Last updated: 11/06/2026
Draft for review. This text has not yet been reviewed by a lawyer.
NearRoots is for people far from home, looking for their community. These rules keep it welcoming and safe. They apply to profiles, photos, messages, business listings, suggestions and anything else you share on NearRoots.
Talk to others the way you would talk to a neighbor from your hometown. Disagreements are fine; insults are not. Respect a "no": if someone declines your message request or stops replying, don't keep contacting them.
Harassment and bullying. No repeated unwanted contact, insults, humiliation, or pressure to meet or share personal details.
Hate and discriminatory abuse. No attacks on people for their national or ethnic origin, race, religion, language, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age or immigration status. Communities on NearRoots sometimes have a difficult shared history. Discussing it respectfully is welcome. Attacking people for where they or their families come from is not.
Threats and intimidation. No threats of violence or harm, and no threats to report someone to immigration or other authorities to frighten or control them.
Fraud and scams. No asking for money, gifts, loans, investments or cryptocurrency. No fake job offers, visa or immigration "help" for a fee, or romance scams. No phishing for passwords or personal documents.
Impersonation and fake profiles. No pretending to be another person, business, community organization, government body or NearRoots staff. One personal account per person. No accounts made to get around a block or a suspension.
Unwanted solicitation. No advertising, sales pitches, recruitment, chain messages or bulk messages to members. Businesses can be listed in the business directory, not promoted in private messages.
Sharing private information. No posting or sending someone else's address, phone number, workplace, photos, documents, immigration details or other private information without their permission.
Misuse of messaging. No sexual content or requests, no graphic violence, and no messages sent to people who have asked you to stop.
Business listing fraud. No listing a business you don't own or represent as if you do. No fake businesses, no false claims that a business is owned by a particular community, and no misleading descriptions.
Illegal content and activity. Nothing illegal where you or the recipient live, and nothing involving the sexual exploitation of anyone.
We review reports and act in proportion to how serious the problem is and how much risk it poses to others:
We may skip steps when someone's safety is at risk. When the law requires it, or someone's life or safety is in danger, we may contact the authorities.
Moderation is done by people, not automated systems. NearRoots is run by a small team. We review reports as quickly as we can, but we can't promise a response time or round-the-clock coverage. If you think we got a decision wrong, email contact@nearroots.com with the details and we will review it again.
We may update these Guidelines as NearRoots grows. We will tell members about important changes.