We built GroupMe to help foster connection between our users who we celebrate as people from all walks of life. To keep GroupMe a safe and welcoming space for everyone, we need your help upholding certain key standards of conduct.
While the Code of Conduct section of the Microsoft Services Agreement applies to all Microsoft products and services, the user interactions made possible through GroupMe merit an additional level of explanation. To this end, we’ve created the following community guidelines that describe how the Code of Conduct apply for GroupMe.
By adhering to these standards and encouraging others to do the same, you are playing an important role in creating and maintaining GroupMe as a space where everyone feels welcome.
Table of Contents
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xi. Consequences
Conduct
GroupMe is your space to build a community with fellow group members - but it also belongs to all our other users too. Each of you deserves a place to be yourself with confidence, free from bullying, hatred, and harassment. Each of you is a steward of your community.
Remember:
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GroupMe offers users the opportunity to connect with others over shared interests. Celebrate what unites you with your group members.
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Not everyone has the same likes or dislikes as you, so think twice about saying something hurtful about someone else’s content or choices.
Stay alert to what goes on around you. If you experience or witness inappropriate conduct or content, we encourage you to use the “Report a Concern” function to report inappropriate content, users, and chats or block users who you don’t want to interact with you.
Content
Giving users spaces to share information, laughs, and support is why we created GroupMe in the first place. We encourage users to share posts, photos, and videos that are meaningful to you and that you think will be meaningful to other users.
Remember:
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Use your knowledge and creativity to share informative, helpful, supportive, funny, or interesting content with group members that contribute positively to the stated purpose of the group.
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Content you post needs to suit the audience of the members of your group.
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Context is important: keep in mind that mature content that makes sense in some spaces may not be appropriate for certain groups.
Standards
If you’ve reviewed the Microsoft Services Agreement, the following rules probably seem familiar. They may sound a bit like legalese, but bear with us—upholding these standards is critical to maintaining a community that everyone can enjoy! People differ about what is appropriate and fun, and conflicts sometimes occur. But while plenty of conflicts can be worked out between users of GroupMe, there are nevertheless some things we just can’t tolerate.
In each section below, you will find examples showing how the Microsoft Services Agreement's Code of Conduct relates to GroupMe. Remember that the following are examples; they are in no way intended to be an exhaustive list of acceptable or unacceptable behavior.
i. Keep it legal
GroupMe is available in countries all over the world, and it’s important that people of all backgrounds feel safe and comfortable on our platform. To help ensure this, we must respect local laws and remove content or behavior that advocates or promotes illegal activities.
For example, don’t:
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Build a group around illegal drug use.
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Promote or praise terrorists.
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Organize violent gatherings.
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Offer sexual services.
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Post links or videos allowing users to access unauthorized copies of copyrighted music or videos.
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Advertise, coordinate, or otherwise facilitate the purchase or sale of firearms or ammunition.
ii. Do your part to keep everyone safe
To keep GroupMe as a place for everyone, we can’t allow behavior or content designed to exploit, harm, or threaten anyone – children, adults, or otherwise. When threatening, abusive, or insulting language is used against another member of our community or the community at large, it undermines every user’s ability to enjoy the community.
For example, don’t:
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Threaten violence against another user or their family.
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Encourage other users to self-harm.
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Target vulnerable or sensitive users with inappropriate content or content designed specifically to offend them.
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Create or operate a “hate group” aimed at a particular individual or group.
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Coerce, harass, or blackmail users into paying you money.
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Share content depicting abusive or violent behavior.
iii. Turn that spam into substance
GroupMe is about making meaningful connections. The best way to do this is by sharing content that is genuine to your interests. While you can connect on authentically shared business and commercial interests, don’t use GroupMe for one-sided communications.
For example, don’t:
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Regularly offer prizes for bringing new members to join your group.
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Repeatedly message other users without their consent.
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Repeatedly post the same or similar content.
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Send repeated invites to GroupMe users who haven’t shown an interest in joining your group.
iv. Keep your content clean
Users come to GroupMe to connect on all manners of issues and interests. Everyone’s tastes are different, and that’s great! However, that doesn’t mean that absolutely anything goes. To keep GroupMe welcoming and inclusive for everyone, some content must be avoided.
Support a welcoming and inclusive community
Harassment and hate take many forms, but none have a home here. To make GroupMe a place for everyone, and to prevent people from feeling uncomfortable or unwelcome, we all need to be stewards. This means more than just not harassing other users—it means embracing them. It means taking particular care to keep in mind how other users might interpret your content.
For example, don’t:
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Use derogatory language to refer to others.
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Make fun of other people’s identities or personal traits.
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Use language that operates to exclude or demean others.
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Turn what should be a comment about a user’s content into a personal attack.
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Create a group dedicated to tearing down another individual or group.
Be respectful with your words
It’s okay to disagree with fellow members of your group but keep your tone respectful and your language clean. Hate has no place here, and it’s not ok for your sharing of opinions to turn into harassment. Harassment includes any negative behavior that’s personalized, disruptive, or likely to make someone feel unwelcome or unsafe. To qualify as harassment, the behavior doesn’t have to be drawn-out or persistent. Even a single abusive message could harm someone’s experience. Know when to draw the line, and when to back off. Know and respect your group members.
For example, acceptable sharing of a difference in opinion might include:
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Not sure how you came to this conclusion, bro. Try again.
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Thanks for sharing your opinion, but I don’t agree.
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This does not seem accurate. Could you please share your sources? Misinformation has no place here.
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This group is not for me; I am going to remove myself.
Harassment looks like:
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This is the [profanity] idea I’ve ever heard. Get a brain, [racial slur].
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How about we meet in person to settle this one? I know where you live.
