Code of Conduct

The shorter, friendlier companion to the Acceptable Use Policy.

Last updated 24 October 2026

Contents

Pre-incorporation notice. Venoly is run by its two founders and operated from Emmen, the Netherlands (the co-founder is based in the United States), while the legal entity (a Dutch B.V.) is being incorporated. Contracts and liabilities referenced in these documents are entered into by the founder personally until incorporation completes, at which point they transfer to Venoly B.V. by novation without action required from you. Where the documents refer to Venoly B.V., that name should be read as "Venoly (operating as a sole proprietorship pending incorporation)" until the entity is registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK).

1. The Spirit of Venoly

Venoly is built to make hanging out online feel a bit more human. The Acceptable Use Policy and the Terms of Service tell you what you can't do; this Code of Conduct tells you what we hope you will.

It applies in every official Venoly space — our own channels, official events, staff and moderator interactions, and any place where you're representing the platform.

2. Community First

  • Be welcoming. Most people you meet here are new to the space, not to the internet — treat them like guests.
  • Disagree without dehumanizing. Argue with the idea, not the person.
  • Assume good faith first. People type messages in a hurry; the tone you hear isn't always the tone they meant.
  • Take the L when you're wrong. A quick "you're right, sorry about that" defuses 90% of arguments.
  • Look out for each other. If you see something going wrong, a short DM to a moderator is enough.

3. Conduct for Staff & Moderators

If you are a staff member or moderator, the standards are higher because the impact is. You will:

  • Never publish or echo a candid internal note about a banned user. The moderation system separates the internal note from the user-facing reason for exactly this purpose — respect that separation.
  • Never use your role to settle personal disputes or to retaliate. Recuse and hand off if you have a personal relationship to the case.
  • Document your decisions in the moderation system, not in DMs. Decisions outside the system can't be appealed.
  • Treat appeals seriously even when you're convinced of the original decision. Don't decide an appeal against your own decision when someone else can; Venoly refuses that unless the platform owner (or, for a server decision, the server owner) records that nobody else was available.
  • Escalate to safety@venoly.nl any time a case touches CSAM, terrorism, imminent harm, or law enforcement.

4. Making Mistakes

Everyone is going to misstep. The framework we use:

  1. Notice. (Sometimes someone has to tell you, and that's OK.)
  2. Acknowledge — without minimizing or over-apologizing.
  3. Make it right where you can.
  4. Change what made it likely.

5. Asking for Help

6. In a Crisis

If you or someone you're talking to is in immediate physical danger, contact local emergency services first. Some resources we trust:

  • Netherlands — 113 Zelfmoordpreventie: dial 113 or visit 113.nl.
  • EU general: dial 112 for emergency services.
  • US / Canada — 988: Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
  • International: findahelpline.com.

7. Code Sociale Veiligheid Online

We voluntarily align with the Dutch government's Code Sociale Veiligheid Online for social-network operators. That code asks us to actively design against harms to minors, to publish transparency reports, to participate in cross-platform safety initiatives, and to maintain age-appropriate defaults. We are working towards these commitments; protections for under-18 accounts are being built and will be described here when they ship.

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