Child safety standards

Adults only

Everyone confirms they are 18 or older before their first chat, and the Android app asks before anything else. If someone gives a birth year that makes them under 18 and confirms it, the account signed in on that device is deleted and the device can't start chats for 7 days. If the account has a Premium subscription that can't be cancelled at that moment, the account is signed out and its 18+ confirmation is removed instead.

How we find people under 18

Our software checks messages in one-to-one chats, direct messages and rooms for someone saying they are under 18. A clear statement is blocked and counts as a strike. At the second strike the account is banned automatically and permanently, together with its verified email or Google sign-in and the phone or browser it used. A profile bio that says so is hidden. A moderator who finds that someone is under 18 bans them permanently as well, and under-18 bans can't be appealed.

What is never allowed

Any content that sexualises a minor, grooming, trying to contact or meet a minor, sharing or asking for child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and sextortion. There is no video on HearMe.

What our filters block

Messages that sexualise children are blocked before they are sent, in one-to-one chats, direct messages and rooms. Profile pictures and banners go through an automated nudity filter. Voice calls are not recorded; the only call audio we ever keep is the clip attached to a report on the website.

How to report

Tap Report in a text chat, a voice call, a room, your match history or a profile card, and choose "Under 18" for anything that involves a child. On the website, a report made during a voice call sends the last 60 seconds of the other person's audio to our team; the Android app sends no audio. You can also email us at the address at the end of this page.

What we do with a report

Reports marked "Under 18" are shown to our moderators first, ahead of every other report, and our team gets an email alert when new ones arrive. We aim to review child-safety reports within 24 hours. The report carries its context: the last messages of a text chat, the reported room message, or the clip from a call on the website. When a moderator confirms a child-safety violation, or that someone is under 18, the ban is permanent and can't be appealed. It covers the account, its verified email or Google sign-in, and its phone or browser, and any phone or browser the account is used from afterwards is blocked for up to 30 days. If the account used an internet connection (IP address) in the last 24 hours, that connection is blocked for 72 hours. Where the law requires it, we report child sexual abuse material to the authorities, including India's National Cybercrime Reporting Portal and the US National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), and we respond to valid requests from law enforcement.

What we keep

When a moderator confirms a report as child safety or under 18, we keep that report, a copy of the messages shown with it, and its audio clip if it has not already been deleted, as evidence for one year from the confirmation, or longer if the law requires it. Deleting an account does not delete this evidence, and it is included in our encrypted backups. Other reports and the messages attached to them are kept for 12 months, and for as long as a ban based on them is in place. Other audio clips from reports are deleted within 7 days.

Child safety contact

For anything about the safety of children on HearMe, including reports from parents, schools and law enforcement:

Child Safety Officer, support@hearme.chat