Complaints & Appeals

1. Our commitment

Section 21 of the Online Safety Act 2023 requires us to operate a complaints procedure that is easy to access, easy to use and transparent, and to take appropriate action on each kind of complaint. This page is that procedure; it describes how we apply the Terms of Service and the Community Rules, and if it differs from the Terms, the Terms prevail. Complaining costs nothing, you never need a lawyer, you can ask at any point not to receive further communications about a complaint, and complaining in good faith never counts against you. The procedure is overseen by our Head of Trust & Safety, who is accountable for it to senior management.

2. The seven types of complaint and where to send them

You can also write to Skyline Online LLC, 1209 Mountain Road Place NE, Ste N, Albuquerque, NM 87110, USA. A complaint sent to the wrong address is passed to the right team; the clock starts when we receive it.

3. Type 1: content you believe is illegal or breaks the rules

Use the report button on the message or profile, or email safety@chatnow.fr if you have no account or are affected by content without being a user. The full procedure, including the expedited route for intimate images and the immediate route for child-safety concerns, is on the Report content or a user page. A moderator assesses the content against the law and the Community Rules, removes it where we have reasonable grounds to believe it is illegal, and applies the appropriate sanction where it breaks the rules.

4. Type 2: appealing a moderation decision taken against you

Every moderation decision — removal of content, a temporary mute, reduced visibility for a limited time, a temporary or permanent ban, or termination of your account — is notified to you with the reason, the rule or law relied on, whether automation was involved and how to appeal. Press "Appeal" in that notification, or email safety@chatnow.fr quoting the reference; the email route stays open if you are banned.

Your appeal is decided within 14 days by a human reviewer who took no part in the original decision; where that decision was automated, the appeal is your guaranteed human review. If the appeal succeeds we reverse the action without delay: content is reinstated, the mute or ban lifted, visibility restored and the record corrected. If it fails we tell you why. One further review by the Head of Trust & Safety is available if you present new information.

5. Type 3: a report you made that was rejected

If we decide not to act on your report, we tell you, and you can ask for a review through the link in that notification or by email. A different human reviewer looks again at the content and your reasons within 14 days; if the review finds we should have acted, we act and tell you. Reviews concerning an intimate image of you are expedited.

6. Type 4: an age-assurance outcome you believe is wrong

If our age check treated you as under 18 when you are an adult, press "Challenge this result" on the age-check screen or email safety@chatnow.fr. Because ChatNow never receives your photo, document or estimate, we cannot re-examine the original check; a member of staff explains the outcome within 14 days and offers you a different method (photo-ID match, credit card or digital identity wallet) at no cost. A successful check gives you access immediately, and nothing you submit is stored by ChatNow. See the Age Assurance Policy.

7. Type 5: our compliance with the Online Safety Act

This is different from an appeal: rather than contesting one decision, you are telling us that we are not doing our job. It covers a belief that we are not meeting our illegal content safety duties (section 10 of the Act), our reporting duties (section 20) or our duty to protect freedom of expression and privacy (section 22); a suspicion that we acted against you or your content inconsistently with our own terms; and complaints about our proactive technology, such as the text classifier or hash-matching removing lawful content. Write to safety@chatnow.fr with the subject "Online Safety Act complaint". The Head of Trust & Safety investigates personally, answers within 14 days, and records the complaint and any corrective action in our compliance register. Our measures are described on the Online Safety at ChatNow page.

8. Type 6: data-protection complaints

If you are unhappy with how we collect, use, share or keep your personal data, or with how we answered a request to exercise your rights, email privacy@chatnow.fr. As section 103 of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 requires, we acknowledge your complaint within 30 days at the latest and tell you the outcome without undue delay, normally within one month. Requests to exercise your rights are not complaints and follow Your Data Rights. You may complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at any time, although the ICO expects you to have raised the matter with us first.

