Argue about the question, never the person

Burst Out is where people who are actually there argue about what’s happening around them. Disagree as hard as you like — about the question, never about the person.

1. No threats or violence. Don’t threaten, encourage or celebrate violence against anyone, glorify people who commit it, or incite others to it. Don’t encourage anyone to harm themselves. This includes “jokes”.
2. Leave private people out of it. Argue about decisions, places and public roles — not private individuals. Don’t name, picture or describe a private person so others can identify them, and never share anyone’s address, phone number, workplace, vehicle number or whereabouts.
3. No harassment or hate. No insults, slurs, piling on, or attacks on anyone for their religion, caste, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexuality, disability or age. Criticise the argument, not the person making it.
4. No sexual content. No nudity or sexual content, ever. Anything that sexualises a minor is removed at once and reported as the law requires.
5. Evidence has to be real. Link to the actual source. Don’t fake screenshots, edit quotes, pass off an old photo or someone else’s claim as proof, or present something you know is false as fact. The meter shows how people lean — it isn’t a verdict on what is true.
6. One person, one voice. No spam, ads, fake accounts, pretending to be another person or organisation, or bringing in outsiders or coordinated accounts to swing a meter. Only people who are really in a topic’s area or group take a side; don’t try to get around that.
7. Follow the law, and be 18 or over. Burst Out is for adults. Don’t post anything illegal in India or where you are — including content that infringes someone else’s rights, sells illegal goods, or promotes gambling.

• Every photo and video is scanned for viruses, and the location and camera details hidden inside it are removed before anyone sees it.
• It is then checked for nudity and unsafe content on our own servers. Photos and videos in bursts, Bytes, topics and page notices are also checked by an AI service (Google Gemini); stories, posts, profile pictures and covers are checked on our servers only. Chat photos and videos get only the virus scan and a match against known illegal files. Anything flagged is held for a person to review. This is why a new photo shows “Checking…” for a moment.
• When a topic, burst, reply or reshare comment is posted, its text is checked against these rules by an AI service (Google Gemini). If it breaks one — threats or violence, harassment or hate, sexual content, exposing a private person, encouraging self-harm, or arranging something illegal — it isn’t posted, or is taken down, and you’re told which rule. Strong opinions and criticism are fine. Private chats are not checked.
• On topics about a person, faces in photos are blurred automatically.
• Links you add as evidence are opened and read by AI to label the source and check it says what you claim. The label is a guide, not a verdict — people can dispute it.
• These checks look for safety and misuse. They don’t decide whether a photo is real or edited, and they don’t decide who is right.

• A public square for the place you live: argue about what is happening around you with the people who are actually there, show your evidence, and see how your neighbourhood, city or group leans.
• A way to find and talk to local businesses, communities and organisations — message them, call them, book a time.

• Civil, even fierce, disagreement about the question.
• Sides backed by evidence: a link, a photo you took, a document.
• Honest experiences of local places and businesses.
• Local issues, questions, notices and events.

• One person, one account, one side per topic. No buying, trading or coordinating votes, no fake or borrowed accounts, and no faking where you are.
• Accounts that behave like a group acting as one are slowed down or removed, and their weight taken out of the meter.

• Some business pages answer with an automatic assistant. Its replies are marked as automatic and come from the page’s own information.
• It never asks for your phone number, WhatsApp, email, one-time code, Aadhaar, UPI, card or bank details, and never quotes a price the page hasn’t written. It stays on the page’s business and hands you to a person when you ask.
• If it ever asks for any of those, don’t share them — report the page.

• Depending on how serious it is: the content is removed, you are warned, you lose the right to post for a while, or the account is suspended for good.
• Anything that sexualises a minor, real threats, and exposing a private person are removed at once, and reported where the law requires.

• AI helps check posts as they appear and sorts reports, so the worst is caught quickly.
• People make the final decision on every appeal.

• If content of yours was removed or your account limited and you think it was wrong, write to [email protected] with your username and what happened. A person reviews it and replies within 15 days.

• Report anything that breaks these rules: tap ⋯ on a burst, topic or profile. Threats, sexual content and posts about private people are reviewed within 3 hours; everything else within 24.
• Content that breaks a rule is removed. Repeated or serious breaks lead to losing the right to post, or the account being suspended.
• You can block anyone. They won’t see your bursts, and you won’t see theirs.
• Think we got it wrong? Write to [email protected] and a person will look again.

Version 2026-11-01