How Valid Moderates Polls and Handles Reports
Valid’s published policy is human review of polls before publication. Reports and blocking help address concerns that arise afterward. These controls support positive participation, but a poll’s wording cannot reveal every private joke, school conflict, or repeated pattern.
What poll review covers
Our rules prohibit bullying, harassment, impersonation, and vote manipulation. Pre-publication poll review creates an opportunity to catch a problem before students interact with a question. This policy does not mean that every chat message or Story receives the same review before it is visible.
Examples of constructive and harmful participation
The following examples are illustrative, not a list of live prompts or promises about particular moderation decisions.
- Recognizing inclusion: appreciating someone who makes a new classmate feel welcome.
- Recognizing effort: noticing someone who helps a team keep going through a difficult task.
- Targeting someone: using a seemingly positive question as a sarcastic inside joke meant to embarrass them.
- Coordinating votes: organizing a group to single someone out or manipulate the result.
Context matters. If a harmless-looking prompt is being used to target someone, explain that context in your report.
How to report a poll or interaction
- Open the relevant content or profile and look for its report control or actions menu.
- Select Report and review the confirmation or reason choices shown for that content type.
- Provide the context requested and confirm the report. The available controls vary by screen and content type.
- If you cannot find the control, email [email protected] with where it happened and what concerned you.
For example, a poll comment offers a Report action. Read the confirmation before proceeding so you understand the action for that content. A useful follow-up describes repeated behavior or an inside joke that a moderator could not infer from the words alone.
When to use blocking
Where a Block control is available on a profile or interaction, use it to help manage contact with that person. Read and confirm the action shown. Reporting asks us to review a concern; blocking helps you manage your own experience. You can use both where available.
Do not assume that blocking a person in Valid also blocks their phone number in your phone’s messaging app. For unwanted messages outside Valid, use the controls for that channel.
What our response-time commitment means
Our published moderation SLA is under 15 minutes: a commitment to fast moderation turnaround when content needs review. It is not a claim that every historical report was resolved within that time. Some situations need more context or follow-up.
Help us investigate without spreading the harm
Share relevant usernames, screenshots, and context privately with support. Avoid reposting an upsetting interaction publicly, where it may attract more attention to the student involved. Read our community guidelines for the standards that apply and our parent FAQ for wider product questions.