Community Guidelines

authentic exists for one reason: to be a place where a photograph is just a photograph. No filters, no presets, nothing generated. These guidelines explain what that means in practice, how we check it, and what happens when something breaks the rule.

1. The rule

Everything you post must be a real photograph you took.

• No AI-generated or AI-modified images.
• No filters, presets, or colour grading.
• No illustrations, renders, or composites.
• Cropping and straightening are fine. Anything that changes what was actually in front of the lens is not.

This applies to the photo itself. Your caption, your tags, and how you describe a place are yours to write however you like.

2. How we check

Every upload is checked automatically before it is published. Two things happen:

• Your file's metadata is read for the signatures that editing and generation tools leave behind — Content Credentials, generator tags, and the fingerprints of common filter apps.
• The image itself is analysed by a third-party moderation service that scores it for AI generation, for being an illustration rather than a photograph, and separately for nudity and graphic violence.

If a check fails, the upload is rejected and tells you why. Nothing is published.

Automated checks are not perfect in either direction. Something generated may occasionally pass, and an ordinary photo may occasionally be stopped. That is why reporting matters, and why a human reviews what gets reported.

3. What is not allowed

Beyond the authenticity rule:

• Nudity, sexual content, and graphic violence.
• Harassment, abuse, hate speech, and threats.
• Impersonating someone else.
• Posting photos you did not take, or that you do not have the right to post.
• Spam and unsolicited commercial messages.
• Trying to get around the authenticity checks.

4. Content involving minors

Any content that sexualises or endangers a child is removed immediately and the account is terminated. We report apparent child sexual abuse material to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and co-operate with law enforcement, as US law requires of us. There is no warning and no second chance for this.

5. Reporting and blocking

You can report a post, a comment, or an account from its ⋯ menu. Reports are private — the person you report is not told who reported them.

You can also block someone outright. Blocking stops them following you, messaging you, commenting on your posts, and seeing you in search. It takes effect immediately and you can undo it from Settings.

Reports are reviewed at least once a day, and anything involving a minor is handled first.

6. What happens when a rule is broken

What we do depends on what happened. In rough order: an upload is rejected before it publishes, a post is removed, or an account is deactivated. Deactivation is reversible.

Accounts are terminated permanently for content involving minors, for severe or repeated abuse, and after three upheld copyright complaints.

7. If we get it wrong

We are a small operation and there is no automated appeals system yet. If a post of yours was removed or your account was actioned and you think that was a mistake, email contact@authentic-app.com from the address on the account and a person will look at it again.

8. Contact

Questions about these guidelines? contact@authentic-app.com