Reporting Illegal Content

1. What this page covers

Anyone can tell OnFire that something on our platform is illegal. This page explains how to do that, what we need from you, and what we will do next. It applies to content that other people can see or receive on OnFire — profiles, listings, reviews, posts, stories, and messages.

We use the phrase illegal content to mean anything that, on its own or by reference to an activity, breaks the law of the European Union or the law of an EU Member State. That is broader than "content we dislike" and narrower than "content that breaks our rules". Plenty of things break our Terms of Service without being illegal, and you can report those too — see section 10.

You do not need a lawyer, a template, or a reason to be an EU resident to use this. It is free.

2. Who can report

Any individual or organisation may submit a report. You do not need an OnFire account, and you do not need to be the person affected by the content.

We ask for your name and an email address so that we can confirm we received your report and tell you what we decided. There is one exception: if your report concerns any of the offences referred to in Articles 3 to 7 of Directive 2011/93/EU — child sexual abuse and exploitation offences — you may report anonymously, and we will still act on it.

3. How to report

There are two routes. Use whichever fits.

Both routes are free.

4. What to include in your report

The more of the following you give us, the faster we can act. If you are reporting from inside the app, we collect most of it for you.

• Where the content is. A link, a username, a listing reference, or a screenshot showing enough context for us to find it. This is the single most useful thing you can give us — a report we cannot locate is a report we cannot act on.
• Why you think it is illegal. An explanation in your own words. You do not need to cite a statute. If you know which law is involved, tell us, but "this is someone selling counterfeit goods" or "this photograph is of me and was posted without my consent" is enough to start.
• Your name and email address, except for reports concerning child sexual abuse material, where you may stay anonymous.
• A statement that you believe, in good faith, that what you have told us is accurate and complete. The in-app form asks you to confirm this with a checkbox.

If your report is missing something we need, we will ask you for it rather than close the report.

5. What happens after you report

Reports are handled in a timely, careful, non-arbitrary and objective way.

A person reviews your report. Reports are queued by seriousness: anything you flag as concerning a child's safety is treated as critical and goes to the front, followed by reports of self-harm, graphic violence and illegal goods.

Depending on what we find, we may remove the content, restrict who can see it, limit or suspend the account responsible, or decide that no action is warranted. Where the law requires it, we also report the matter to the relevant authorities — see our Law Enforcement Requests page.

If we act against a user because of your report, they are told what happened where our systems support it. That is described on our Content Decisions and Appeals page.

6. Use of automated tools

We are required to tell you whether automated tools are involved in handling your report, and they are, in a limited way.

When you submit a report, the priority it receives is set automatically from the category you choose — not from any analysis of the content itself. Reports from the same person about the same thing within a day are filtered out automatically, and you cannot report your own content. Beyond that, no report is acted on automatically: a person decides.

Separately from reporting, OnFire runs automated child-safety detection: an on-device model that looks for conversation patterns associated with grooming, and matching against known databases of child sexual abuse material. These systems analyse text; they do not examine images or video. They are described in section 10 of our Privacy Policy.

Those child-safety systems can restrict a conversation without a person reviewing it first. Where that happens, it is explained on our Content Decisions and Appeals page.

7. Effect of a complete report

A report that contains the information listed in section 4 — enough for a diligent provider to identify the illegality without a detailed legal examination — gives us actual knowledge of that content for the purposes of Article 6 of the Digital Services Act. In plain terms: once you have told us properly, we can no longer rely on not having known.

8. Misuse of this mechanism

Reporting exists to protect people, and using it to harass someone works against that.

Two limits apply automatically today: you cannot report your own content, and repeat reports from the same person about the same item within a day are filtered out. Beyond those, submitting reports you know to be baseless is a breach of our Terms of Service and we may act on your account for it.

9. Content that is not illegal but breaks our rules

Not everything harmful is illegal. Our Terms of Service prohibit a range of content that may be perfectly lawful but is not welcome on OnFire — harassment, spam, deceptive listings, and so on.

Use the same in-app Report control for these. You do not need to work out whether something is illegal or merely against the rules before reporting it; that is our job, not yours.

10. Other reporting routes

• A child is in danger. Contact your local police immediately. Then report to us at [email protected]. We are a registered Electronic Service Provider with the US National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and we are legally required to report apparent child sexual abuse material to the NCMEC CyberTipline.
• You believe a user is under 13. Report to [email protected], as described on our Age Verification & Minor Safety page.
• A privacy or data protection concern. Contact [email protected]. See our Privacy Policy.
• You are a law enforcement authority. See Law Enforcement Requests. Orders to act against illegal content issued under Article 9 of the Digital Services Act, and orders to provide information under Article 10, should be directed there.

11. Contact

Reports of illegal content: [email protected], or the Report control in the app.