bitvid/content/docs/community/community-guidelines.md

Welcome to bitvid, a decentralized video-sharing platform built on Nostr. These Community Guidelines outline the types of content allowed and prohibited on the client hosted at this domain. Enforcement occurs at the client level with blur, hide, and downrank rules that mirror the current moderator tooling. Personal blocklists, mute controls, admin blacklists, and NIP-56 reporting are already available so you can tune your own experience.

⚠️ Note: Don't like the Guidelines? Fork the code and host the client on your own domain.

1. Content Principles

bitvid aims to support free expression while maintaining a platform where users feel safe and respected. To achieve this balance, the following principles guide our moderation approach:

• Decentralization: We do not host videos directly but enable peer-to-peer sharing through WebTorrent and Nostr.
• User Moderation: Users have control over their feeds through subscriptions, blocking, and reporting.
• Transparency: Enforcement actions at the client level are visible, and policy updates will be communicated openly.

2. Allowed Content

bitvid encourages a wide range of content, including but not limited to:

• Educational and informative videos (tech tutorials, history, science, etc.).
• Entertainment (music, gaming, comedy, reviews, etc.).
• News and journalism (independent reporting and discussions).
• Creative works (art, animations, short films, open-source projects, etc.).
• Discussions and opinions (provided they adhere to respectful discourse).

3. Prohibited Content

To maintain a functional and ethical platform, the following types of content are blocked at the client level:

3.1. Illegal Content

• Content that violates applicable laws, including but not limited to:
  • CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) (immediate report and block enforcement).
  • Human trafficking, exploitation, or abuse.
  • Direct threats or incitements to violence.
  • Explicit doxxing or leaking of private information without consent.
  • Fraudulent or scam content (e.g., Ponzi schemes, fake giveaways, impersonation).

3.2. Spam and Low-Quality Content

• Mass-uploaded, repetitive, or bot-generated content intended to flood the platform.
• Clickbait thumbnails/titles that mislead viewers.
• Excessive self-promotion with no meaningful engagement.

3.3. NSFW and Sensitive Content

• Pornographic material (non-artistic sexually explicit content is not allowed at this stage).
• Extreme gore or graphic violence (unless in an educational or journalistic context).
• Hate speech, racism, or targeted harassment.
• Calls for harm against individuals or groups based on race, religion, nationality, gender, or sexual orientation.
• Encouragement of self-harm, suicide, or dangerous activities.

3.4. AI-Generated and Deepfake Content

• Deepfake impersonations of real people used for deceptive purposes.
• AI-generated content must be clearly labeled to avoid misinformation.

4. Enforcement & Visibility Controls

bitvid enforces these guidelines through client-side visibility rules that match the current moreMenuController and userBlocks behavior:

• Blurred previews: When trusted NIP-56 nudity reports reach the configured blur threshold (DEFAULT_BLUR_THRESHOLD in config/instance-config.js), thumbnails render blurred and autoplay previews pause. Every blur includes a “show anyway” override. The upstream configuration currently uses one trusted report, but adjust the export to match your policy.
• Downranked authors: Muting a creator adds them to your NIP-51 mute list (kind 10000). Videos from muted creators are deprioritized but still visible with clear badges so you can reverse the action.
• Personal blocks: Blocking a creator adds them to your private block list (userBlocks). Videos from blocked creators are hidden from feeds, carousels, and modals unless you explicitly unblock them.
• Admin hard hides: Moderator-maintained blacklists (NIP-51 kind 30000) remove creators from default feeds for everyone using the hosted client. Moderators can still review the content through “show anyway” controls when auditing decisions.
• Relay transparency: Because enforcement is client-side, blocked or blurred videos may still exist on relays and appear in other Nostr clients that do not apply these rules.

5. User Moderation Controls

You can manage moderation directly from the client using the existing menus rendered by videoMenuRenderers:

5.1 Personal blocklist (userBlocks)

• Open any video card or modal and select the More (···) button. Choose Block creator to hide all future uploads from that pubkey. moreMenuController will confirm the action and refresh your feeds.
• To review or remove blocks, open your profile avatar → Profile → Blocked. The list is private to your account; use Unblock next to a creator to restore their videos.

5.2 Mute list management

• Use the same More menu and pick Mute creator. Muted creators stay visible but are downranked, aligning with the viewer mute list logic in moreMenuController.
• Return to a muted creator’s video later and select Unmute creator from the menu to restore their normal ranking.

5.3 Moderator blacklist controls

• Moderators with admin permissions see Blacklist creator inside the More menu. This updates the shared admin list managed by moreMenuController and immediately removes the creator from default feeds.
• Only accounts with edit rights can add or remove creators. Attempting to blacklist without sufficient permissions will surface an error toast.

5.4 Reporting workflow (NIP-56)

• Select Report video from the More menu to launch the reporting modal. Provide a category (e.g., nudity, spam, illegal) and submit; the client signs a NIP-56 report from your connected key.
• Reports feed the same trusted-report scoring used for blur and hide decisions. Moderators monitor these queues to escalate urgent cases.

5.5 Safety & Moderation thresholds

• Open your profile avatar → Profile → Safety & Moderation to adjust blur and autoplay thresholds. Leave a field blank to return to the defaults exported from config/instance-config.js (DEFAULT_BLUR_THRESHOLD, DEFAULT_AUTOPLAY_BLOCK_THRESHOLD, DEFAULT_TRUSTED_MUTE_HIDE_THRESHOLD, DEFAULT_TRUSTED_SPAM_HIDE_THRESHOLD). The upstream repo ships example values of 1 trusted report for blur, 1 for autoplay blocking, 20 trusted mutes to hide authors, and 1 trusted spam report to hide videos—tune the config file before deployment if your community needs different baselines.
• These controls update immediately and sync with the moderation overlays applied by moreMenuController and VideoCard components. Operators can edit the config file to change the baseline before deploying their own instance.

6. Appeals and Feedback

As we refine the moderation system, we welcome feedback from early users. If you believe your content was unfairly blocked, you can appeal by reaching out through bitvid’s Nostr channels.

7. Final Notes

bitvid is committed to free speech and open platforms while acknowledging the need for responsible content moderation. These guidelines will continue to evolve as we develop better tools for user moderation and decentralized governance.

⚠️ Note: If you agree to follow these guidelines then submit an application to be a content creator!

⚠️ Note: If you believe your content was unfairly blocked or restricted on bitvid.network, please complete this form.

Thank you for being part of the early bitvid community!