People don't typically read excessively long blog content, so please try to keep your submission around 750 words or fewer. If you have a lot to say, consider breaking it down into multiple posts for a PR/Blog series.
Sometimes you need a lot of words to say what you want to say. In those cases, try making your content more scannable and digestible. Use lists, break up content with headings and subheadings, and display content visually where possible.
There’s a ton of content on the internet. Blog posts that earn high readership do so because they have headlines that make the reader want to read in the first place and open with a hook that makes readers want to continue reading. Think about headlines and hooks that pique curiosity, make bold claims or ask interesting questions.
Posts on our blog are optimized for sharing; social share buttons on each post make it easy to garner more attention for your content. Take this to the next level by embedding links to your social media profiles.
The best posts are those that make the reader want to talk about the content with a friend: “I was reading this blog post the other day that really made me think about x.” You can make your content memorable by stating and defending an opinion, sharing timely news or information, or explaining something that is worth understanding.
The goal of our set of standards has always been to create a place for expression and to give voice to the people. This has not and will not change. Building community and bringing the world closer together depends on people's ability to share diverse views, experiences, ideas, and information. We want people to be able to talk openly about the issues that matter to them, even if some may disagree or find them objectionable. In some cases, we allow content for public awareness which would otherwise go against our Community Standards – if it is newsworthy and in the public interest. We only do this after weighing the public interest value against the risk of harm and we look to international human rights standards, to make these judgments. As such, we consider the newsworthiness of content posted by anyone, including news organizations and individuals’ users. Our commitment to expression is paramount, but we recognize that the Internet creates new and increased opportunities for abuse. For these reasons, when we limit expression, we do it in service of one or more of the following values:
Authenticity: We want to make sure that the content people are seeing on PRWire360 is authentic. We believe that authenticity creates a better environment for sharing, and that's why we don't want people using PRWire360 to misrepresent who they are or what they're doing.
Safety: We are committed to making PRWire360 a safe place. An expression that threatens people has the potential to intimidate, exclude or silence others and isn't allowed on PRWire360.
Privacy: We are committed to protecting personal privacy and information. Privacy gives people the freedom to be themselves and to choose how and when to share on PRWire360 and to connect more easily.
Dignity: We believe that all people are equal in dignity and rights. We expect that people will respect the dignity of others and not harass or degrade others.
Our Standards guidelines are for what is and isn't allowed on PRWire360. It is in this spirit that we ask members, publishers, companies connected with the PRWire360 to follow these guidelines.
Please note that the US English version of the standard guidelines reflects the most up-to-date set of policies and should be used as the master document.
- Violence and criminal behavior
- Dangerous individuals and organizations
- Policy rationale
In an effort to prevent and disrupt real-world harm, we do not allow organizations or individuals that proclaim a violent mission or are engaged in violence to have a presence on PRWire360. We assess these entities based on their behavior– most significantly, their ties to violence. Under this policy, we designate individuals, organizations and networks of people. These designations are divided into three tiers that indicate the level of content enforcement, with Tier 1 resulting in the most extensive enforcement because we believe that these entities have the most direct ties to offline harm.
Tier 1 We do not allow content that praises, substantively supports or represents events that PRWire360 designates as violating violent events – including terrorist attacks, hate events, mass murders or attempted mass murders, multiple murders, or hate crimes. Nor do we allow praise, substantive support or representation of the perpetrator(s) of such attacks. We also remove content that praises substantively supports or represents ideologies that promote hate, such as Nazism and white supremacy.
Tier 2 focuses on entities that engage in violence against state or military actors, but do not generally target civilians – what we call "violent non-state actors". We don’t allow substantive support and representation of these entities, their leaders, and their prominent members.
Tier 3 We recognize that users may share content that includes references to designated dangerous organizations and individuals to report on, condemn or neutrally discuss them or their activities. Our policies are designed to allow room for these types of discussions, but we require people to clearly indicate their intent. If the intention is unclear, we may not publish the content.
Policy rationale
To encourage safety and compliance with common legal restrictions, we prohibit t by individuals, manufacturers, and retailers to purchase, sell or trade non-medical drugs, pharmaceutical drugs, and marijuana, but we can have articles on them. Some of these items are not regulated everywhere; however, because of the borderless nature of our community, we try to enforce our policies as consistently as possible. Firearm shops and online retailers may promote items available for sale off our services as long as those retailers comply with all applicable laws and regulations. We allow discussions about sales of firearms and firearm parts in shops or by online retailers and advocate for changes to firearm regulation.
