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Community rules

A little care goes a long way.

AniMood is a quiet place to keep an anime notebook and, if you want, to meet people who love the same shows. These rules keep it that way. They apply to everything you share on AniMood: your Match profile, photos, chat messages and the anime you share with a match.

Updated 10 sections

In short

  • Accounts are for people aged 16 or older. Taste Match, including dating, is only for people aged 18 or older.
  • Be kind, be honest and respect a no. No harassment, hate, scams, spam or sexual content.
  • Use Report and Block in the app. Without an account, or for illegal content, use the contact form.
  • Breaking the rules can lead to a warning, photo removal, a Match suspension or an account suspension. We tell you why, and you can appeal.

Who AniMood is for

16+to create an account

18+for Taste Match: friends, a watch buddy or dating

You need to be 16 or older to create an AniMood account. Taste Match, whether for friends, a watch buddy or dating, is only for people aged 18 or older. You can use the anime notebook without ever joining Match.

AniMood does not check identity documents. When you join Match you confirm that you are 18 or older, and a birth year that shows otherwise is rejected. Profiles that belong to someone under 18 are hidden.

The rules

Six rules, each with an example of what is fine and what is not.

Respect people and their boundaries

No harassment, threats, bullying or hate against people because of who they are, for example their ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation. Respect a pass, a block and a request to stop.

  • OK: taking a pass in your stride, or ending a chat with “thanks, I don't think we click”.
  • Not OK: writing to someone again from a new account after they blocked you, or mocking someone's identity in a message.

Be honest about who you are

Use an honest profile. Do not impersonate anyone or post another person's photos without their permission. Only upload images you have the right to use. No scams, and never ask members for money.

  • OK: your own photos, and an introduction that sounds like you.
  • Not OK: using a cosplayer's or celebrity's photo as your own, or asking a match to “help with a bill”.

No sexual content, and never anything involving minors

No sexual or explicit images, sexual solicitation or sexual exploitation. Sexual content involving minors is never allowed. That includes drawn, animated or AI-generated characters who are, or look like, minors.

If you come across itIf you come across suspected child sexual abuse material, report it to us and to the police or a national hotline (you can find yours at inhope.org). Do not copy, screenshot or forward it, not even to us. Tell us where it is instead.

  • OK: an opening message about a show you both love.
  • Not OK: a sexual remark as an opening message, or sending explicit fan art in chat.

Keep other people's information private

Do not share someone's address, phone number, other private contact details, sensitive information or your conversations with them without their consent.

  • OK: asking first before you share anything from a conversation.
  • Not OK: quoting a private chat in your profile prompt, or posting where a match works.

Keep the public parts suitable for everyone

Names, introductions and prompts are seen by other members. Keep them free of slurs, sexual content and personal attacks. Do not use anime tags to label or harass another person.

  • OK: a prompt like “the show I rewatch every winter: Mushishi”.
  • Not OK: a slur, a sexual joke or a dig at another member in your introduction.

No spam, ads or illegal content

No advertising, referral links, mass copy-paste messages or attempts to move people to paid services. Do not share links to pirated streams or downloads, malware, or anything else that is illegal.

  • OK: telling a match where a show streams legally when they ask.
  • Not OK: sending every match the same message promoting a shop, a server or a “side hustle”.

Sharing anime with a match

Sharing a title is a friendly way to start a conversation. A shared anime, and any note you add to it, follows the same rules as chat, plus:

  • Share with people you have matched with, as part of a conversation, not as a way to reach as many people as possible.
  • No spam: no long run of shares to someone who has not replied, and no copy-paste shares to many people.
  • No unsolicited sexual content: do not use a title, its cover or a note to make sexual advances.
  • If someone does not respond, passes or blocks you, stop sharing.
  • OK: “You loved Mushishi. Have you seen Natsume's Book of Friends?”
  • Not OK: ten titles in a row to someone who has not answered.

What we remove

We remove or restrict content that breaks these rules or the law, for example:

  • photos that are explicit, show someone else, or that you have no right to use;
  • Match profiles that impersonate someone or belong to someone under 18;
  • messages and shares that harass, threaten, scam or spam;
  • anything involving the sexual exploitation of minors, which we also report to the authorities.

Depending on the content, we remove it (a photo, for example) or restrict the account that posted it. We do not remove content just because someone disagrees with an opinion about an anime.

How to report

In the app

Use Report on a profile or on a message you received. A reported message is attached for moderators to review; the rest of your conversation is not. Block hides you from each other and closes the chat straight away.

In an emergencyContact local emergency services (112 in the EU). Reports are not emergency support and are not monitored around the clock. Never send passwords or illegal images, by email or in the form.

