How we keep the map a great place for everyone
LeelaMaps is a map for free things, local info and fundraisers — a place where neighbours give away what they no longer need, share what they know, support local causes, and post local discoveries, events, and stories. These guidelines exist to keep the map accurate, safe, and genuinely useful. They apply to all notes, comments, profile content, and any other content you post.
Disagree with ideas, never attack people. No insults, slurs, threats, or personal attacks — in notes, comments, or messages. There is a real person behind every note someone writes, and they deserve basic respect.
Post notes in the right place. Don't fabricate events, fake reviews, or spread deliberate misinformation about places, people, or events. If you're unsure, say so.
Never post someone else's private information without their clear consent — addresses, phone numbers, workplaces, daily routines, photos of strangers. Doxxing is a permanent ban offence.
Content that targets people based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or national origin is prohibited. So are threats, stalking, coordinated harassment, or content designed to intimidate.
Keep content safe for a general audience. Explicit sexual content is not permitted. Content that sexualises minors in any way is a zero-tolerance violation — it will be reported to relevant authorities.
Don't flood the map with duplicate notes, fake check-ins, or commercial advertisements that disrupt the experience for others. Legitimate local businesses can post notes about real events or updates — blatant ad spam cannot.
Don't post content that is illegal in your jurisdiction or that encourages illegal activity. This includes sharing copyrighted material you don't own, content that facilitates crime, or anything that violates applicable law.
Don't impersonate other people, brands, or organisations. Don't create multiple accounts to evade moderation. Use your real identity or a clearly fictional persona — never pretend to be someone you're not.
Because LeelaMaps is location-based, we want to specifically highlight some safety considerations unique to the platform:
Not every pin on the map was written by a person. Some notes are imported automatically from public sources — OpenStreetMap, published event calendars, and open government data — so that a map isn't empty before anyone has posted to it. These are marked as coming from an automated feed wherever they appear, and the account that posted them is labelled as a feed rather than a person.
An import is a guess from a database. It can be out of date, in slightly the wrong place, or about somewhere that closed. If you know better, you can say so on the note itself: confirm it if you've been there and it's right, adopt it to take it on as your own note and edit it freely, or promote it if it deserves to be seen. Once someone adopts a note it stops being an import, and the feed will never overwrite what they wrote.
Imported notes are held to the same standards as everything else here, and are screened for mature content the same way a person's note is. If one is wrong, inappropriate, or somewhere it shouldn't be, report it exactly as you would any other note — the 🚩 works the same.
If you see content that violates these guidelines, please report it. Notes, comments, photos, chat messages and people all carry a report option — 🚩 in a note's ⋯ menu, on a comment, on any message someone sent you, and on a profile. Our moderation team reviews reports and acts on valid ones — typically within 24 hours for severe violations, and within a few days for lower-priority reports.
You can also block anyone, from their profile or from the 🚩 button in a conversation with them. A block is mutual and immediate: their notes leave your map, they cannot message you, and in a group you share you stop seeing what they write. Reporting and blocking are separate — blocking is "I don't want to see this", reporting is "somebody should look at this" — and you can do both at once.
Good-faith reports are always welcome. Abusing the report system to harass other users is itself a violation.
We apply graduated responses depending on the severity and pattern of violations:
We try to be consistent, but moderation involves judgment. If you believe an action was taken in error, you can appeal through the in-app feedback form.
As LeelaMaps grows, so will our community and its needs. We'll update these guidelines when needed and notify users of significant changes. The spirit behind them — keep the map real, safe, and respectful — won't change.