We do not promote the buying, selling, or use of adult products.
We do not promote the buying or selling of human body parts or fluids.
Listings, and commerce Messenger threads, must not wrongfully discriminate or suggest a preference for or against people because of a personal characteristic, included but not limited to, race, ethnicity, color, national origin, citizenship, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family status, marital status, disability, or medical or genetic condition. Listings must comply with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination. This includes but is not limited to discrimination for housing listings
We do not promote the buying or selling of hazardous materials and substances.
We do not promote any form of human trafficking, prostitution, escort or sexual services
We do not contain misleading, violent or hateful products and offers.
We do not promote.
We do not position products or services in a sexually suggestive manner.
Policy rationale
In an effort to prevent fraudulent activity that can harm people or businesses, we remove content that purposefully deceives, willfully misrepresents, or otherwise defrauds or exploits others for money or property. This includes content that seeks to coordinate or promote these activities using our services. e.g.
- Loan scams
- Advance fee scams.
- Gambling scams
- Ponzi or pyramid schemes.
- Money or cash flips or money mulling.
- Investment scams with the promise of high rates of return.
While we don't allow people to intentionally or unintentionally celebrate or promote suicide or self-injury, we do allow people to discuss these topics because we want PRWire360 to be a space where people can share their experiences, raise awareness about these issues and seek support from one another.
We do not allow content/ article that sexually exploits or endangers children. When we become aware of apparent child exploitation, we report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), in compliance with applicable law.
We also work with external experts, including the PRWire360 Safety Advisory Board, to discuss and improve our policies and enforcement around online safety issues, especially with regard to children. Learn more about the technology we're using to fight against child exploitation.
We recognize the importance of PRWire360 as a place to discuss and draw attention to sexual violence and exploitation. In an effort to create space for this conversation and promote a safe environment, we allow victims to share their experiences through an article but remove content that depicts, threatens, or promotes sexual violence, sexual assault, or sexual exploitation. We also remove content that displays, advocates for, or coordinates sexual acts with non-consenting parties to avoid facilitating non-consensual sexual acts.
To protect victims and survivors, we remove images that depict incidents of sexual violence and intimate images shared without the consent of the person(s) pictured. As noted in the introduction, we also work with external safety experts to discuss and improve our policies and enforcement around online safety issues, and we may remove content when they provide information that content is linked to harmful activity. We have written about the technology we use to protect against intimate images and the research that has informed our work. We've also put together a guide to reporting and removing intimate images shared without your consent.
Bullying and harassment happen in many places and come in many different forms, from making threats to releasing personally identifiable information, to sending threatening messages and making unwanted malicious contact. We do not tolerate this kind of behavior because it prevents people from feeling safe and respected on PRWire360.
We distinguish between public figures and private individuals because we want to allow discussion, which often includes critical commentary of people who are featured in the news or who have a large public audience. For public figures, we remove attacks that are severe as well as certain attacks where the public figure is directly tagged in the post or comment. For private individuals, our protection goes further: we remove content that's meant to degrade or shame, including, for example, claims about someone's sexual activity. We recognize that bullying and harassment can have more of an emotional impact on minors, which is why our policies provide heightened protection for users between the ages of 13 and 18.
Context and intent matter and we allow people to post and share if it is clear that something was shared to condemn or draw attention to bullying and harassment. In certain instances, we require self-reporting because it helps us understand that the person targeted feels bullied or harassed. In addition to reporting such behavior and content, we encourage people to use tools available on PRWire360 to help protect against it.
After consulting with outside experts worldwide, we are consolidating several existing exploitation policies that were previously housed in different sections of the Standard guidelines into one dedicated section that focuses on human exploitation and captures a broad range of harmful activities that may manifest our platform. Experts think and talk about these issues under one umbrella – human exploitation.
To disrupt and prevent harm, we remove content that facilitates or coordinates the exploitation of humans, including human trafficking. We define human trafficking as the business of depriving someone of liberty for profit. It is the exploitation of humans to force them to engaging commercial sex, labor or other activities against their will. It relies on deception, force, and coercion, and degrades humans by depriving them of their freedom while economically or materially benefiting others.
Human trafficking is multi-faceted and global; it can affect anyone regardless of age, socioeconomic background, ethnicity, gender or location. It takes many forms, and any given trafficking situation can involve various stages of development. By the coercive nature of this abuse, victims cannot consent.