What happens next

  1. You reportIn the app, or through the contact form.
  2. A person reviewsEvery report. Serious safety reports first.
  3. We decideFrom a warning to a suspension, usually step by step.
  4. You can learn whyA statement of reasons for any restriction.
  5. You can appealWithin six months of the decision.

A person reviews every report. AniMood does not use automated tools to decide about content. We handle serious safety reports first. Depending on what we find, we take one of these steps:

  1. Warning: for a first, minor problem, when we have a way to reach you.
  2. Photo removal: a photo that breaks the rules is removed. You can upload a different one.
  3. Match suspension: you can no longer use Taste Match. Your notebook keeps working.
  4. Account suspension: you can no longer sign in. You can still delete the account on the deletion page.

We usually go step by step. Serious harm, such as threats, sexual content involving minors, exploitation, scams or repeated abuse, can lead straight to a suspension and, where the law requires it or someone's safety is at risk, to a report to the police. Every action is recorded in a moderation log.

Statement of reasons

When we restrict your content or account, you are entitled to know why. Our statement of reasons says what we restricted and for how long, the facts the decision is based on (including whether it followed a report or our own check), which rule or law it breaks, that a person made the decision, and how you can appeal or go to court.

AniMood does not ask for an email address at sign-up, so decisions reach you in the app. A removed photo or a pause on Taste Match arrives as a notice under the bell at the top of the app, with the rule we applied, the fact that a person decided, and a link to appeal. You get a notice too when a restriction is lifted. If your account is suspended, you see the reason when you try to sign in. If you reported someone in the app, a notice tells you when a moderator has reviewed it; if you wrote to us with a reply email, we answer there. You can always ask for the full statement of reasons through the contact form.

Appeals

If you think we got it wrong, or you reported something and disagree with what we decided, you can appeal within six months of the decision. Use the contact form with the topic “Appeal a moderation decision” and tell us:

  • your AniMood name, or the profile you reported;
  • which decision you are appealing;
  • why you think it was wrong, and anything we may not have known.

We review the decision again, consider what you send us, and reverse it if it turns out to be wrong. If you give a reply email, we tell you the outcome and our reasons. AniMood is a very small service, so the person who reviews an appeal may be the one who made the original decision; they will look at it afresh. Appealing does not limit your right to go to court.

Appeal a decision

Meeting people safely

  • Get to know someone in the chat before you share your phone number, social media or address.
  • Consider a video call before meeting in person.
  • Meet in a public place, arrange your own way there and back, and tell someone you trust where you will be.
  • Never send money, gift cards or crypto to someone you met online, whatever the story.
  • Trust your instincts. You can leave at any time, and you can block and report.

A taste-fit score is a recommendation, not identity verification or a safety guarantee. AniMood does not verify identities or run background checks.

EU Digital Services Act

AniMood hosts content that members provide, such as profiles, photos and messages, and follows the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) for it. This is how it works here.

Arts. 11, 12

Single point of contact

For members, anyone else and authorities (arts. 11 and 12 DSA): the contact form or david@lausman.dev. We communicate in English and Czech. AniMood is provided by David Laušman, Czech Republic.

Art. 16

Notices of illegal content

Anyone can tell us about content they believe is illegal, with or without an account, using the contact form (art. 16 DSA). A complete notice includes:

  • a clear explanation of why you believe the content is illegal;
  • where it is: the profile name, or a link or description precise enough to find it;
  • your name and email address, unless the notice concerns child sexual abuse material or related offences;
  • a statement that you believe in good faith that the information in the notice is accurate and complete.

We confirm receipt with a ticket number and decide in a timely, careful, non-arbitrary and objective way. If you gave an email address, we tell you what we decided and how you can challenge it.

Art. 17

Statement of reasons and appeals

When we restrict content or an account, we explain why (art. 17 DSA), as described under Statement of reasons, and you can use our internal appeal.

Art. 18

Serious crimes

If we become aware of information giving rise to a suspicion that a criminal offence involving a threat to someone's life or safety has taken place, is taking place or is likely to take place, we promptly inform the police or other authorities of the country concerned (art. 18 DSA).

Automated tools and recommendations

We do not use automated content moderation. Photos are approved by a person before other members can see them. Automatic rate limits only slow down repeated actions, such as sending many messages in a short time. Anime suggestions are based on your notebook, moods and taste nudges together with information about the anime itself, such as tags, popularity and which season comes first. Taste Match shows only members who share a language with you and have at least a little taste in common, within your Match settings, ordered by taste fit. Nobody can pay for a better position, and there are no ads.

Changes to these rules

When these rules change, the date at the top changes too. Significant changes will be announced in the app, and you may be asked to accept the updated rules before publishing a Match profile.

Questions about these rules? Use the contact form or write to david@lausman.dev.