Usage and Content Policies: Rules for Using BB&B Platforms

Be Real

Books, Brunches & Booze® profiles are intended to represent real people in a local area. Books, Brunches & Booze® host/member profiles must be honest and authentic.

Be Honest: Intentions, Affiliations, Transparency

All hosts/members should be open about who they are, their intentions, and their affiliations. All chapter and event descriptions should be accurate, so hosts/members can make informed decisions about their participation.

Be Yourself: Fake Accounts & Impersonation

Creating fake accounts, malicious accounts, or accounts meant to impersonate another person, is prohibited on Books, Brunches & Booze®.

Be Respectful

Respecting people's time, attention, personal choices, and personal boundaries is essential to creating safe and trusting communities. Be respectful in interactions with people and in content posted on the platform. Books, Brunches & Booze® monitors and restricts behaviors that are dishonest, undermine the integrity of the platform, violate personal boundaries, or serve to intentionally upset people.

Message Respectfully: Don't Spam

Content sent to a host/member that is irrelevant, impersonal, unsolicited, promotional, or repetitive is spam.

Set Appropriate Expectations and Honor Them: Don't Tamper with Chapters or Events

Converting or changing events in a chapter or event, so that they no longer align with the expectations and purpose set by the host and leadership team, is misleading and not allowed.

The intentions of the chapter should remain consistent with host/member expectations as set in the chapter description.

Converting

Stepping up as host to a Books, Brunches & Booze® chapter in order to change the focus of the chapter, to close the chapter, to send or post promotional content, or to send or post content not aligned with the original description of the chapter, is prohibited. If it is your intention to change the meaning or purpose of a chapter, we advise that you start a new chapter instead. If a group gets a new host, the mission of that chapter should stay the same. Events in a chapter should reflect intentions expressed in the chapter description.

Tampering

Altering the content or settings of a chapter without permission from the main host, or in a way that is not aligned with the purpose of that chapter, is prohibited. Any use of Books, Brunches & Booze® tools or features to disrupt the chapter or destroy content for the purpose of undermining or undercutting the established community is a violation of our policies.

Honor Requests for Distance: About Block and Ban Decisions

If you are blocked, you’re blocked. Members must accept and respect any host’s decision to ban a member from a chapter, or a member's decision to block a member from contacting them. Creating new accounts to circumvent block or ban decisions is prohibited.

Appropriate Content

Publicly shared photos must be appropriate for general audiences. Nude or sexual photos are not allowed in public spaces. 

Sex Solicitation and Prostitution

Books, Brunches & Booze® prohibits chapters that, or individuals who, use Books, Brunches & Booze® to proposition for sex, or to promote or engage in prostitution.

Ask for Permission: Consent

Books, Brunches & Booze® defines consent as welcomed communications and actions to engage with a host/member. Engaging with anyone in a non-consensual way is strictly prohibited. If ever in doubt, ask permission.

Respect Privacy: Don't Post Other People's Private Information

Posting private information of other hosts/members without their explicit consent is prohibited.

Members and hosts should always be mindful of privacy and use discretion when sharing any private content that belongs to themselves or to other hosts/members. For example, phone numbers, social security numbers, addresses, financial information, passwords, and government identification are considered private information.

Be Kind

Bullying, harassment, exploitation, and acts of hate undermine community building in safe spaces where people can trust one another. Building real relationships requires us to be more compassionate and kinder towards one another. Books, Brunches & Booze® enforces against behaviors that are threatening, intentionally malicious, or personally harmful--physically, emotionally, or mentally.

Be Compassionate: Don't Harass, Bully or Shame

Harassment and bullying are not allowed on Books, Brunches & Booze® Platforms. Books, Brunches & Booze® will honor requests to remove content that publicly shames or degrades a private individual. 

Members should first contact the uploader or the host to request that content be removed.

Harassment is persistent or non-consensual contact from another host/member. Bullying is the intentional posting of mean content for the purpose of hurting or embarrassing another.

Books, Brunches & Booze® will honor requests to remove nude, lewd or shaming photos if the subject of that content reports it. Content targeting a public figure, organization, or anyone who has gained news attention, is not subject to these policies.

Act with Integrity: Do Not Manipulate or Exploit

Any attempt to use someone's insecurities or vulnerabilities for personal gain is considered manipulation or exploitation and is prohibited.

Hate and Supremacy

Hate speech, supremacy, or behavior that incites hate or violence against individuals or groups of people based on who they are or their beliefs, is prohibited.

Be Safe

All hosts and members should take ownership over their personal safety and should never put themselves or others in danger. We expect all hosts and members to be mindful of local laws when engaging with their chapters. Where appropriate, hosts should also set guidelines for their events to ensure their members are participating safely.

No Threats, Violence, or Personal Endangerment

Using Books, Brunches & Booze® Platforms to promote, facilitate, or organize violent, criminal, or non-consensual actions that endanger anyone, physically, mentally, or emotionally, is prohibited. 

Books, Brunches & Booze® reserves the right to remove credible explicit and implicit threats of violence or aggression and revoke the membership of the user who made them. Examples of prohibited implicit threats include, “The next time I see you, you’ll be sorry.” and “You better watch your back.”

Harmful Misinformation 

The dissemination or promotion of misinformation is prohibited. This includes claims that have been scientifically disproven and that may pose a public or personal health risk.

Self-Injury

Books, Brunches & Booze® does not allow any content that encourages or glorifies self-injury or encourages others to harm themselves.

Copyright and IP

Intellectual Property

We respect the intellectual property rights of others. Posting content that violates another party's intellectual property rights is prohibited. 

When provided with the requisite information, Books, Brunches & Booze® will remove or disable access to material that infringes on the intellectual property rights of others or remove accounts of those who may be repeat infringers. Please note that simply hosting an event around a similar topic in a shared location is generally not considered a violation of our policies.