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Community Guidelines

Version 2026-11-01

Ladder is for meeting the people and places around you. That only works if everyone feels safe. These guidelines say what is not allowed, how to report it, and what we do about it. They are part of our Terms of Use and apply to everyone, including business accounts.

1. Be real

• Use your real age: Ladder is only for people aged 18 and over.
• Do not pretend to be another person, a business or an organisation, and do not create fake accounts.
• Business pages must belong to a real business at a real place, and their offers and events must be true.

2. Respect people

Not allowed:

• harassment, bullying, threats, intimidation or stalking, in messages, comments, Live chat or calls;
• hate speech: attacking people because of their race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, caste, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability or serious illness;
• sharing someone's private information (for example their address, phone number, documents or photos) without their permission;
• trying to find out where someone is against their will, following someone, or using Ladder to meet someone who has said no;
• continuing to contact someone who has blocked you or asked you to stop, for example through a new account.

3. Keep it safe

Not allowed:

• anything that sexualises minors, in any form. We report child sexual abuse material to the authorities;
• sexual content sent to people who did not ask for it, and nude or sexual images of anyone without their consent;
• violence or threats of violence, and content that praises or supports terrorism or violent extremism;
• encouraging suicide, self-harm or eating disorders. If you or someone you know is in danger, contact your local emergency number at once;
• selling or promoting illegal goods or services, weapons, drugs, or sexual services;
• fraud and scams, for example fake offers, requests for money, investment or romance scams, phishing, or asking for passwords or codes.

4. No spam

Not allowed:

• spam, chain messages, mass messages or repeated unwanted hello requests;
• links in Live chat, and links in business offers, events, posts, catalogues or comments on business posts;
• advertising in Live chat, comments or messages by personal accounts;
• buying or selling accounts, followers or likes;
• bots, scripts, scrapers, modified apps or anything that makes many requests automatically.

5. Respect rights

• Only post what you have the right to post. Do not use other people's photos, music, videos, brands or texts without permission.
• Do not post images of other people where they have a right to privacy without their permission.

6. Do not misuse Ladder

• Do not try to break, overload or get around Ladder's security, limits or blocks.
• Do not use Ladder for anything illegal in your country or in Germany.

7. How to report

• In the app: tap Report on a person, a post, a comment, a status, a message you received, a Live chat message, a business, or a business post or photo. Choose a reason (for example spam, harassment, nudity, violence, hate, underage, scam, self-harm, impersonation or other) and add details if you want.
• You can choose "Report and block" to block the person at the same time.
• By email: write to support@ladder.ink. Anyone can do this, also without a Ladder account.
• Reports are confidential. We do not tell the reported person who reported them.
• If someone is in immediate danger, contact your local police or emergency number first.

8. Reporting illegal content (notices)

Anyone can tell us about content on Ladder that they believe is illegal, by Report in the app or by email to support@ladder.ink. So that we can act quickly, please include:

• why you believe the content is illegal (if you can, which law it breaks);
• where it is: the name of the account, and the post, comment, status, message or business it is in, or a link to it;
• your name and email address (not needed for reports of child sexual abuse material);
• a statement that you believe in good faith that the information in your notice is correct and complete.

We confirm that we received your notice, decide carefully and objectively, and tell you our decision and how you can challenge it.

9. What happens after a report

• A person reviews every report. We may use automated checks to stop spam and links, but we do not delete content or close accounts based only on an automated system.
• We check the content against these guidelines, our Terms and the law. The report includes a copy of the reported content, so we can look at it even if it is deleted.
• If it breaks the rules, we act in proportion to how serious it is, for example: a warning, removing the content, limiting features, hiding the account, suspending it for a time, or closing it. Serious cases (for example sexual content involving minors, or a threat to someone's life) lead to the account being closed at once and, where the law requires it or a life is at risk, to a report to the authorities.
• If it does not break the rules, we leave it, and you can still block the person.
• We aim to review reports within a few days, and urgent reports sooner.

10. If we act against your content or account (statement of reasons)

When we remove or restrict your content, or limit, suspend or close your account, we tell you by email to the address of your account. We explain:

• what we did, and from when and for how long;
• the facts that led to it, and whether it came from a report or our own check;
• which rule in these guidelines or our Terms, or which law, it is based on;
• how you can appeal.

We may leave out details where telling them would put someone at risk, or where the law or an authority forbids it.

11. How to appeal

• If you think we got it wrong, reply to our email or write to support@ladder.ink within 6 months of our decision. Tell us why. This works both for decisions about your content or account and for our decision on a report you made.
• A person who was not involved in the first decision, where possible, looks at it again. We tell you the result and the reasons.
• If we were wrong, we undo the decision without delay.
• You can also take the matter to court. In the EU you may also turn to an out-of-court dispute settlement body certified under the Digital Services Act.

12. Misuse of reporting

If someone often sends reports that are clearly unfounded, we may stop handling their reports for a while, after a warning.

13. How Ladder orders what you see

• Home: people who are near you are shown in a few groups from nearer to further. Inside each group the order is shuffled and changes every few minutes. Nothing is sorted by popularity or by money.
• Live chat: messages are shown in the order they were written.
• Businesses nearby: verified businesses first, then the others; inside that, businesses that are live now, then open ones, then closed ones, each in a fair, changing order. A business cannot pay to be shown higher.
• Posts and statuses of people you follow are shown newest first.

14. Contact point for authorities and users

Our single point of contact for users, for authorities of the EU member states, the European Commission and the European Board for Digital Services is support@ladder.ink. We answer in English or German. Authorities can also reach us at the address in our legal notice (ladder.ink/imprint). We share data with authorities only when the law obliges us to.

15. Changes

We update these guidelines when Ladder or the law changes. Each version has a date. If a translation says something different, the English version applies.