Community Safety Guidelines & Moderation Standards

Last updated: September 2026 | EduConnect (educonnectapp.co.za)

1. Purpose & Our Commitment to Safety

EduConnect is an interactive educational platform designed to connect students with verified teachers across South Africa. Because our community includes young learners and minors, safety, trust, and mutual respect are non-negotiable. These Community Safety Guidelines outline prohibited content, user conduct rules, moderation practices, and enforcement actions.

2. Scope & Applicability

These guidelines apply to all users (Students, Teachers, and School Administrators) and to all content generated or transmitted on EduConnect, including Discover text/photo/video posts, comments, school announcements, profile pictures, live classroom audio/video streams, whiteboard interactions, and support messaging.

3. Zero-Tolerance for Child Sexual Abuse & Exploitation (CSAE)

EduConnect maintains a zero-tolerance policy regarding any form of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSAE), grooming, sexual solicitation of minors, or child endangerment. Any attempt to upload, transmit, or request sexually explicit content involving minors will result in:

• Immediate permanent account termination and platform ban.
• Immediate removal and quarantine of content.
• Escalation to law enforcement and relevant child protection authorities (including SAPS Cybercrime Division and NCMEC) as required by law.

4. Prohibited Content & Behavior

Users are strictly prohibited from sharing or engaging in the following:

• Sexually Explicit Content: Pornography, nudity, or sexually suggestive imagery/text.
• Harassment & Bullying: Stalking, targeted insults, threats, intimidation, or persistent unwelcome contact.
• Hate Speech & Discrimination: Content promoting hatred, violence, or discrimination based on race, gender, religion, ethnicity, or disability.
• Violence & Dangerous Content: Graphic violence, self-harm encouragement, weapon promotion, or illegal activities.
• Scams, Fraud & Commercial Spam: Phishing, financial scams, unauthorized commercial advertising, or malicious links.
• Doxxing & Privacy Violations: Sharing private personal information (phone numbers, addresses, financial details) without consent.
• Impersonation: Falsely claiming to represent teachers, school officials, students, or EduConnect staff.
• Classroom Disruption: Intentionally disrupting live video classes, broadcasting abusive audio/video, or bypassing teacher moderation controls.

5. Server-Side Automated Moderation & Human Review

EduConnect employs server-side security boundaries and automated content analysis tools to evaluate user-generated content prior to public distribution. Content flagged as suspicious is held in quarantine for review by authorized human moderators before becoming visible to the community.

6. In-App Reporting & User Blocking

We empower our community to report violations and manage their experience:

• Reporting: Users can report posts, comments, profiles, or live classroom behavior directly in the app. Reports are routed securely to our moderation queue.
• Blocking: Users can block other accounts directly from profile pages, preventing direct interactions and hiding content.

7. Enforcement Progression & Penalties

Violations are subject to progressive or immediate enforcement based on severity:

1. Warning: Informational notice and content removal for minor first-time offenses.
2. Account Strike & Posting Ban: Temporary suspension of posting and commenting privileges upon repeated violations.
3. Account Suspension: Temporary or indefinite lockout from live class creation and interactive features.
4. Permanent Termination: Immediate platform removal for severe offenses, safety threats, or 3 accumulated strikes.

8. Safety Contact & Appeals

If you believe your content was quarantined in error, or if you wish to report an urgent safety concern, please reach out to our dedicated safety team:

Safety & Compliance Email: safety@educonnectapp.co.za
General Support Email: support@educonnectapp.co.za
In-App Escalation: EduConnect App → Settings → Support & Admin Chat