A few rule edits and clarifications

[Kelpie]

Hello everybody,

There have been a few clarifications and edits added to the current Wolfhome Rules in regards to rule numbers 1 and 3 (Inappropriate content and Disturbing the Peace). These are specifically about controlled substances and lying about official administrative action with the intent to cause disruption and disturb the peace. The following has been added to rule number 1:

Controlled substances (including prescription medications and illegal drugs) are allowed to be discussed on Wolfhome as long as it is done in an educational or constructive manner. Discussion of controlled substances without the intent to inform in this way is not allowed.

This was already how we handled things, but we found the old wording of the rule was rather unclear, hence, we have added clarification. We hope this helps with making the rule more clear.

Furthermore, the following has been added to rule 3:

3.) Disturbing the Peace

In most cases disturbing the peace refers to behaving in ways that are upsetting or unsettling to people within the community, causing emotional grief, or trauma. This includes, but is not limited to:
Creating unnecessary drama to intentionally disturb another user. This includes misrepresenting administrative action and falsifying administrative statements.

This is not something that we will take lightly and action will be taken as this is a form of disrupting the peace with the intent to cause trouble. You must never falsify administrative statements or action under any circumstances.

These edits have been made on both the chat and forum platforms.

Please let us know if you have any questions about these rule edits. We hope everybody has a nice new year!

Best wishes,
-The Wolfhome Administration.

[Tau]

Hello everyone! We have added some clarification to the "Private Room" rule in regards to minors being present in private rooms to keep our younger user base safer. While we already have a rule in place in regards to propositioning minors and/or subjecting them to adult material in our "Propositioning Minors" rule, we thought it would be good to include this in the private room rule as well.

The original rule read:

Private Rooms
Owners of a private room are responsible for what happens in said room. This means that when you enter another user’s room, you are subject to their rules. If you do not like the rules laid down by the room owner, we suggest going to another location. The only times that the Wolfhome Administration Team will intervene in private rooms are when safety threats (this includes death threats and self harm threats), hack threats, virus threats, suicide threats are made or the propositioning of a minor occurs.

Opening or entering another person's private room on Wolfhome, without their knowledge and without their consent, is not acceptable. Using another's personal room without permission will be considered a form of theft, and said user can be removed from the room and given an official warning. If this occurs, the room owner will need to report it to the Wolfhome Administration directly so it can be handled.

The new rule (additions in yellow):

Private Rooms
Owners of a private room are responsible for what happens in said room. This means that when you enter another user’s room, you are subject to their rules. If you do not like the rules laid down by the room owner, we suggest going to another location. The only times that the Wolfhome Administration Team will intervene in private rooms are when safety threats (this includes death threats and self harm threats), hack threats, virus threats, suicide threats are made or the propositioning of a minor occurs.

Wolfhome is extremely serious when it comes to protecting minors. We make every effort to keep this site safe and enjoyable for all users. Adult users (18+) are subject to additional expectations when interacting with underage users. It is unacceptable for any adult user to expose an underage user (minor) to explicit content of any kind. This rule also covers propositioning minors, exposing them to explicit content, any Not Safe For Work (NSFW) material, or any other potentially unsafe activities. Anyone caught doing so will be permanently banned from ALL Chatlands sites. Instances of propositioning minors will be reported to the appropriate Internet Service Provider (ISP) and/or local legal authorities.

**A permanent ban across ALL Chatlands sites will be placed for any cases of propositioning a minor/a minor propositioning an adult, or adult users exposing minors to explicit content of any kind.

Opening or entering another person's private room on Wolfhome, without their knowledge and without their consent, is not acceptable. Using another's personal room without permission will be considered a form of theft, and said user can be removed from the room and given an official warning. If this occurs, the room owner will need to report it to the Wolfhome Administration directly so it can be handled.

[Colo]

I'm really confused and just want to clarify. The rewording is vague as it includes "nsfw" material. Does this mean, should someone who is under 18 be in a private room, and I link Limp Bizkit's Hot Dog, I'll be banned? It is inherently NSFW and NSFW content is explicitly named in the rule change.

I'm just trying to figure out what has materially changed about this rule. Is it rewording for clarity, or is it an actual change in rules that we need to censor ourselves around minors in private rooms?

Just asking for clarity, sorry to be a pain.

[Mongrel]

I would also like to ask for clarification on falsifying administrative statements and misrepresenting administrative action. This wording is confusing to me and I would like examples of it

[Tau]

I'm really confused and just want to clarify. The rewording is vague as it includes "nsfw" material. Does this mean, should someone who is under 18 be in a private room, and I link Limp Bizkit's Hot Dog, I'll be banned? It is inherently NSFW and NSFW content is explicitly named in the rule change.

