Moderators Handbook

Welcome to TalkMH

TalkMH is a safe, supportive community where you can be heard, be yourself, and find the support you need.

Safe & Inclusive Everyone is welcome

Private & Confidential Your privacy matters

Judgement Free Be yourself, always

Supportive Community We're in this together

TalkMH Moderator Handbook

Private guidance for TalkMH moderators on community safety, reports, safeguarding, illegal content, suicide/self-harm concerns and moderation standards.

Private staff document: This handbook is for TalkMH moderators and administrators only. It should not be shared publicly. It is guidance for consistent moderation and does not replace legal, medical, safeguarding or law-enforcement advice.

Emergency Principle

TalkMH is not an emergency service. If a post suggests immediate danger to life or serious harm, moderators should act quickly to reduce platform harm, signpost crisis support, and escalate internally.

Do not attempt to provide therapy, counselling or medical advice.
Do not promise confidentiality where someone may be at serious risk.
Do not delay action while waiting for perfect information.
Record serious actions in the incident log.

Moderator Purpose

Moderators help keep TalkMH safe, respectful and usable. Your role is to enforce community standards, reduce foreseeable harm, protect vulnerable users, and escalate serious concerns.

Moderators are not therapists, doctors, police officers, social workers or crisis responders.

Core Principles

Safety first: prioritise preventing harm over winning arguments or preserving posts.
Be consistent: similar behaviour should receive similar responses.
Be proportionate: use the least severe action that reasonably manages the risk.
Be calm: do not moderate while angry or emotionally reactive.
Protect privacy: never share staff-only information outside the team.
Record serious issues: log high-risk incidents and decisions.
Escalate uncertainty: ask a senior moderator/admin when unsure.

Moderator Conduct

Moderators must:

Treat users respectfully, even when taking firm action.
Avoid public arguments about moderation decisions.
Use staff tools only for legitimate moderation purposes.
Declare conflicts of interest where possible.
Step back from disputes involving friends, family or personal conflict.
Never use private information for personal reasons.
Never mock users, screenshots, reports or private disclosures.

Moderator Red Lines

Do not delete serious evidence without checking whether records must be preserved.
Do not download, forward or share suspected CSAM.
Do not personally investigate users off-platform.
Do not contact family, employers, schools or third parties yourself.
Do not promise to keep suicidal intent, abuse or exploitation secret.
Do not provide instructions about medication, methods, self-harm or suicide.
Do not shame, challenge or dare a user in crisis.

Moderation Response Levels

Level	Examples	Action	Log?
Low	Off-topic post, accidental duplicate, mild tone issue, first minor rule breach.	Edit, move, remind, merge, soft warning or informal note.	Usually no, unless pattern forming.
Medium	Repeated hostility, mild harassment, unsafe advice, privacy concern, disruptive arguing.	Remove/edit content, formal warning, thread lock, temporary restriction.	Yes, if repeated or sensitive.
High	Self-harm methods, threats, doxxing, predatory behaviour, hate abuse, credible exploitation.	Immediate removal/hide, restrict account, senior review, incident log.	Yes.
Critical	CSAM, terrorism content, credible immediate threat, suicide pact, serious illegal content.	Immediate containment, preserve necessary records, admin escalation, external escalation where required.	Always.

Suicide and Self-Harm Workflow

Allowed support-seeking content

User says they feel suicidal but gives no method, plan or immediate intent.
User discusses self-harm in non-graphic terms.
User asks for support, coping strategies or reassurance.

Action: Allow where safe, add crisis signposting if appropriate, monitor replies, remove harmful responses.

Remove or edit immediately

Specific methods, tools, quantities, dosages, locations or timings.
Advice on increasing lethality or avoiding intervention.
Graphic injury descriptions or images.
Encouragement, pressure, dares or romanticising suicide/self-harm.
Suicide pacts, partner-seeking or countdowns.

Action: Hide/remove harmful detail, send support message if appropriate, warn or restrict account, escalate high-risk cases.

Template: Crisis signposting reply

I’m really sorry you’re feeling like this. TalkMH is peer support and not an emergency service. If you feel at immediate risk, please contact your local emergency number now. If you can, reach out to someone nearby or a crisis line in your country. You deserve support right now.

Template: Method detail removed

We’ve edited/removed part of your post because it included details that could increase risk for other members. You are still welcome to talk about how you feel and ask for support, but please avoid methods, instructions or graphic details.