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I cannot believe someone as [slur against those with disabilities] as you are allowed to be in this group. KYS.
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This [profanity] university is a joke. You will all be sorry soon.
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These [homophobic slurs] are ruining this country. Anyone who agrees, come join my group; your “offensive” jokes will be safe there.
Be yourself, but not at the expense of others
GroupMe is yours, but it’s everyone else’s too. We encourage being genuine, but it’s not in our shared values to post something that keeps others from having positive experiences. We aspire to a community where everyone feels welcome. Problematic content just gets in the way. If you’re looking for a place on the internet to get a rise out of people or to share misinformation, GroupMe isn’t the place for you.
For example, don’t:
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Send someone a picture that’s meant to shock or disgust.
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Use your voice within your group to promote controversy, particularly if not on the topic that the group has gathered around.
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Continually press users to engage with you on policy issues, even if they have shown no interest.
Make stuff that is suitable for all audiences
People from all over the world join GroupMe, and we understand that people from different backgrounds have diverse perspectives about mature and adult topics. Because GroupMe must be friendly and accessible to everyone, this isn't the appropriate place for sexual content. And sometimes something seemingly harmless can actually reference something inappropriate when looked at a certain way. If your content or conduct is designed to trick others into thinking they’re reading or seeing something inappropriate, we’ll have to treat it that way. Keep your posts and messages suitable for all audiences to help keep this a welcoming place for all.
For example, don’t:
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Share graphic descriptions of violence or mature sexual content.
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Post a link to a video featuring or promoting bestiality.
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Post memes that contain nudity.
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Send lewd messages to groups or other users.
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Use double entendres or phrases with inappropriate dual meanings in posts or comments.
v. Fraud benefits no one
Fraud is any attempt to use deceit or misrepresentation for personal or financial gain. When you engage in fraud, it undermines the very idea of community. So don’t do it!
For example, don’t:
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Impersonate or falsely represent a brand.
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Give other users the impression that you are a Microsoft employee or GroupMe representative.
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Promote misleading or deceptive products, services, or offers.
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Perpetuate scams.
vi. When there are limits, there's a reason
When we put restrictions in place, we do so to help ensure everyone’s safety or improve the experience for everyone using GroupMe. Attempting to circumvent restrictions can affect both user privacy and the integrity of Microsoft services. For the safety of all, it’s important to respect deliberate limitations.
For example, don’t:
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Use other accounts to continue communicating with another user who has blocked you.
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Falsify your age to circumvent age restrictions for using the GroupMe app.
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Create alternate accounts to circumvent a suspension or restriction.
vii. Harmful behavior has no place on GroupMe
Harmful behavior on GroupMe ruins the experience for everyone. Manipulation, exploitation, and abuse of GroupMe services don’t just affect Microsoft. These actions also inhibit the ability of Microsoft to provide the best possible services to customers around the world. At GroupMe, we’re dedicated to the safety and well-being of our community, and we’re committed to ensuring that the products and features our users enjoy are safe, secure, and fun for everyone.
For example, don’t
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Share links to malware.
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Interfere with someone’s ability to access their network or device.
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Take any part in DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks.
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Abuse Microsoft staff or GroupMe employees (verbally or in text).
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Try to reverse-engineer or manipulate GroupMe.
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Encourage terrorism (such as by posting instructions for making bombs or other weapons).
viii. Respect the rights of others
Essentially, this means don’t use things that don’t belong to you and don’t do things you don’t have permission to do. People work hard to make content. If you’re not sure if it’s okay to use something, it’s better to be safe and assume that using someone’s content is not okay.
For example, don’t:
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Use copyrighted logos or other material that you don’t have permission to use.
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Share other users’ content without permission and without giving them proper attribution.
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Attempt to pass off the content created by others as content created by you.
ix. Always respect the privacy of others
Microsoft runs on trust, and it’s critical that we protect the privacy of GroupMe users. We take this responsibility seriously, and we won’t tolerate behavior or content that puts the privacy or security of another GroupMe member at risk.
For example, don’t:
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Share information about another user more broadly than they’ve agreed to
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Post private information about another user (engage in doxing)
If you collect information from your members directly, particularly at scale, make it clear that you and not Microsoft or GroupMe are collecting it (e.g., “everyone sends me your addresses so I can mail you a sample of the next batch of cookies I bake using this recipe.”)
x. Be a force for good, even when others aren't
If you know that someone is engaging in the behavior or dispersing the content that violates these Community Guidelines, let them know that their behavior is not okay, and caution them rather than help them walk the road they’re on.
Consequences
Our priority is the safety of everyone in GroupMe. Content and behavior that puts other users at risk or makes them feel unwelcome have no place here. So, sometimes we need to step in. We're not out to punish, but rather to protect everyone's experience.
Every corrective action aims only to show what was wrong and what can be learned from a situation. We know people make mistakes, and we believe lapses in judgment can be significant opportunities for growth.
However, there are scenarios where we may have to permanently remove a user, for the best interest of our broader GroupMe community.
Inappropriate conduct
If you violate these Community Guidelines, you may find restrictions placed on your account or on your access to features that are most closely associated with the problematic behavior.
Inappropriate content
Since content on GroupMe must be appropriate for all audiences, sometimes we remove content to protect our users. Depending on the type of content violation, this can result in our restricting certain features for the user that created or shared the content.
Repeat or severe offenses
We may take permanently effective measures if we can no longer trust a user due to a severe violation, or if our attempts to correct repeated negative behaviors are unsuccessful. Such permanently effective measures may result in a user losing all access to GroupMe and any content contained on their account.
Report
To report a violation of these community guidelines, read the GroupMe FAQ for “How do I report abuse on GroupMe?”
