Hate Speech

At Evolution Global, Inc., we are dedicated to fostering a platform where freedom of expression enables individuals to connect and share without fear of attack or discrimination. This principle underpins our stringent stance against hate speech across all our platforms, including Evolution Global, Conversation Insurance, and FileTrac Evolve. Hate speech not only fosters an atmosphere of intimidation and exclusion but can also escalate into real-world violence, undermining the very foundations of our community.

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We define hate speech as direct and specific attacks on people based on protected characteristics (PCs) such as race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, and serious disease. We extend this definition to include age as a protected characteristic when it is mentioned alongside another PC. Furthermore, we afford protection to refugees, migrants, immigrants, and asylum seekers against severe attacks, while still permitting discourse and critique of immigration policies.

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Our guidelines also offer limited protections based on non-protected characteristics, such as profession, when these are referenced in conjunction with a PC. In certain instances, local context may dictate that specific terms or phrases are recognized as veiled references to these protected groups.

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Hate speech, as identified by our policies, encompasses any form of dehumanizing language, statements that imply inferiority, expressions of contempt, disgust or cursing, and advocacy for exclusion or segregation. The use of harmful stereotypes and slurs—historically leveraged to demean, intimidate, or ostracize specific groups—is expressly prohibited due to their close association with offline violence.

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Our hate speech restrictions are categorized into two tiers to delineate the severity of the offense, and we impose additional limitations on paid content to further mitigate the spread of harmful rhetoric.

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Recognizing the nuances of language and expression, we understand that certain contexts may necessitate the sharing of content that includes hate speech—for instance, when condemning it, reporting on it, or using slurs in a self-referential or empowering manner. We also consider expressions of disdain or cursing within the context of personal relationships, like romantic break-ups. Our policy is designed to accommodate such instances, provided the intent is explicitly stated and discernible. In cases where intent is ambiguous, we may opt to remove the content to maintain the integrity and safety of our community.

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Evolution Global, Inc. remains unwavering in its commitment to eliminate hate speech, safeguarding our users against discrimination and fostering a secure, inclusive online environment where every voice can be heard without fear of persecution or harm.

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Do not post:

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Tier 1

Content targeting a person or group of people (including all groups except those who are considered non-protected groups described as having carried out violent crimes or sexual offenses or representing less than half of a group) on the basis of their aforementioned protected characteristic(s) or immigration status in written or visual form with:

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• Dehumanizing speech in the form of comparisons to or generalizations about:

o Animals and pathogens

o Insects (including but not limited to: cockroaches, locusts)

o Animals in general or specific types of animals that are culturally perceived as inferior (including but not limited to: Black people and apes or ape-like creatures; Jewish people and rats; Muslim people and pigs; Mexican people and worms)

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• Certain Inanimate Objects and Non-Human States:

o Certain objects (women as household objects or property or objects in general; Black people as farm equipment; transgender or non-binary people as “it”)

o Feces (including but not limited to: shit, crap)

o Filth (including but not limited to: dirt, grime, or saying "[protected characteristic or quasi-protected characteristic] has bad hygiene")

o Bacteria, viruses, or microbes

o Disease (including but not limited to: cancer, sexually transmitted diseases)

o Subhumanity (including but not limited to: savages, devils, monsters, primitives)

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• Criminals

o Sexual predators (including but not limited to: Muslim people having sex with goats or pigs)

o Violent criminals (including but not limited to: terrorists, murderers, members of hate or criminal organizations)

o Other criminals (including but not limited to “thieves,” “bank robbers,” or saying “All [protected characteristic or quasi-protected characteristic] are ‘criminals’”).

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• Statements in the form of calls for action or statements of intent to inflict, aspirational or conditional statements about, or statements advocating or supporting harm in the following ways:

o In favor of contracting a disease

o In favor of experiencing a natural disaster

o Calls for self-injury or suicide

o Calls for death without a perpetrator or method

o Calls for accidents and other physical harms caused either by no perpetrator or by a deity

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• Statements denying existence (including but not limited to: "[protected characteristic(s) or quasi-protected characteristic] do not exist", "no such thing as [protected characteristic(s) or quasi-protected characteristic]" or “[protected characteristic(s) or quasi-protected characteristic] shouldn’t exist”)

• Harmful stereotypes historically linked to intimidation, exclusion, or violence on the basis of a protected characteristic, such as Blackface; Holocaust denial; claims that Jewish people control financial, political, or media institutions; and references to Dalits as menial laborers

• Mocking the concept, events or victims of hate crimes even if no real person is depicted in an image.

• Mocking people on the basis of their Protected Characteristics or Quasi-Protected Characteristics for having or experiencing a disease.

• Content that describes or negatively targets people with slurs, where slurs are defined as words that inherently create an atmosphere of exclusion and intimidation against people on the basis of a protected characteristic, often because these words are tied to historical discrimination, oppression, and violence. They do this even when targeting someone who is not a member of the PC group that the slur inherently targets.

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Tier 2

Content targeting a person or group of people on the basis of their protected characteristic(s) (in written or visual form):

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• Generalizations that state inferiority in the following ways:

o Physical appearance, including but not limited to: ugly, hideous.

o Mental characteristics are defined as those about:

Intellectual capacity, including but not limited to: dumb, stupid, idiots.

Education, including but not limited to: illiterate, uneducated.

Mental health, including but not limited to: mentally ill, retarded, crazy, insane.

o Moral characteristics are defined as those about:

Character traits culturally perceived as negative, including but not limited to: coward, liar, arrogant, ignorant.

Derogatory terms related to sexual activity, including but not limited to: whore, slut, perverts.

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• Other statements of inferiority, which we define as:

o Expressions about being less than adequate, including but not limited to: worthless, useless.

o Expressions about being better/worse than another protected characteristic, including but not limited to: "I believe that males are superior to females."

o Expressions about deviating from the norm, including but not limited to: freaks, abnormal.

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• Expressions of contempt, except in a romantic break-up context, and disgust, which we define as:

o Self-admission to intolerance on the basis of a protected characteristics, including but not limited to: homophobic, islamophobic, racist.

o Expressions of hate, including but not limited to: "I despise","I hate", " I can't stand".

o Expressions of dismissal, including but not limited to: "I don´t respect", "I don't like", " I don´t care for"

o Expressions that suggest the target causes sickness, including but not limited to: vomit, throw up.

o Expressions of repulsion or distaste, including but not limited to: vile, disgusting, yuck.

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• Targeted cursing, except certain gender-based cursing in a romantic break-up context, defined as:

o Referring to the target as genitalia or anus, including but not limited to: cunt, dick, asshole.

o Profane terms or phrases or other curses with the intent to insult.

o Terms or phrases calling for engagement in sexual activity, or contact with genitalia, anus, feces or urine.

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• Exclusion or segregation in the form of calls for action, statements of intent, aspirational or conditional statements, or statements advocating or supporting defined as:

o Explicit exclusion, which means things like expelling certain groups or saying they are not allowed or segregation.

o Political exclusion, which means denying the right to political participation.

o Economic exclusion means denying access to economic entitlements and limiting participation in the labor market.

o Social exclusion, which means things like denying access to spaces (physical and online) and social services, except for gender-based exclusion in health and positive support Groups.

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For the following Community Standards, we require additional information and/or context to enforce:

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Do not post:

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• Content explicitly providing or offering to provide products or services that aim to change people’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

• Content attacking concepts, institutions, ideas, practices, or beliefs associated with protected characteristics, which are likely to contribute to imminent physical harm, intimidation or discrimination against the people associated with that protected characteristic. Evolution Global looks at a range of signs to determine whether there is a threat of harm in the content. These include but are not limited to content that could incite imminent violence or intimidation; whether there is a period of heightened tension such as an election or ongoing conflict; and whether there is a recent history of violence against the targeted protected group. In some cases, we may also consider whether the speaker is a public figure or occupies a position of authority.

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In certain cases, we will allow content that may otherwise violate the Community Standards when it is determined that the content is satirical. Content will only be allowed if the violating elements of the content are being satirized or attributed to something or someone else in order to mock or criticize them.

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