Illegal / Criminal Activity Violation Guidelines

Illegal / Criminal Activity Violation Guidelines

Important Notes Human Trafficking Sexual Solicitation / Prostitution Child Exploitation / Underage-Seeking / Statutory Rape Criminal Records Greencards / Marriage Fraud Threatening Behavior Drug-Related Crimes Other This page acts as a reference guide to more effectively analyze and combat criminal and illegal activity on our site.

Important Notes

Some violating activities are directly in violation of United States law, as well as our Terms of Use. It is of the utmost importance to identify this kind of activity and take appropriate action; not doing so can have negative legal consequences for the company, and can even put Users in danger. Below are detailed explanations for various illegal activities, in addition to legalities we must adhere to.

Criminal Activity

Details

Necessary Action

Human Trafficking

The unlawful act of transporting or coercing people in order to benefit from their work or service, typically in the form of forced labor or sexual exploitation. Can be classified into two distinct categories: Sex Trafficking Labor Trafficking Traffickers will use methods of force, fraud or coercion to get victims to perform these acts.

Expand to learn about FOSTA and SESTA...

If you encounter this behavior and find evidence of Human Trafficking, please fraud delete immediately for Business promotion / Member Recruiting If you have suspicions but cannot find definitive evidence, please escalate the matter to a supervisor or a member of the LV team. Please refer to Handling Human Trafficking and Pimping confluence for additional information on red flags.

FOSTA (Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act) & SESTA (Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act) are United States House and Senate bills that became law on April 11, 2018. This bill is intended to combat Sex Trafficking that takes place via online platforms; strict legal consequences are enforced for websites that are found to facilitate sex trafficking. �Some websites, like Backpage (an Escort website), were shut down completely. �People who own, operate, and maintain online platforms, including dating sites (like ours), can be charged with a federal crime for hosting 3rd party activity/content that may promote Sexual Solicitation and/or Sex Trafficking. �This means that we could be held legally accountable for any Users engaging in sexual solicitation on our platforms, whether we directly approve the content or simply fail to catch and remove it. �Remember, we are often required to release certain website/profile information for use in lawsuits and court cases (by means of a subpoena). This includes User activity (messages, personal information, etc.) and Employee activity (admin notes, tickets, moderations, etc.) To continue ensuring the safety of our Users and to abide by federal law, we absolutely must be extra vigilant to identify and eliminate this activity/content from our platforms.

Sexual Solicitation / Prostitution

In the United States, paying for or providing sexual services for compensation is a crime (known as prostitution, solicitation of prostitution, etc.)

SWS the user for Soliciting Sex in Exchange for Compensation

If Escort terms are being used...

Solicitation of prostitution can mean: �A prostitute advertises his or her availability to perform sexual acts for compensation �A potential patron offers to pay for sex. This means that a person can be charged for the solicitation of prostitution whether the person intends to pay someone else to provide sex, or a person intends to receive compensation for sexual acts.

If the User is using terms outlined in the Escort Terms and Escort Flags (list) confluence, please see necessary action correlating with the term(s) as you may need to SWS for Using Escort Terminology instead

If other Escort Flags are present...

Specific use of terminology outlined in the Escort Terms and Escort Flags (list) confluence is subject to a Fraud Deletion for Escort. It is also helpful to back search photos and contact information when suspicion arises to reveal escort links. Please Fraud delete for Escort if applicable

Child Exploitation / Underage-Seeking / Statutory Rape

Sexual contact with anyone underage is a crime -regardless of monetary exchange, force, fraud, or coercion. It doesn't matter if a minor claims they were a willing participant; under US law, minors cannot consent to having sex. Individuals under the age of 18 years are considered to be underage (children), by federal law. Adults who (1) actively seek romantic/sexual relationships with children and/or (2) distribute, create, collect, or possess child pornography are considered predators and/or child sexual abusers. �Child pornography is defined as: any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor (someone under 18 years of age). Visual depictions include photographs, videos, digital or computer generated images indistinguishable from an actual minor, and images created, adapted, or modified, but appear to depict an identifiable, actual minor. Failure to identify & address such activity can leave children vulnerable to being manipulated, abused, or otherwise harmed. This also leaves us open to serious legal consequences.

Please refer to Handling Underage Users- Seeking for more detail

For users Potentially Exploiting/ Seeking underage users

Please see Engaging w/ Minors Tier System for a break down of necessary actions

For underage users...

With Evidence, please Fraud Delete for Underage Without evidence, Please SWS for Suspected Underage. Remember: Better Safe than Sorry

Criminal Records

To ensure the safety of our members, we do not allow the following: Cons Jailbirds Sexual Predators or Registered Sex Offenders Anyone who is currently on parole Anyone who has previously been arrested and/or convicted for a violent crime, Drug related crimes or a crime involving money (Ex. Money Laundering, Theft, Fraud, Identity theft, etc.) Felons Etc. Please note: Not every crime is subject to corrective actions on our end.

Here are some examples of these crimes...

Immediate Ban Initiate a Manual SWS and indicate "Suspected Criminal Activity"

- DUI (Unless also charged with another crime associated with the incident (Ex. vehicular manslaughter) - Speeding - Disorderly Conduct - Disturbing the peace - Jaywalking

- Littering - Loitering Etc.

Greencards / Marriage Fraud

This is a violation due to its status as a federal offense in the United States, and allowing such illegal activity to take place on our platforms is a huge liability. This applies to anyone who intends to marry someone for the primary purpose of either party obtaining US Citizenship. Per the Homeland Security/Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) website:

Expand to see quote...

Immediate Ban Initiate a Manual SWS and indicate "Suspected Criminal Activity"

"An individual will be charged with marriage fraud if they entered into a marriage for the purpose of evading U.S. immigration law. This felony offense carries a prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of up to $250,000, and applies to both foreign nationals and U.S. citizens who perpetrate this crime. Those charged with marriage fraud may also be charged with visa fraud, harboring an alien, conspiracy and making false statements; each charge carries additional prison sentences and financial Penalties. [...] Participants in marriage fraud may, knowingly or unknowingly, be aiding terrorists, foreign intelligence or other criminal organizations, and will be held accountable. Types of Marriage Fraud A U.S. citizen is paid, or asked to perform a favor, to marry a foreign national already residing in the United States; "Mail-order" marriage where either the U.S. citizen or alien knows it is a fraud A foreign national defrauds a U.S. citizen who believes the marriage is legitimate"

Threatening Behavior

This can include: Threats / Threatening another member Blackmail/Extortion Harassment Stalking

Immediate Ban with proof Initiate a Manual SWS and indicate "Suspected Criminal Activity" For Threats / Threatening a member, SWS for Threats From a Member If a user receives multiple reports of any of these without any submitted proof, you can Ban using the Manual SWS and indicate "Suspected Criminal Activity"

Drug-Related Crimes

This can include: Asking/offering drugs outside of marijuana Selling, trying to recruit another member to sell, or buy drugs including marijuana

Immediate Ban for any Selling, trying to recruit another member to sell, or buying drugs including marijuana If a user is asking for or offering drugs (No compensation being required/ Requested) Please SWS for Other Suspected Criminal Activity. User will have one last chance to correct their behavior

Other

There are many other examples of Criminal activity you may find on our site including, but not limited to: Beastiality Knowingly giving STDs Meeting under false pretenses Selling or buying fake/altered COVID-19 vaccination cards Etc.

Immediate Ban with proof Initiate a Manual SWS and indicate "Suspected Criminal Activity" REMEMBER: If you are unsure of a crime or notice potentially criminal activity beyond what is listed here, please Escalate to a supervisor or a member of the LV team