9. Type 7: consumer complaints, including ChatNow Premium

ChatNow is a consumer contract even though the basic service is free. For a complaint about the service, our Terms or ChatNow Premium — a charge you do not recognise (it appears as "SKYLINE-ONLINE" on your statement), a feature that did not work, a cancellation or a refund — email contact@chatnow.fr with your account email and, for Premium, the transaction date and amount. We acknowledge within 5 working days and give a final written answer within 14 days stating whether we agree, the remedy offered (for Premium: correction, refund or credit in line with the Terms of Service and the Consumer Rights Act 2015) and your options for escalation.

10. What to include

• the type of complaint (1 to 7) and, for appeals, the reference in the decision notification;
• your username or account email, or a way to reach you if you have no account;
• what happened, where (room, private conversation, profile) and when (date, time, time zone);
• screenshots or other evidence if you have them — but never forward an intimate image or an image of a child; describe it and tell us where it is;
• the outcome you want, and whether you wish to receive no further communications once we have decided.

11. Timelines and possible outcomes

Safety complaints (types 1 to 5) are acknowledged within 24 hours with an indication of when to expect a decision; reports are decided within 7 days and appeals and reviews within 14 days by a different human reviewer. Intimate-image complaints are expedited: the content is removed within 48 hours of a valid report and any appeal is prioritised. Data-protection complaints are acknowledged within 30 days at most and are normally decided within a month; consumer complaints are acknowledged within 5 working days and decided within 14 days.

Every decision is given in writing with reasons. Possible outcomes: reinstatement of content or of your account and reversal of any mute, ban or visibility restriction; an apology; correction of our records, including removal of a strike; removal of content and sanction of another user; a change to our processes; a refund or credit for Premium; or a decision upheld with a full explanation and details of how to escalate.

12. Manifestly unfounded or vexatious complaints

This is our written policy under measure ICU D13 of Ofcom's Illegal Content Codes of Practice. We may close a complaint without further review only if it repeats, in substance, a complaint from the same person about the same content or decision that we have already decided and provides no new information; if it is plainly outside the scope of this procedure, such as a demand to act against content that is lawful and within the rules; or if it is submitted in bulk or with abusive content in a way designed to disrupt the procedure rather than obtain a decision. When we close a complaint on this ground we send a short written note saying so and citing this section, and we record the closure. This policy is never applied to a first complaint, to an intimate-image or child-safety report, or to a data-protection complaint.

13. Your right to bring a breach-of-contract claim

As section 72(1) of the Online Safety Act 2023 requires us to tell you: if we take down content you generated, uploaded or shared, or restrict access to it, in breach of our Terms of Service, or if we suspend or ban you in breach of our Terms of Service, you have the right to bring a claim against Skyline Online LLC for breach of contract. You do not have to use this procedure first, although it is usually quicker. Governing law and courts are set out in the Terms of Service; if you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland you may bring proceedings in the courts of your home nation.

14. Escalating outside ChatNow

• Data protection: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, helpline 0303 123 1113, ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.
• Online safety: Ofcom does not decide individual complaints and cannot order us to reinstate content or an account, but it wants to hear about services that are not meeting their duties. You can tell Ofcom about ChatNow at ofcom.org.uk/online-safety.
• Consumer matters: the Citizens Advice consumer service gives free advice and passes cases to Trading Standards, which enforces consumer law against traders.
• Alternative dispute resolution: as section 308 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 requires us to state, ChatNow is not a member of any alternative dispute resolution scheme and is not obliged to use one, so we cannot offer ADR for consumer disputes. Our final answer to a consumer complaint repeats this statement.
• Courts: you may bring a claim in the courts of England and Wales or, if you live there, of Scotland or Northern Ireland; the small claims track is designed to be used without a lawyer.

15. Accessibility of this process

You can complain by email, through the in-app buttons or by post. On request we provide this page, our decisions and our correspondence in large print, plain text or another accessible format, accept complaints made by a third party or support worker acting with your authority, and allow extra time where a disability makes our deadlines hard to meet. Tell us what you need at contact@chatnow.fr; see also our Accessibility Statement.