Community Guidelines

Sterling is a social network around hubs: communities pinned to places. These guidelines apply to everyone and to all activity in the App, including profiles, usernames, posts, comments, messages, photos, videos, Clips, Discovery, hub names, hub rules, and links.

By using Sterling you agree to follow these guidelines, the Terms of Use, and the Privacy Policy. Hub-owner rules may be stricter, but they cannot allow what we prohibit.

Hub owners are the influencers on Sterling. Content that gets exposed, including in Clips and Discovery, is the owner's content or content the owner pushes out. Growing the biggest hub is the aim. That does not excuse breaking these rules.

Hub owners must:

• Publish only content they have the right to post.
• Not use fake accounts, bots, or bought activity to inflate hub size.
• Not harass people into joining, staying, or engaging.
• Take reports in their hub seriously and not retaliate against people who report in good faith.

Owning a hub does not mean you own the real-world place. Do not impersonate a venue, city, brand, or person.

Do not:

• Threaten, encourage, praise, plan, or depict credible violence against any person, group, animal, or property.
• Promote terrorism, violent extremism, organized violence, or criminal organizations.
• Share instructions intended to help someone cause physical harm.
• Glorify severe injury, abuse, death, or graphic violence.
• Encourage suicide, self-harm, or dangerous challenges.

Educational, news, or documentary discussion of violence may still be limited if it is graphic, exploitative, or likely to cause harm. If we believe there is a credible and immediate threat, we may contact emergency services or law enforcement.

Do not post, send, request, or link to:

• Nudity, pornography, sexually explicit material, or sexual activity.
• Sexually suggestive images, videos, messages, or comments.
• Sexual solicitation or content meant for sexual gratification.
• Intimate images shared without the depicted person's consent.
• Any sexual or exploitative content involving, depicting, targeting, or sexualizing a minor. Sterling is for adults 18 and over.

Sexual exploitation of minors is prohibited. We will report it to the appropriate authorities and preserve relevant information as required by law.

Do not:

• Harass, bully, intimidate, stalk, shame, or repeatedly target another person.
• Attack people based on race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, or another protected characteristic.
• Use slurs or promote hatred, discrimination, or dehumanization.
• Dox, share private information, or encourage others to pile on.

Disagreement is allowed. Personal attacks are not.

You may promote your own hub and use official creator tools in an honest way. You may not treat the rest of the App as a billboard.

Do not:

• Send unsolicited commercial DMs, mass mentions, or copy-paste ads in hubs you do not own.
• Run scams, phishing, fake giveaways, or schemes to take money or login details.
• Post fake reviews, fake members, or fake Clips engagement.
• Use bots, scrapers, or coordinated fake accounts.
• Impersonate Sterling, JEFGROWZZ LLC, or another user.

Do not share another person's private information, private messages, precise location, financial information, medical information, or private images without authorization. Do not record or post someone where doing so violates their privacy or consent.

Do not use the App to commit, plan, or promote illegal activity. Only post content you have the right to use. Report copyright issues under our DMCA Policy.

Use in-app reporting or email support@sterlingtheapp.com. For an emergency or immediate threat of harm, contact local emergency services first. Do not file false reports.

We may:

• Remove or limit content, including Clips and Discovery placement.
• Warn you, restrict features, or remove hub-owner tools.
• Suspend or permanently terminate accounts.
• Reassign or close hubs.
• Preserve information and notify law enforcement when required or reasonably necessary.

We consider severity, context, harm, and prior violations. Serious conduct can mean immediate termination. Creating a new account to evade a ban is itself a violation.

We may update these guidelines. The dates at the top show the current version. Continued use means you accept the update.

Questions about these guidelines: