Last updated: August 1, 2026
Referendum.social is an independent public polling platform where users can create polls, vote, discuss important issues and explore the opinions of other participants.
These Community Guidelines apply to polls, answer options, descriptions, comments, profile information and other user-generated content published on the English-language U.S. edition of Referendum.social.
Our goal is to support open discussion while keeping the platform useful, respectful and safe. Users may express different, unpopular or controversial opinions, but participation must remain consistent with these guidelines, our Terms of Service and applicable law.
Referendum.social welcomes a wide range of opinions.
Users are not required to agree with one another or with the premise of a poll. Political, social, cultural and other controversial topics may be discussed openly, provided that users follow the rules of the platform.
The presence of a poll or comment on Referendum.social does not mean that the platform supports its author, wording, argument or political position. More information about our independence and content standards is available in our Editorial Policy.
Disagreement is allowed. Abuse, threats, manipulation and unlawful conduct are not.
Registered users may create polls through the regular user-facing interface of the website.
Poll questions should:
Polls are normally published without prior approval. Moderation may therefore take place after publication.
Immediate publication does not mean that Referendum.social has reviewed, verified or endorsed the poll.
Polls should be written in a way that allows users to express their genuine opinions.
A poll may address a controversial issue or present a strong viewpoint, but its wording should not intentionally deceive participants, conceal essential context or misrepresent a person, organization or event.
Referendum.social may revise a poll question, title, description or answer options to improve:
Such changes should preserve the central topic of the poll. Existing votes must not be made to appear as answers to an unrelated question.
More information about how polls are created, edited and interpreted is available on our Poll Methodology page.
Answer options should be understandable and reasonably connected to the question.
Referendum.social may edit, remove, combine or replace answer options that are:
Not every poll can include every possible opinion. Users may explain a more detailed position in the comments when the available answers do not fully reflect their view.
Titles, descriptions, tags and categories help users find and understand polls.
Referendum.social may add, remove or change these elements when they are inaccurate, duplicated, misleading, overly broad or unrelated to the subject.
The platform may also improve them so that a poll is easier to discover and better aligned with the way users search for and discuss the topic.
These editorial changes do not alter previously recorded votes.
Users may criticize ideas, political positions, institutions, public figures and the arguments of other participants.
However, comments should focus on the topic rather than on attacking other users.
The following behavior is not permitted:
Strong disagreement is not automatically harassment. Moderation decisions consider the context, severity, repetition and apparent purpose of the content.
Referendum.social allows discussion of immigration, religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, national identity and other sensitive subjects.
Users may express opinions about laws, policies, social movements and public debates. However, content may be restricted or removed when it directly threatens people, encourages violence, targets individuals with severe harassment or violates applicable law.
The platform aims to distinguish between discussion of a controversial issue and direct abuse directed at a person or group.
Users must not publish credible threats, instructions intended to facilitate serious violence or content that directly encourages harm against an individual or group.
Discussion of war, crime, punishment, self-defense, public safety and other difficult subjects may be permitted when presented as news, political discussion, historical analysis or public opinion.
Context matters, but content that creates a serious and direct risk of harm may be removed.
Do not publish another person’s sensitive or private information without a legitimate reason and appropriate authorization.
Prohibited information may include:
Information that is already lawfully available as part of a public record or is relevant to a public figure may be evaluated differently, but it must not be used to threaten, harass or endanger anyone.
Information about how Referendum.social handles personal data is provided in our Privacy Policy.
Pornographic content, sexual exploitation and any sexual content involving minors are prohibited.
Polls discussing sexuality, gender identity, relationships, reproductive policy or similar social issues may be allowed when their purpose is public discussion rather than sexual exploitation or explicit entertainment.
Users must not use Referendum.social primarily to distribute spam, manipulate search systems or promote unrelated products and services.
Prohibited activity may include:
Relevant links may be allowed when they provide useful context for a poll or discussion.
Referendum.social may remove, merge or restrict duplicate polls when substantially the same question already exists.
A similar poll may remain available when it:
Polls that are incomplete, meaningless or created only as tests may also be removed.
Users must not deliberately present fabricated information as verified fact in order to deceive participants.
Referendum.social may correct, label, restrict or remove content when its wording materially misrepresents the subject of the poll.
The platform does not guarantee the accuracy of every user-created statement and does not independently verify every claim before publication. Users should examine supporting information and form their own conclusions.
Opinions, predictions, satire and disputed interpretations are not automatically treated as false information merely because other users disagree with them.
Users must not attempt to manipulate poll results through bots, automated tools, multiple accounts, coordinated fraudulent activity or technical interference.
Referendum.social uses anti-spam and anti-bot measures intended to reduce automated and abusive voting.
The platform may investigate unusual activity and remove votes or restrict accounts when there is reasonable evidence that the integrity of a poll has been compromised.
Legitimate sharing of a poll is allowed. Users may invite others to participate, but they must not falsely represent the poll as an official government vote or use prohibited methods to manufacture results.
Depending on the nature of an issue, Referendum.social may:
Whenever practical, the platform may correct a specific problem instead of removing the entire poll.
Moderation decisions may consider:
Referendum.social is not required to preserve content that violates these guidelines simply because it has already received votes or comments.
Referendum.social is independent of the U.S. Government, election authorities, political parties, candidates, political campaigns and media organizations.
Moderation is not intended to promote a political party, ideology or preferred poll result.
A poll may be edited for clarity, neutrality, relevance or policy compliance regardless of which political or social viewpoint it discusses.
Our editorial principles are explained in greater detail in the Editorial Policy.
Users may report a poll, comment or other content that appears to violate these guidelines.
Reports should include:
Reports can be submitted through the Contact Us page.
Submitting a report does not guarantee that the content will be removed. Referendum.social will review the report and determine whether editing, restriction, removal or no action is appropriate.
Authors and other affected users may appeal a moderation decision through the Contact Us page.
An appeal should identify the relevant poll or comment and explain why the user believes the decision should be reconsidered.
After review, Referendum.social may:
Repeated appeals containing no new information may not receive an additional review.
These Community Guidelines should be read together with the following pages:
Where these guidelines conflict with applicable law or the Terms of Service, the applicable legal requirement or Terms of Service will take priority.
Referendum.social may update these Community Guidelines as the platform develops, introduces new features or responds to new forms of misuse.
The latest version published on this page applies to the English-language U.S. edition of Referendum.social.
Information about significant website changes may also be published on the Updates page.
