Safety, reporting & complaints
Anonymous doesn’t mean unmoderated. This page explains how we keep the Web safe, how to report or complain, and what we do under the Online Safety Act 2023.
Report anything
Every post and comment has a Report option (the ⋯ menu). Choose a reason: harassment, personal information, inappropriate content, safeguarding concern, false or defamatory, spam, illegal content, or something else. You don’t need an account. Reports about personal information or safeguarding pull the content out of public view immediately, pending review. You can also email safety@confesstheweb.com with the link.
What happens next
| Report type | Target response |
|---|---|
| Safeguarding, child sexual abuse material, threats to life | Content hidden on report. Reviewed within 24 hours, referred to the police and, for child sexual abuse material, the Internet Watch Foundation. |
| Personal or identifying information | Content hidden on report. Reviewed within 48 hours. |
| Harassment, hate, defamation, illegal content | Reviewed within 48 hours; content stays live meanwhile unless the report is corroborated by a second report, which hides it. |
| Spam, other | Reviewed within 7 days. |
Reporters are told the outcome by notification if they were signed in. Authors are told when content is removed and why.
Our moderation flow
Submit → automated safety checks → risk classification → human review where required → publish. Automated checks look for personal data (emails, phone numbers, postcodes, links, social handles), named people and organisations, pupil-identifying phrases, threats, slurs and safeguarding-sensitive language. High-risk items always get a human. Low-risk items from verified insiders may publish immediately. Every decision is recorded in an audit log, and moderators must use two-factor authentication.
Children and the Teachers community
The service is for adults (18+), but the Teachers community talks about school life, so we take particular care. We prohibit and actively screen for pupil identification, school identification where inappropriate, and any safeguarding-sensitive material. If you have a concern about a child’s safety, do not post it here. Contact your Designated Safeguarding Lead, the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000, or the police on 101 (999 in an emergency).
Online Safety Act
Confessions Of is a user-to-user service under the Online Safety Act 2023. We have carried out an illegal-content risk assessment and a children’s access assessment, keep them under review, and maintain the systems described on this page to remove illegal content promptly, to prevent children from accessing the service, and to let anyone report content or complain. Our internal procedures cover moderation, escalation, record-keeping and law-enforcement requests. Ofcom is the regulator; you can read about its role at ofcom.org.uk.
Takedown requests
If you believe content identifies you or someone you are responsible for, is defamatory, or infringes your rights, email safety@confesstheweb.com with the link and what is wrong with it. We acknowledge within 2 working days and aim to resolve within 7. Where a person is identified we remove first and ask questions afterwards.
Appeals
If we removed or refused something of yours and you disagree, reply to the notification or email us within 30 days. A different moderator reviews the appeal within 7 days and you get a reasoned answer. Suspensions and closures can be appealed the same way.
Complaints about us
If you think we have handled a report, an appeal, or your data badly, email safety@confesstheweb.com with “Complaint” in the subject. We acknowledge within 2 working days and respond in full within 14. Data complaints can also go to the ICO.
Blocking
You can block any insider from their profile or from the ⋯ menu on a comment. You won’t see their comments and they are not told.
Law enforcement and courts
We respond to lawful requests from UK police and courts. Requests should go to safety@confesstheweb.com and will be checked for validity before any disclosure. We may notify the account holder unless prohibited.