Youth Safety
Youth Safety
On this page
Overview
Media.com is committed to protecting children and young people from sexual exploitation, abuse, grooming, coercion and other serious harm.
These Rules apply to conduct involving anyone under 18, regardless of the minimum age required to hold a Media.com account.
People aged 16 or 17 may be permitted to use Media.com in some jurisdictions while still being minors for the purposes of these Youth Safety Rules.
Our account-age requirements are explained separately in Age Requirements & Age Assurance.
Our highest-priority safety rule
Media.com does not permit Child Sexual Abuse Material, sexual exploitation of minors, grooming or other conduct that sexualises or endangers children.
Serious violations may result in immediate removal of content, permanent account action and other steps required or permitted by applicable law.
What is not allowed
Child Sexual Abuse Material
Do not create, upload, share, request, distribute, promote, link to or otherwise facilitate access to Child Sexual Abuse Material.
This prohibition applies regardless of whether material is shared:
- publicly;
- privately;
- through messages;
- through links;
- through files;
- through profiles; or
- through another Media.com feature.
Sexualised Depictions of Minors
Do not publish or distribute content that sexually exploits or sexualises a minor.
This may include certain:
- photographs;
- videos;
- audio;
- illustrations;
- animations;
- manipulated media; or
- synthetic or AI-generated material.
Content involving minors will be assessed with particular regard to child safety and exploitation risk.
Grooming
Do not use Media.com to build a relationship with a minor for the purpose of sexual exploitation, sexual activity, obtaining sexual content or otherwise abusing the young person.
Grooming may involve conduct such as:
- sexual conversations;
- requests for intimate content;
- attempts to move communications into secrecy;
- manipulating trust;
- providing incentives;
- sexualised communication;
- coercion; or
- other behaviour intended to facilitate exploitation.
Sexual Contact With Minors
Do not direct sexual propositions, sexual requests or sexually explicit communication toward minors in circumstances prohibited under these Rules.
Adults must not use Media.com to solicit sexual activity or sexual content from minors.
Sexual Extortion or Coercion
Do not threaten, manipulate, blackmail or pressure a minor to:
- provide intimate images or videos;
- engage in sexual activity;
- provide sexual content;
- disclose sensitive personal information; or
- comply with another exploitative demand.
Soliciting Intimate Content From Minors
Do not request, encourage or offer incentives for a minor to create or provide intimate or sexualised content.
Promoting Child Sexual Exploitation
Do not praise, encourage, advocate, facilitate or provide instructions intended to support the sexual exploitation or abuse of minors.
Links to Prohibited Material
Do not knowingly direct users to websites, services, files or other locations for the purpose of accessing material prohibited under these Rules.
Harmful Impersonation of a Minor
Do not falsely present yourself as a minor for the purpose of:
- grooming;
- exploitation;
- sexual interaction;
- fraud;
- targeting children; or
- other harmful or deceptive conduct.
This does not prohibit legitimate law-enforcement, authorised safety, research or comparable activity where permitted by applicable law and Media.com's procedures.
Identifying Child Victims
Do not publish identifying or sensitive information about a child victim of sexual abuse or exploitation where doing so violates their privacy, exposes them to further harm or is otherwise prohibited by law or Media.com's Rules.
Images and information about minors
Not every image or reference to a child requires removal.
Users should respect children's privacy and the rights and responsibilities of parents, guardians and other authorised persons.
Media.com may restrict content involving minors where publication creates a material privacy, exploitation or safety risk.
Youth privacy issues that do not involve sexual exploitation may also be governed by Media.com's Privacy & Personal Information Rules.
Journalism, education and child-safety awareness
Legitimate journalism, education, research, child-protection advocacy and public-interest reporting about child exploitation may be permitted.
However, a legitimate purpose does not automatically permit the publication or redistribution of prohibited sexual-abuse material.
Media.com may require sensitive material to be described rather than displayed.
Artificial and synthetic content
The fact that sexualised content involving minors is illustrated, manipulated or synthetically generated does not automatically make it acceptable on Media.com.
Media.com may prohibit synthetic or fictional material where its sexualised depiction of minors creates child-safety, exploitation or other serious concerns under these Rules.
Age requirements
The minimum age for creating or maintaining a Media.com account may depend on jurisdiction and the applicable Media.com service.
Age requirements, age assurance and access restrictions are governed by Age Requirements & Age Assurance.
A user who is old enough to hold an account but is under 18 remains a minor for the purposes of these Youth Safety Rules.
How to report a Youth Safety concern
Anyone should be able to report a potential Youth Safety violation using Media.com's available reporting mechanisms.
Reports involving suspected child sexual exploitation should receive elevated priority within Media.com's Trust & Safety process.
A report does not by itself establish that a violation occurred.
What happens when these Rules are broken
Media.com treats child sexual exploitation, grooming and comparable severe Youth Safety violations as among the most serious forms of platform abuse.
Depending on the circumstances, action may include:
- immediate content removal;
- restricting access to content;
- preserving relevant information where appropriate;
- disabling platform features;
- temporarily suspending an account;
- permanently removing an account;
- preventing creation of replacement accounts where appropriate; or
- taking reporting or disclosure steps required or permitted by applicable law.
Severe Youth Safety violations do not require a prior warning.
Other Youth Safety violations will be handled according to their nature and seriousness.
Appeals
Eligible enforcement decisions may be appealed in accordance with Media.com's platform-wide appeals process.
Where an appeal concerns serious child-safety material, Media.com may restrict access to the relevant content while the appeal is considered.