Smara Sangam Community Guidelines

Purpose

Smara Sangam exists to help people connect through devotion, learning, service, and respectful community participation. These guidelines establish the standards of conduct, content, and participation required for all users of Smara community features.

These guidelines constitute a binding agreement between you and Smara. By accessing or using any Smara community feature — including Sangams, events, messaging, posts, comments, or donations — you agree to comply with these guidelines in full. Violation may result in content removal, feature restrictions, account suspension, or permanent termination.

These guidelines apply to all users: members, organizers, moderators, hosts, speakers, volunteers, and participants.

1. Core Principles

Every Sangam must reflect these principles:

• Respect — Treat every member with dignity, patience, and courtesy regardless of background, tradition, or level of practice.
• Safety — Do not create an environment that makes others feel threatened, intimidated, targeted, or unsafe. Users who undermine the safety of any community member are subject to immediate enforcement action.
• Authenticity — Represent yourself, your role, your affiliations, and your intentions honestly. Misrepresentation of identity, credentials, or authority is a violation.
• Spiritual Integrity — Use Sangam for sincere devotional, cultural, educational, charitable, or community-building purposes only.
• Responsibility — Users are solely responsible for their own conduct, content, and participation. Smara does not endorse, verify, or assume liability for user-generated content or interactions.

2. Expected Conduct

All members must:

• Communicate respectfully and constructively
• Be considerate of cultural, linguistic, regional, and devotional diversity
• Engage in good faith with other community members
• Follow organizer instructions for community events and activities
• Use appropriate language in posts, comments, messages, and event discussions
• Respect personal boundaries and consent at all times
• Report concerns through Smara’s designated reporting tools rather than escalating conflict publicly
• Comply with all applicable local, state, national, and international laws while using Smara

3. Prohibited Conduct

The following conduct is strictly prohibited in any Sangam, event, comment thread, message, profile, title, image, audio, video, or shared content. Engaging in any of the following may result in immediate enforcement action, including permanent account termination.

3.1 Harassment and Abuse

Users must not:

• Insult, threaten, bully, shame, stalk, or intimidate any person
• Repeatedly target, provoke, or harass another member
• Engage in abusive, hostile, degrading, or dehumanizing communication
• Encourage, coordinate, or participate in pile-ons, brigading, exclusion campaigns, or public humiliation
• Send unwanted, repeated, or threatening private messages

3.2 Hate Speech and Discriminatory Conduct

Users must not attack, mock, degrade, threaten, dehumanize, or exclude any person or group based on: caste, ethnicity, race, nationality, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, language, regional origin, economic status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

This includes slurs, stereotypes, coded language, symbols, or imagery associated with hate groups or discriminatory ideologies.

3.3 Sexual Misconduct and Inappropriate Content

Users must not:

• Post, send, share, or solicit sexual, obscene, pornographic, or sexually exploitative content
• Make unwanted sexual advances, requests, or comments
• Pressure, coerce, or manipulate members into personal, private, or intimate interactions
• Sexualize any community space, event, or interaction
• Share or distribute intimate images of any person without explicit consent

3.4 Violence, Threats, and Extremism

Users must not:

• Promote, glorify, incite, or threaten violence or physical harm
• Support, recruit for, or glorify terrorist organizations, extremist groups, or hateful ideologies
• Encourage, instruct, or facilitate illegal, dangerous, or self-harming activity
• Post content depicting graphic violence, gore, or human suffering for shock value

Smara reserves the right to report credible threats of violence or harm to relevant law enforcement authorities without prior notice to the user.

3.5 Fraud, Impersonation, and Deception

Users must not:

• Impersonate any person, organization, temple, guru, teacher, institution, or public figure
• Misrepresent affiliation, authority, credentials, or qualifications
• Operate fraudulent schemes, scams, fake fundraising campaigns, deceptive donation requests, or Ponzi-style activities
• Present misleading health, medical, legal, or financial claims as verified fact
• Create or use fake identities, forged documents, or fabricated credentials

3.6 Spam and Commercial Misuse

Users must not:

• Post repetitive, irrelevant, low-quality, or unsolicited promotional content
• Send unsolicited messages, links, invitations, or commercial offers
• Use Sangam primarily for sales, lead generation, affiliate marketing, political campaigning, multi-level marketing, or unrelated advertising
• Artificially inflate engagement, manipulate rankings, or recruit members through deceptive means
• Distribute malware, phishing links, or harmful software