While we need to be careful not to conflate human trafficking and smuggling, the two can be related and exhibit overlap. The United Nations defines human smuggling as the procurement or facilitation of illegal entry into a state across international borders. Without the necessity for coercion or force, it may still result in the exploitation of vulnerable individuals who are trying to leave their country of origin, often in pursuit of a better life. Human smuggling is a crime against a state, relying on movement, and human trafficking is a crime against a person, relying on exploitation.
We believe that people use their voices and connect more freely when they don't feel attacked based on who they are. That is why we don't allow hate speech on PRWire360. It creates an environment of intimidation and exclusion, and in some cases may promote offline violence.
We define hate speech as a direct attack against people – rather than concepts or institutions – based on what we call protected characteristics: race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, and serious disease. We define attacks as violent or dehumanizing speech, harmful stereotypes, statements of inferiority, expressions of contempt, disgust or dismissal, cursing and calls for exclusion or segregation. We also prohibit the use of harmful stereotypes, which we define as dehumanizing comparisons that have historically been used to attack, intimidate or exclude specific groups, and that is often linked with offline violence. We consider age a protected characteristic when referenced along with another protected characteristic. We also protect refugees, migrants, immigrants, and asylum seekers from the most severe attacks, though we do allow commentary and criticism of immigration policies. Similarly, we provide some protections for characteristics such as occupation, when they're referenced along with a protected characteristic.
We recognize that people sometimes share content that includes someone else's hate speech to condemn it or raise awareness. In other cases, speech that might otherwise violate our standards can be used self-referentially or in an empowering way. Our policies are designed to allow room for these types of speech, but we require people to indicate their intent. If the intention is unclear, we may remove the content.
Adult nudity and sexual activity
We restrict the display of nudity or sexual activity because some people in our readers or clients may be sensitive to this type of content. Additionally, we default to removing sexual imagery to prevent the sharing of non-consensual or underage content. Restrictions on the display of sexual activity also apply to digitally created content unless it is posted for educational, humorous or satirical purposes.
Our Nudity Policies have become more nuanced over time. We understand that nudity can be shared for a variety of reasons, including as a form of protest, to raise awareness about a cause or for educational or medical reasons. Where such intent is clear, we make allowances for the content. For example, while we restrict some images of female breasts that include the nipple, we allow other images, including those depicting acts of protest, women actively engaged in breastfeeding, and photos of post-mastectomy scarring. For images depicting visible genitalia or the anus in the context of birth and after-birth moments or health-related situations, we include a warning label so that people are aware that the content may be sensitive. We also allow photographs of paintings, sculptures, and other art that depicts nude figures.
As noted earlier in adult sexual exploitation people use PRWire360 to discuss and draw attention to sexual violence and exploitation. We recognize the importance of and want to allow for this discussion. We draw the line, however, when content facilitates, encourages or coordinates sexual encounters or commercial sexual services between adults such as prostitution or escort services. We do this to avoid facilitating transactions that may involve trafficking, coercion, and non-consensual sexual acts. We also restrict sexually explicit language that may lead to solicitation because some audiences within our global community may be sensitive to this type of content and it may impede the ability for people to connect with their friends and the broader community.
We work hard to limit the spread of spam because we do not want to allow content that is designed to deceive, or that attempts to mislead users to increase viewership. This content creates a negative user experience, detracts from people's ability to engage authentically in online communities, and can threaten the security, stability, and usability of our services. We also aim to prevent people from abusing our platform, products or features to artificially increase viewership or distribute content en masse for commercial gain.
We recognize that the safety of our users includes the security of their personal information, accounts, and other PRWire360 entities they may manage, as well as our products and services more broadly. Attempts to gather sensitive personal information or engage in unauthorized access by deceptive or invasive methods are harmful to the authentic, open, and safe atmosphere that we want to foster. Therefore, we do not allow attempts to gather sensitive user information or engage in unauthorized access through the abuse of our platform, products, or services.
PRWire360 takes intellectual property rights seriously and believes that they are important to promoting expression, creativity, and innovation in our newsroom. You own all of the content and information that you post on PRWire360, and you control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings. However, before sharing content on PRWire360, please make sure that you have the right to do so. We ask that you respect other people's copyrights, trademarks, and other legal rights. We are committed to helping people and organizations promote and protect their intellectual property rights. PRWire360's Terms of Service do not allow people to post content that violates someone else's intellectual property rights, including copyright and trademark.