Content Policy

How OpenStand works

Any creator can sign up, write, and publish on OpenStand. Published work is immediately live at its own URL and can be shared with anyone.

Discovery is earned, not automatic. New creators' work does not appear on the home page, in curated collections, in recommendations, or in email digests until we've reviewed their first published piece. Once verified, all current and future work enters full discovery. This is a one-time review — we don't re-review every piece.

Readers unlock individual pieces using a credit wallet. Because credits change hands on every unlock, we hold ourselves to a higher standard than free platforms. Readers who unlock a piece are trusting that they'll get something worth their time and credits.

Layer 1: Platform rules

These are the hard lines. Violating any of these may result in content removal, loss of discovery access, or account suspension.

We do not allow:

Harmful content. Content that threatens, encourages, or incites violence against any person or group. Content that promotes self-harm. Content that exploits or endangers minors in any way.

Hate. Content that promotes violence, harassment, or hatred against people based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, age, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation. This includes content that dehumanizes, degrades, or calls for the exclusion or segregation of people based on these characteristics.

Harassment and doxxing. Content that bullies, threatens, or targets specific individuals. Publishing private information (home addresses, phone numbers, financial records) to intimidate or expose someone. Non-consensual intimate imagery.

Plagiarism. Publishing work written by someone else and presenting it as your own. This includes republishing articles, essays, or substantial excerpts from other sources without permission and attribution.

Fraud and deception. Impersonating another person or organization. Publishing deliberately false information presented as fact with intent to deceive. Creating fake accounts, self-unlocking your own content, or artificially inflating unlock counts through any means.

Spam and manipulation. Bulk-publishing low-effort content designed to extract credits rather than provide value. Gaming the platform's recommendation or discovery systems. Repetitive self-promotional content with no substantive value.

Illegal content. Content that facilitates illegal activity or violates applicable law.

Sexually explicit content. Pornographic material or content created primarily for sexual gratification. (Thoughtful writing about sexuality, health, and relationships is welcome.)

Layer 2: Discovery standards

These are what we evaluate during your first-piece review. Not meeting these standards doesn't get your content removed — it means your work stays at direct-link-only visibility until the standards are met. We'll tell you specifically what needs to change.

We look for:

Original thought. The piece should contain your own ideas, analysis, perspective, or experience. We're looking for writing that couldn't have been written by anyone else — not because it's perfect, but because it's distinctly yours.

Human authorship. Your work should be substantially written by you, not generated by AI. We don't prohibit AI assistance for editing, grammar, or brainstorming, but the ideas, structure, and voice should be recognizably human. If the majority of the text reads like it came from a language model, it won't qualify for discovery.

Substantive content. The piece should offer genuine value to a reader — an argument, a story, a framework, an investigation, an insight. We're not looking for a specific length, but we are looking for depth. Listicles, SEO-optimized content, and thinly repurposed social media posts don't meet this bar.

Honest representation. The title, subtitle, and preview should accurately represent what the reader will find after unlocking. Because readers commit credits before seeing the full piece, misleading framing — clickbait titles, bait-and-switch previews, or wildly oversold promises — is a particular concern. If a piece is freely available elsewhere, that context should be visible to readers.

Not primarily promotional. If the piece exists mainly to sell a product, service, or course, it's not a fit for OpenStand's discovery surfaces. Writing that mentions your work or company in the context of a larger argument is fine. Writing that is the sales pitch is not.

Craft. The piece should be readable — coherent structure, reasonable grammar, clear expression. We're not expecting literary perfection, and we value diverse voices and styles. But the work should demonstrate effort and care.

Sensitivity and context. If your piece covers graphic, intense, or potentially distressing material — detailed accounts of trauma, violence, addiction, etc. — we encourage you to provide context in your subtitle, preview, or a brief note at the top of the piece. This isn't a rule; it's a norm we value.

Layer 3: Reader trust commitments

These are our promises to readers about what they'll find on OpenStand.

What you unlock is what was represented. The preview, title, and tags should give an honest picture of the full piece. No bait-and-switch.

Discovery surfaces are reviewed. Every creator whose work appears on the home page, in collections, or in recommendations has been reviewed. If you find work through OpenStand's discovery features, a human has read that creator's first piece and judged it to meet our standards.

Direct links are unfiltered. If someone shares an OpenStand link with you, that creator may not have been reviewed yet. The piece is still subject to our platform rules (Layer 1), but it hasn't necessarily been evaluated against our discovery standards (Layer 2).

Your unlocks are yours. Every unlock is a deliberate decision — we never auto-charge you. Once you've unlocked a piece, it belongs in your library permanently. If a creator later leaves the platform or is removed, content you've already unlocked remains accessible to you. If we remove a piece for a policy violation after you've unlocked it, your credits will be restored.

Review criteria and feedback templates

When a piece doesn't meet discovery standards, we provide specific feedback. Here are the criteria we evaluate and the messages we send:

What this policy doesn't cover

We don't evaluate ideas. Whether we agree with your argument is irrelevant. We'll feature provocative, controversial, or unpopular viewpoints as long as they're presented thoughtfully and don't violate our platform rules. Intellectual diversity is a feature, not a bug.

We don't require credentials. You don't need to be a professional writer, a published author, or an expert in your subject. We care about the quality of the work, not the resume behind it.

We don't impose exclusivity. Your work on OpenStand is yours. You can also publish it elsewhere — on your blog, on Substack, wherever you like. We don't claim any rights beyond what's needed to display and distribute your work on our platform. If you do cross-post, we ask that you be transparent about it with readers.

Copyright and intellectual property claims

If you believe your work has been republished on OpenStand without your permission, email us with the following: your name, a link to the OpenStand piece in question, a link to or description of your original work, and a brief statement that you are the rights holder or authorized to act on their behalf. We will review the claim and respond within 5 business days. If the claim is valid, the infringing content will be removed and the creator will be notified.

Contact

Questions or concerns about this policy? Email us at team@openstand.co.

This policy is a living document and will evolve as the platform grows. Significant changes will be communicated to all creators.