3.7 Privacy Violations

Users must not:

• Share, publish, or expose another person’s phone number, address, email, financial information, private photographs, health records, or any personal information without that person’s explicit prior consent
• Record, capture, screenshot, or distribute private conversations, meetings, ceremonies, or events without authorization from all participants
• Pressure, coerce, or deceive members into revealing personal details, location, or identity information
• Collect, store, or transmit personal data beyond what is reasonably necessary for legitimate Sangam purposes

3.8 Harmful Misinformation

Users must not knowingly create, share, amplify, or distribute false, fabricated, manipulated, or misleading information that may cause harm to individuals, communities, public health, or public trust. This includes but is not limited to health misinformation, fraudulent spiritual claims, conspiracy theories presented as fact, and manipulated media.

3.9 Disruptive and Bad-Faith Behavior

Users must not:

• Intentionally derail, sabotage, or disrupt discussions or events
• Manipulate group votes, approvals, moderation queues, or community governance workflows
• Create multiple accounts, fake identities, or sock puppet accounts to evade enforcement, manipulate activity, or circumvent restrictions
• Join Sangams with the intent to disrupt, infiltrate, or undermine the community rather than to participate in good faith

4. Content Standards

All content shared through Smara Sangam features must be appropriate for a respectful, multi-generational, community-centered platform.

Permitted Content

• Devotional discussions and spiritual learning
• Event coordination and community announcements
• Temple and cultural education
• Volunteer, seva, and service initiatives
• Respectful discussions on tradition, practice, and philosophy
• Creative works shared with proper attribution and rights

Prohibited Content

• Abusive, hateful, or discriminatory material
• Sexually explicit or obscene material
• Graphic violence or gore
• Content that violates any applicable law
• Malware, phishing, or harmful links
• Fraudulent donation campaigns or unverifiable emergency fundraising
• Copyrighted material shared without authorization from the rights holder
• Content that exploits or endangers minors in any way

5. Sangam Organizer Responsibilities

Organizers, administrators, and moderators assume heightened responsibility and accountability for the Sangams they manage.

Organizers must:

• Maintain a safe, respectful, and welcoming environment for all members
• Provide accurate Sangam descriptions, categories, and membership expectations
• Use access controls honestly (public, private, or approval-based)
• Moderate content and member conduct fairly, consistently, and without unreasonable delay
• Remove clearly harmful, abusive, or violating content within a reasonable time after becoming aware of it
• Avoid favoritism, retaliation, selective enforcement, or misuse of moderation privileges
• Comply with all Smara policies for events, donations, and community conduct

Organizers must not:

• Exploit members for financial gain, personal influence, or private benefit
• Collect or store personal data beyond what is reasonably necessary for Sangam operation
• Make misleading promises of spiritual, medical, legal, or financial outcomes
• Pressure, coerce, or manipulate members into payments, off-platform contact, donations, or private meetings
• Approve or admit members under false pretenses or for deceptive purposes

Smara does not supervise, endorse, or assume liability for the actions of organizers, moderators, or any user. Organizers act independently and are solely responsible for their own conduct and the conduct they permit within their Sangam.

6. Event Rules

For all Sangam events:

• Event details must be accurate and not misleading
• Organizers must clearly state time, location or virtual link, eligibility, fees (if any), and participation requirements
• Material changes or cancellations must be communicated to registered participants promptly
• Hosts must behave respectfully toward all attendees
• Attendees must follow event-specific instructions and comply with applicable law

Events must not be created for:

• Scams, fraud, or deceptive collection of money or data
• Gatherings that pose safety or health risks
• Unlawful activity of any kind
• Harassment, targeting, exclusion, or humiliation of any person

Smara may remove, suspend, or restrict any event that creates safety, trust, legal, or reputational risk, with or without prior notice.

7. Donations, Fundraising, and Financial Requests

Where Sangam features are used for donations, seva contributions, sponsorships, or fundraising:

• The purpose, beneficiary, and intended use of funds must be clearly and accurately stated
• Organizers must not make false promises, misleading claims, or guarantees of spiritual, material, or other outcomes in exchange for contributions
• Members must not be pressured, shamed, coerced, or manipulated into contributing
• All applicable laws, tax regulations, and payment processing rules must be followed
• Fundraising for personal enrichment disguised as community or charitable purposes is prohibited

Smara may limit, audit, suspend, or remove fundraising activity that appears suspicious, misleading, coercive, or non-compliant with applicable law or these guidelines.

