Report & complaints

1. Reporting in the chat

Every message, image, voice note and profile carries a report button, for guests and members alike. Webcam streams are not recorded, so to report someone on webcam, open their profile and report while the stream is live, where you safely can. Choose a category (a type of illegal content, a breach of the Community Rules, or something else) and add a short description. The person you report is never told who reported them.

2. Reporting without an account

Anyone affected by content on ChatNow, including a parent, carer or other third party, can email safety@chatnow.fr or use the contact form. Include:

• where the content is (room or "private message") and the username;
• the date, time and your time zone: guest content is deleted 24 hours after the guest leaves;
• what happened, with screenshots if you have them, but never an intimate image or any image of a child: describe it instead;
• how to reach you. You may report anonymously, but we then cannot tell you the outcome.

3. Intimate images

Sharing an intimate image without consent, or threatening to, is an offence under section 66B of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, including an image altered or generated to look like you. Use the "Intimate images" report category or email safety@chatnow.fr, with or without an account. Under section 10(3A) of the Online Safety Act 2023 we remove the image no later than 48 hours after a valid report, hash it so it cannot be uploaded again, and sanction the account that shared it up to a permanent ban.

StopNCII.org lets you hash your image on your own device so that participating platforms, including ChatNow, block it. The Revenge Porn Helpline (0345 6000 459) supports adults in the UK. Under 18? See section 4.

4. Child safety

Report sexual content involving a child, grooming, or a user you believe is under 18 at once, with the "Child sexual exploitation and abuse" category or by email to safety@chatnow.fr. Do not download, save or forward the content: possessing or sending it is an offence, and we do not need a copy. A member of staff on call 24 hours a day handles these reports immediately; what follows is set out in our child safety policy. You can also report grooming to CEOP and images to the Internet Watch Foundation. If you are under 18 and an image of you has been shared, Report Remove can get it taken down.

5. Emergencies

If someone is in immediate danger, call 999 (or 112) before reporting to us: we see a report only when a member of staff opens it. Then report to us so that we can preserve the evidence and cooperate with the police. Support lines are listed under Where to get help.

6. What happens next

• Acknowledgment within 24 hours. Intimate-image and child-safety reports go to the on-call member of staff at once.
• Decision within 7 days for standard reports. A moderator assesses the content against UK law and the Rules and, where there are reasonable grounds to believe it is illegal or breaks the Rules, removes it and applies a sanction.
• We tell you the outcome and, if we did not act, why. The user concerned is told the reason, the rule or law relied on, whether automation was involved and how to appeal.
• Your identity is never disclosed to the person reported, and is shared with police or courts only where the law requires.
• Good-faith reports never count against you; bad-faith or mass reports meant to harass or silence lawful speech breach the Rules.

7. Complaints

This is our complaints procedure under section 21 of the Online Safety Act 2023, overseen by our Head of Trust & Safety. It is free, and you can ask at any time to receive no further messages about a complaint.

All addresses end @chatnow.fr; you can also write to Skyline Online LLC, 1209 Mountain Road Place NE, Ste N, Albuquerque, NM 87110, USA. Give the complaint type, any decision reference, your username or account email, what happened and when (for Premium, the date and amount; the charge appears as "SKYLINE-ONLINE") and the outcome you want. Every decision is given in writing with reasons.

Manifestly unfounded complaints (our policy under measure ICU D13 of Ofcom's Illegal Content Codes of Practice): we may close a complaint without review only if it repeats one already decided with no new information, is plainly outside this procedure, or is sent in bulk or abusively to disrupt it. We tell you in writing. This never applies to a first complaint, an intimate-image or child-safety report, or a data-protection complaint.

8. Appeals

Press "Appeal" in the decision notification, or email safety@chatnow.fr quoting the reference; email works even if you are banned. A human reviewer who took no part in the decision decides within 14 days; for an automated decision, this is your human review. If you succeed, we reverse the action and correct our records; if not, we tell you why. The Head of Trust & Safety will review once more if you bring new information.

Wrong age-check result. ChatNow never receives your photo, document or estimate, so staff cannot re-examine the check: within 14 days they explain the outcome and offer another method free of charge. See Age assurance.

9. Copyright and trade marks

Notices follow UK law (Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988; regulation 19 of the Electronic Commerce Regulations 2002), not the US DMCA. Email legal@chatnow.fr, subject "Copyright notice" or "Trade mark notice", with:

• the work (or registered mark, with number and territory) and evidence that you own it or act for the owner;
• where the content is: room or conversation, username, date and time;
• a statement that the use is not authorised by the owner or the law, and that the notice is accurate;
• your full name, postal and email address, signature (typed is fine) and date.

Where infringement is apparent, we remove the content within two working days and tell the poster, who may send a counter-notice within ten working days. We restore the content unless you tell us within ten working days that you have issued court proceedings. Three upheld notices in twelve months lead to termination. An intimate image of you goes through section 3 instead.

10. Defamation

If a user's statement defames you and you cannot identify them well enough to sue (a username is not enough), email legal@chatnow.fr, subject "Defamation notice of complaint", under section 5 of the Defamation Act 2013 and the 2013 Regulations. The notice must give your name and email address; the statement in full and where it appears; why it is defamatory and what you take it to mean; which parts are inaccurate or unsupported opinion; confirmation that you cannot identify the poster; and whether we may pass your name and email to them.

Within 48 hours (excluding weekends, Good Friday, Christmas Day and bank holidays) we remove the statement if we cannot contact the poster, such as a guest, or else send them your notice. They have until midnight at the end of the fifth day to respond. The statement is removed if they do not respond, consent, or respond incompletely; if they object with their name and postal address, it stays and we pass those details to you only with their consent. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, where section 5 does not apply, send the same information and we act under our Terms. This is not legal advice.

11. Escalating outside ChatNow

• Ofcom does not decide individual complaints, but wants to hear about services not meeting their duties: ofcom.org.uk.
• Data protection: the ICO, helpline 0303 123 1113, ideally after raising it with us.
• Consumer matters: Citizens Advice. 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.
• Courts: if we remove your content or ban you in breach of our Terms, you may sue for breach of contract without using this procedure first.