will look into your complaint and take the action we consider appropriate, and where the law requires it we will tell you the outcome.

If you are in India

We remove or disable access to content when we receive an order from a court or an authorized government agency, within the time the rules set. You can raise a complaint about content on Withya, including content that is synthetic, intimate or impersonates someone, with our Grievance Officer, Shrey Pithwa, at [email protected], attention: Grievance Officer. We acknowledge and act on complaints within the periods set by the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and if you are not satisfied you may appeal to the Grievance Appellate Committee where it has jurisdiction. We also remind members of these guidelines, and of what happens if they break them, as often as those rules require.

Consequences

Most breaches end with a removal. Repeated breaches, or a single serious one, may end with suspension or with the account being closed. CSAE breaches end the account permanently, and are reported as described above. Closing an account for a breach does not refund a store subscription; that is handled by the store.

Losing access to Community does not by itself delete your family's records.

Experience, not advice

Everything another member writes here is their personal experience or opinion. It is not medical or other professional advice, it is not reviewed by a clinician, and it is not checked by us for accuracy, even when we review it before it appears. The same is true in reverse: what you write is your experience, and someone may read it as though it were a plan.

The rest of Withya works the same way. Guides, articles, recipes, activities, assistant answers, estimates such as sleep timing, growth percentiles, charts, summaries and reminders are general information and tools for keeping records and planning routines. They are not medical, mental-health, legal or other professional advice, and they are not a diagnosis, a treatment plan or a replacement for your child's doctor, nurse, pharmacist or other professional. The assistant is an AI system, not a person, and it is not a doctor, nurse, therapist or other licensed professional. Answers and estimates can be wrong. Some guides and other content are prepared with the help of AI tools, and guides are not reviewed by clinicians unless a guide says so. See the health, safety and AI notice and the terms and conditions.

To the extent the law allows, Withya is not responsible for what members post or send, or for decisions made in reliance on it. This does not limit any responsibility the law does not allow us to exclude, as the terms and conditions explain.

For your child's individual needs, ask your child's healthcare professional. In an emergency, call 911 in the US or your local emergency number.

Other people and other children

Other people's children are not yours to post. Do not upload a photo of a child who is not in your care, do not name someone else's child in a way that identifies them, and think twice before posting a detail about your own child that they may not want public in 15 years.

Community is a shared part of Withya, visible to other members. Treat anything you write here as something that can be read, screenshotted and kept by other people.

Contact

Withya is operated by STH Technologies, LLC. For a question about these guidelines or a moderation decision, write to [email protected]. For a child safety concern, use [email protected]. We can handle notices, complaints and appeals in English.