8. Youth and Family Safety

Community spaces must remain appropriate for a broad, multi-generational audience. The safety of minors is a paramount concern.

Users must not:

• Target, solicit, groom, or engage minors in private, inappropriate, or sexual interactions
• Share sexual, violent, or exploitative content in spaces accessible to minors
• Request sensitive personal information, photographs, or location data from minors
• Create unsafe environments for family or youth participation

Smara will report suspected child exploitation, abuse, or endangerment to relevant law enforcement and child safety authorities as required by law, without prior notice to the user.

9. Intellectual Property and Ownership

Users may only share content that they own, created, or are properly authorized or licensed to use. This applies to:

• Text, audio, images, video, and recordings
• Lyrics, mantras with proprietary arrangements, and scripts
• Documents, presentations, and educational materials
• Event materials, promotional assets, and artwork
• Logos, trademarks, and brand identifiers

If intellectual property rights are disputed, Smara may restrict, remove, or disable access to the content pending resolution. Smara will comply with valid legal processes including takedown requests under applicable copyright and intellectual property laws.

10. Reporting and Enforcement

Members must report content or behavior that appears unsafe, abusive, misleading, fraudulent, or in violation of these guidelines using Smara’s in-app reporting tools or by contacting [email protected].

Smara may take one or more of the following enforcement actions at its sole discretion:

• Issuing a warning to the member or organizer
• Removing, restricting, or disabling content
• Limiting visibility, reach, or distribution of content
• Restricting posting, messaging, event creation, or moderation privileges
• Removing members from a Sangam
• Suspending or restricting account functionality
• Permanently disabling or terminating the account
• Reporting the matter to law enforcement or relevant authorities where there is a credible risk of harm or illegality

Enforcement decisions consider:

• Severity and nature of harm caused or risked
• Pattern, frequency, and history of misconduct
• Apparent intent and context
• Credibility of the report and available evidence
• Impact on member safety and community trust
• Organizer responsibility and negligence
• Whether the violation constitutes a criminal offense

Smara is not obligated to provide advance notice before taking enforcement action in cases involving imminent harm, illegality, or severe violations.

11. Appeals

If enforcement action is taken against your account, Sangam, event, or content, you may submit a review request by contacting [email protected] within 30 days of the action.

Appeals will be reviewed in accordance with Smara’s internal policies and procedures. Submitting an appeal does not guarantee reversal of the action. Repeated, severe, or egregious violations may result in permanent enforcement that is not subject to appeal.

12. Platform Discretion and Limitation of Liability

Smara reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to remove any content, restrict any activity, suspend or terminate any account, or take any other action it deems necessary to protect the safety, trust, legal compliance, operational integrity, or reputation of the platform and its community — even where the specific conduct is not explicitly enumerated in these guidelines.

Smara is a platform provider. Smara does not author, endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, safety, or legality of user-generated content, events, donations, or interactions. Users interact with other users at their own risk. Smara shall not be held liable for any loss, damage, harm, or injury arising from user conduct, user content, or user interactions on the platform.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Smara disclaims all liability for actions taken by users, organizers, moderators, or any third party on or through the platform.

13. Indemnification

By using Smara community features, you agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Smara, its officers, directors, employees, agents, and affiliates from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to your violation of these guidelines, your content, your conduct, or your use of any Smara community feature.

14. Governing Law

These guidelines shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of India. Any disputes arising from or relating to these guidelines or your use of Smara community features shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India.

15. Modifications

Smara may update or modify these Community Guidelines at any time. Material changes will be communicated through the app, help center, or registered email. Continued use of Smara community features after modifications constitutes acceptance of the updated guidelines.

16. Practical Community Standards

To keep Sangam communities healthy and spiritually productive, members are encouraged to:

• Assume good intent but report genuine harm without hesitation
• Keep debates respectful, constructive, and on-topic
• Avoid public shaming, callouts, or performative conflict
• Avoid flooding groups with unrelated or off-topic content
• Respect the devotional purpose and sacred nature of the space
• Welcome new members with courtesy and patience
• Avoid turning community spaces into personal influence, promotion, or recruitment channels