I'm just trying to figure out what has materially changed about this rule. Is it rewording for clarity, or is it an actual change in rules that we need to censor ourselves around minors in private rooms?

Just asking for clarity, sorry to be a pain.

Not a pain at all!

The private room rules have not changed, these rules were always in place, we just wanted to add more clarification to this particular rule. These same rules were also already listed under the "propositioning minors" rule. We wanted to make sure that the user base understood that these same actions would be held accountable in private rooms as well, and not just the public rooms, since private rooms have their own set of rules with being more lenient.

When it comes to NSFW content in private rooms:
Songs that are labeled as NSFW are fine, as they always have been, in private rooms. We are referring to content such as pictures of naked humans, porn, sexual acts/talk, and other things along that level should not be posted in private rooms if a minor is present. If you want to share a naked picture of a lady in your private room, so long as no minors are present, then you can do just that. You just want to be sure that no minors are present prior to linking to such material.

I hope this makes sense and helps with clarifying this addition to the rule?

I would also like to ask for clarification on falsifying administrative statements and misrepresenting administrative action. This wording is confusing to me and I would like examples of it

We have had users in the past falsify why they were warned or banned to other users on chat which in turn puts us in a bad light to look as if we are 'abusing our powers', which has never been the case.

An example would be:
UserA is warned for using a derogatory word in a public room towards another user. UserA then turns around and tells other users on chat that they were warned because they said "hi" to an admin. (Which has actually happened in the past.)

Admin whisper to UserA: Hi UserA. It was reported that you were using derogatory words in the public rooms towards another user. Please refrain from using derogatory words in the future as we do not tolerate such language. This is an official warning and if you continue to break the rules you will progress up your ban ladder. You may want to refresh yourself with the rules at this time by following this link: LinkHere

UserA to the room after the admin leaves: Omg guys, I just got warned by that admin saying I shouldn't say hi to them. wtf?

This would be falsifying administrative statements and misrepresenting administrative actions.
Hope this helps!

[Totem]

ok but my thing is people are lying about their age to get into private rooms or don't disclose.. i suppose its just a safer bet for nsfw material if i mark my room 18+ but if the minor marks their acc as over 18 and there is nsfw posted in the room will it fall back on us ? hope that makes sense

[Kelpie]

ok but my thing is people are lying about their age to get into private rooms or don't disclose.. i suppose its just a safer bet for nsfw material if i mark my room 18+ but if the minor marks their acc as over 18 and there is nsfw posted in the room will it fall back on us ? hope that makes sense

No it shouldn’t, because we understand these things do happen and some cases will fall between the cracks a little bit (and people should be signing up with their correct ages for this reason in the first place), but, if you find a user who is underage for the room rating and has entered a room marked 18+, do let us know. Also if you know they’re underage, they need to be removed from the room and us notified.

Often more times than not, the instances described above happens in an unrated room, so we’ve clarified adding a room rating to limit this from happening. A good idea for this is to sniff people you’re not really sure about before sharing your adult content. Although it won’t guarantee an age will be in there, it’s just good to check anyway.

edit: Just to clarify further, you will be held accountable if you share adult content if you know there is a minor present.

[Totem]

thank you- that was my bigger worry as I do know it has happened where people lie about their age just to get into 18+ rooms. I meant it in a sense where we didn't know they were a minor. However I don't usually allow strangers in my room anyway more so just a in general question!!

[Zuko]

thank you- that was my bigger worry as I do know it has happened where people lie about their age just to get into 18+ rooms. I meant it in a sense where we didn't know they were a minor. However I don't usually allow strangers in my room anyway more so just a in general question!!

As a chat owner, I would say that would fall on the responsibility of the user themselves. I believe there is a check to see if you know you're entering an 18+ room beforehand, not sure though. But if a minor does it on their own accord and you do not have any way of knowing, it isn't your responsibility in a legal sense, yknow? It's just like minors who access pornography by clicking "Yes, I am 18". It's their own and their parents/guardians' responsibility.

[Totem]

thank you- that was my bigger worry as I do know it has happened where people lie about their age just to get into 18+ rooms. I meant it in a sense where we didn't know they were a minor. However I don't usually allow strangers in my room anyway more so just a in general question!!

As a chat owner, I would say that would fall on the responsibility of the user themselves. I believe there is a check to see if you know you're entering an 18+ room beforehand, not sure though. But if a minor does it on their own accord and you do not have any way of knowing, it isn't your responsibility in a legal sense, yknow? It's just like minors who access pornography by clicking "Yes, I am 18". It's their own and their parents/guardians' responsibility.

Yeah that's about what I figured as well.