Community Guidelines

Last updated 9 July 2026

Beacon is your block's board — anonymous, tied to where you stand, and gone within a day. Anonymity is for freedom, not for cover. These rules keep it a place people actually want to open. Break them and your post can be hidden or removed; abuse the platform and you can lose access.

The rules

1. Be a decent neighbor

No harassment, bullying, threats, or targeting individuals. Treat the block like you'd treat people standing next to you — because you are.

2. No hate

No content that attacks or dehumanizes people based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or similar. None of it.

3. Nothing sexual involving minors — ever

Zero tolerance for child sexual abuse material or the sexualization of minors. We remove it and report it to the authorities and NCMEC.

4. Keep it non-explicit

No pornography or graphic sexual content. Beacon is a public, neighborhood space.

5. No violence or dangerous acts

Don't post threats, incitement, glorification of violence, or content that encourages people to get hurt.

6. Protect privacy — including your own

No doxxing, no sharing others' personal information, and no filming people in ways they'd reasonably expect to be private. Don't post someone else's face as a joke at their expense.

7. Nothing illegal

No selling drugs or weapons, no solicitation, no illegal activity. Local laws apply on your block here too.

8. No spam or ads

No repetitive posting, scams, links farms, or self-promotion. Post because something's actually happening, not to sell.

9. Post what's real and yours

Share moments from where you are. Don't impersonate, don't recycle others' content as your own, don't manufacture fake local “events.”

How moderation works

Anyone can report a post or comment. Reports are anonymous.
When enough distinct people report the same thing, it's automatically hidden pending review.
Content that breaks these rules is removed. Serious or repeated violations can result in losing access to the app.
Because posts are ephemeral, most content disappears on its own — but the rules apply for every second it's up.

Reporting & emergencies

Use the in-app report action on anything that breaks these rules. If someone is in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services first. For anything else — including urgent safety concerns about content on Beacon — email hello@heybeacon.app.