Illegal Content Workflow

Illegal content must be handled quickly and carefully. Ofcom guidance highlights duties around illegal content risk assessment, safety measures, record-keeping and review. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}

Examples of illegal or potentially illegal content

Child sexual abuse material or sexual content involving minors.
Terrorism content or encouragement of terrorist acts.
Credible threats of violence.
Hate crime or targeted threats based on protected characteristics.
Non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated intimate images.
Fraud, scams, phishing or financial exploitation.
Encouraging or assisting serious self-harm.
Cyberflashing or sexual images sent without consent.

Immediate steps

Hide/remove from public view as quickly as possible.
Do not quote or repost the material.
Preserve necessary moderation records.
Escalate to admin/senior moderator.
Ban or restrict the account where appropriate.
Escalate externally where legally required.

CSAM / Child Exploitation Procedure

TalkMH is adults-only, but moderators must be prepared for attempted posting of child sexual abuse material or exploitative content.

Do not download, screenshot, forward, save locally or share suspected CSAM.
Remove or hide it from public access immediately if possible.
Escalate to the site administrator immediately.
Preserve only necessary platform records according to admin/legal procedure.
Do not discuss details in public or wider staff channels.
Administrator should follow applicable reporting duties and report to the relevant authority where required.

Ofcom states regulated services must report detected and unreported child sexual exploitation and abuse content present on their services to the NCA where the duty applies. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}

Report Handling Procedure

Read the reported content and surrounding context.
Check user history for repeat behaviour or escalation.
Classify risk level as Low, Medium, High or Critical.
Take immediate containment action if content is harmful or illegal.
Record serious actions in the incident log.
Notify the user where appropriate and safe.
Escalate uncertain, serious or legally sensitive cases.
Close the report with a clear internal note.

Private Messages and Off-Platform Behaviour

Moderators should not monitor private messages unless reported or visible through legitimate admin tools.
If a user reports predatory, abusive or exploitative private messages, review the evidence available.
Do not encourage users to move crisis support into private messages.
Do not personally investigate off-platform accounts.
Off-platform behaviour may justify action if it creates a safety risk on TalkMH.

New User Controls

Recommended controls for new or low-trust users:

Manual approval or moderation queue for first posts where practical.
Restrict links, images and attachments until trust is established.
Limit private messaging for new accounts.
Watch for copy-paste spam, crisis baiting, scams or manipulative behaviour.
Escalate suspicious behaviour early rather than waiting for serious harm.

Privacy, Doxxing and Personal Information

Remove addresses, phone numbers, workplaces, full names, private screenshots and social profiles if shared without consent.
Do not repost private information in staff replies.
Warn users who share other people’s personal data.
Encourage users not to publish their own sensitive details.
Escalate malicious doxxing or credible threats.

Medical and Mental Health Advice

TalkMH allows peer support, not medical instruction.

Allow users to share personal experiences.
Remove dangerous instructions about medication, dosage, withdrawal, or avoiding care.
Discourage diagnosis of other users.
Encourage professional support for urgent or complex issues.
Do not let users present themselves as official TalkMH clinicians unless verified and approved by admin.

Enforcement Options

Action	Use When	Notes
Edit content	Small harmful detail, title warning, personal data removal.	Leave a clear edit reason where appropriate.
Soft delete / hide	Unsafe content needs removal from public view.	Useful where records may need review.
Hard delete	Content should not remain stored or visible to moderators unnecessarily.	Check serious evidence/record needs before hard deletion.
Warning	User breached rules but risk is manageable.	Use clear, neutral wording.
Temporary restriction	Repeated breaches, heated behaviour, user needs cooling-off period.	Set duration and reason.
Permanent ban	Serious illegal content, predatory behaviour, threats, repeated severe breaches.	Log serious bans.

Incident Log Template

Use this format for High and Critical incidents:

Date/time:
Moderator:
User/account:
Content URL/thread:
Risk level:
Issue type:
Action taken:
User notified? Y/N:
Escalated to:
External report needed? Y/N/Unknown:
Review notes:
Follow-up date:

Appeals

Users may ask for one review of a moderation decision.
Appeals should be polite and focused on the decision.
A different moderator/admin should review where practical.
Do not enter long arguments.
Abusive, repetitive or bad-faith appeals may be closed.

Template: Warning message

Hi, we’ve moderated your content because it breached our community rules. You are welcome to continue using TalkMH, but please avoid this type of content going forward. Repeated breaches may lead to account restrictions.

Template: Privacy removal

We’ve removed personal or identifying information from your post. Please avoid sharing private details about yourself or others, including addresses, workplaces, screenshots, private messages or social profiles.

Template: Appeal response

Thanks for contacting us. We’ve reviewed the moderation decision and considered the context. Our decision is [upheld/changed]. Please continue to follow the community rules when posting.