Document Status: Draft 2.0 (Thorough Expansion - Meticulously Detailed)
scottishinsider.org is a dedicated, high-integrity platform built around the shared commitment to Scotland's legacy. Our collective mission is to explore, travel, and learn about Scottish heritage while actively working toward its preservation and supporting the artisans who keep its spirit alive.
Our vision is to create the most comprehensive and respectful digital home for Scottish enthusiasts worldwide. This community is a valuable resource, and maintaining its value requires collective professionalism and focus.
We encourage all content and discussion to center around areas relevant to Scotland:
History, Clans, and Genealogy.
Geography, Landscapes, and Natural Beauty.
Travel Planning, Accommodation, and Local Exploration.
Culture, Language (Gaelic and Scots), and Traditional Arts.
The work of local artisans and small businesses that contribute to Scotland’s character.
We welcome and support anyone who loves Scotland, including those who:
Are local residents and subject-matter experts.
Are tourists or travellers seeking reliable inspiration and guidance.
Wish to promote and patronize small businesses and local artisans with genuine intent.
Are learners dedicated to understanding Scottish history and culture deeply.
Respect is the fundamental code of conduct for every user. These standards are non-negotiable and are enforced immediately.
Any form of targeted abuse, hate speech, or discrimination will result in immediate action. This includes, but is not limited to:
Prohibited Conduct: Using slurs, engaging in targeted abuse or ridicule, making threats of violence, or engaging in coordinated harassment (brigading).
Protected Characteristics: Discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, nationality, or physical appearance is strictly forbidden.
Constructive Criticism: All critique of ideas, posts, or opinions must be respectful and factual. Attack the idea, not the person.
Clarity and Tone: Maintain a professional and polite tone. Avoid excessive negativity, inflammatory language, or "doom-and-gloom" posting that detracts from the community’s mission.
Relevancy: Ensure posts and comments are relevant to the topic thread and the community’s overall mission. Off-topic spam or self-promotion unrelated to Scotland's local economy is prohibited.
Accessibility: Strive to use clear language and structure posts thoughtfully to be accessible to all members.
Protecting Personal Data (Doxing): Never share another user’s private, sensitive, or personally identifiable information without their explicit written consent.
Illegal Activities: Any content promoting or discussing illegal activities, including fraud, copyright infringement, or extreme content, is strictly prohibited and will be reported to relevant authorities.
Reporting Violations: If you witness a violation, use the designated reporting tool immediately. This allows the administration team to meticulously review the situation and take corrective action.
To maintain the high quality, trust, and authenticity of our platform, the following rules regarding content generation and technical usage are strictly and universally enforced.
We maintain an absolute commitment to genuine, real-world source material to uphold the value of Scottish heritage and support human creators.
Prohibited Content: Posting any AI-generated picture is not approved. This includes any image or visual media that is fully synthesized, created, or substantially altered by generative AI tools, deepfakes, or machine learning algorithms.
Rationale: This rule protects the historical record, supports the professional photographers and artists dedicated to documenting Scotland, and prevents the saturation of the platform with inauthentic content.
Acceptable Content: Original photography, authenticated historical maps, user-generated artwork, and properly cited external media that reflects genuine Scottish locations, artifacts, or culture.
Platform security, performance, and the fair use of our aggregated data are paramount. Violation of this rule is considered a fundamental breach of service.
Prohibited Bot Activities: The use of automated posting tools, spam bots, bulk messaging scripts, or any automated or scripted interaction designed to bypass genuine user activity or manipulate site visibility is strictly forbidden.
Unauthorised Data Crawling & Harvesting (The Strict Ban): The use of crawlers, spiders, scrapers, bots, or any automated means to harvest, extract, or collect any part of the site’s aggregated data (user profiles, posts, datasets, discussion content) for training AI/ML models, commercial purposes, competitive intelligence, or any form of unauthorized storage is strictly prohibited without express written permission from scottishinsider.org administration. This is enforced with the highest severity.
Accuracy: All shared historical, geographical, or cultural claims should strive for factual accuracy. If sharing detailed claims, referencing your source material is strongly encouraged.
Relevancy: All posted content must be clearly relevant to Scotland or the community’s mission as defined in Section I.
We apply our enforcement policy with diligence and transparency.
This system applies to breaches of Sections II (Conduct) and Section III A/C (Content Quality). | Violation Level | Action Taken | | :--- | :--- | | Strike 1 | Formal, private warning issued via email/PM, detailing the specific violation, policy section, and required corrective action. | | Strike 2 | Temporary account suspension (7-14 days) imposed. The user will lose access to the platform and must confirm understanding of the policy before reinstatement. | | Strike 3 | Permanent Ban from the scottishinsider.org community. All associated accounts may be terminated. |
Detection of unauthorized bot activity or data crawling (Section III B) will result in immediate and permanent account termination without a preceding strike system. This breach is non-negotiable and requires instant removal from the platform to protect the community’s security and data integrity.
Members who believe a strike or ban was issued in error may submit a formal appeal to the administration team. Appeals must include detailed justification and evidence demonstrating compliance. All appeal decisions are final.