COMMUNITY GUIDELINES

This is a debate platform. Strong opinions, uncomfortable positions, and blunt disagreement are the point — not the problem. You will not be removed for arguing an unpopular side, for being wrong, or for making someone lose an argument.

What we remove is conduct aimed at people rather than at positions. The line is not how harsh you are; it is whether you are attacking the argument or the human making it.

Everything below is an application of that one idea.

These apply everywhere on the Platform — live debates, chat, profiles, topics, and usernames:

• Harassment, threats, or intimidation directed at any person, on or off the Platform.
• Hate speech, slurs, or demeaning content targeting people based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, or other protected characteristics.
• Sexual content, nudity, or sexually suggestive conduct. This is a debate platform, not an adult one.
• Any sexualisation of minors, or content that exploits or endangers them. This results in an immediate permanent ban and, where the law requires it, a report to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
• Encouraging or glorifying violence, self-harm, or suicide.
• Sharing private information about anyone without their consent — addresses, phone numbers, workplaces, financial details (doxxing).
• Impersonating another person, or falsely claiming credentials or affiliations.
• Illegal activity, or coordinating it.
• Spam, advertising, or repetitive promotional content.
• Content that infringes someone else's copyright or trademark.

The full prohibited-conduct list is in Section 5 of our Terms and is binding in addition to this page.

Not everything here is a bannable offence — some of it is just how you avoid being the person nobody wants to debate:

• Argue the strongest version of your opponent's position, not the easiest one to knock down.
• Let your opponent finish. Talking over someone for an entire round is a good way to lose the crowd anyway.
• Don't fabricate sources, statistics, or quotes. Being wrong is fine; inventing evidence is not.
• Stay on the topic that was agreed. If you want to argue something else, propose that debate.
• Disagreement ends when the debate does. Carrying it into someone's profile or chat is harassment, not debate.

Persistent bad-faith participation — showing up only to derail, insult, or run out the clock — is treated as a conduct violation even where no single message crosses a line.

Rankings only mean something if they are earned. The following are violations:

• Vote manipulation: using multiple accounts, coordinating groups, or soliciting votes to influence a debate's outcome or the leaderboard.
• Rating debates you did not watch, or rating purely to damage a rival's score.
• Deliberately forfeiting, no-showing, or stalling to manipulate your record or someone else's.
• Operating more than one account. You may hold one account at a time.
• Using automated tools, scripts, or exploits to affect scores, points, or standings.

Where we can identify manipulated results, we may reverse the affected points, ratings, and standings in addition to acting on the accounts involved.

Everything you record can be published and kept, whether it’s a daily take, a debate turn, or your side of a live debate:

• Everything in Section 2 applies to what is visible and audible on your camera and microphone, including anything in the background.
• Do not record other people without their knowledge or consent.
• Do not include copyrighted material — music, film, television, or live sports — in a recording.
• Do not record while operating a vehicle, or anywhere doing so is unsafe or unlawful.
• Debaters must be the person their account represents. Do not hand your camera to someone else mid-debate.

In a live debate, the person you’re talking to sees and hears you in real time, and your conversation with them is covered by these Guidelines too. If a live debate goes wrong, leave it and report it; we can remove the recording and take action against the account afterwards.

If you see something that breaks these Guidelines, email legal@masterdebater.fun with:

• A link to the debate, profile, or message.
• For a live debate or recording, the approximate time it occurred.
• A short description of what happened.

For copyright complaints specifically, follow the DMCA notice procedure in Section 11 of our Terms, which has its own legal requirements.

If someone is in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services first. We are a small team and cannot provide an emergency response.

Reporting in bad faith — mass-reporting a rival, or filing reports you know to be false — is itself a violation.

We do not pre-screen content. We act on reports and on what our moderation surfaces. Depending on severity, history, and intent, we may:

• Remove the content, including a recording or a whole debate.
• Issue a warning.
• Reverse points, ratings, or standings obtained through manipulation.
• Temporarily suspend the account.
• Permanently terminate the account.

We generally escalate, but we do not always start at the bottom. Threats, sexual content involving minors, doxxing, and coordinated manipulation can result in immediate permanent termination on a first offence.

Creating a new account to evade a suspension or ban is itself a violation and will result in termination of the new account.

As set out in Section 11 of our Terms, we terminate repeat copyright infringers in appropriate circumstances.

If you believe an enforcement decision was wrong, email legal@masterdebater.fun from the address associated with your account, with the account handle and what you believe we got wrong.

We will review the decision and respond. We aim to reply within 5 business days, though we cannot guarantee a specific timeframe, and not every decision will be reversed.

If your content was removed following a copyright notice, the counter-notification procedure in Section 11 of our Terms is the correct route rather than this one.

We may update these Guidelines as the Platform grows and as new situations arise. Material changes will be posted here with a new effective date. Continued use of the Platform after that date constitutes acceptance.

These Guidelines supplement, and do not replace, our Terms & Conditions. Where the two conflict, the Terms control.