OpenWeb Publisher Standards

Last Updated January 28, 2022

OpenWeb has a vision for a healthier web. We empower publishers to build communities and host vibrant discussions between readers. We currently, and will continue to, host a wide range of thought and discussion. 

We believe that toxicity, hostility, hate, violence, personal attacks, and the release of personal information have no place on the web. We take pride in playing our part in providing publishers and their communities with a safer environment where higher quality dialogue can take place.

We’re serious about our vision and our values. Bringing these to life means that we must develop, and continuously improve, global standards that endeavor to align our actions with our intent. To that end, we are making public two evolving policies—sets of global rules affecting our business relationships and practices—regarding: (1) the journalistic integrity of publishers with which we partner—called OpenWeb Publisher Standards (this page); and (2) the moderation of user-generated content—called OpenWeb Moderation Standards (available here).

As stated, these guidelines and the actions we take will develop as we continue to consult with third-party industry experts and reflect industry best practices. We have enforced and will continue to enforce these guidelines with the intention of creating a more open, healthier web.

OpenWeb Partner Standards

OpenWeb’s Vision and Commitment to Continual Improvement

Creating quality conversations begins with the publisher. OpenWeb will not tolerate publisher content in our network that does not align with standards of journalism. 

We will continue to integrate academic, public, and private third-party resources and expertise into an evolving set of policy guidelines. 

We are leveraging third-party expertise, like that of the Global Disinformation Index, to continue to strengthen and enforce the policy.

Our intention in this continued effort to enforce standards for publishers across the OpenWeb network is to prevent relationships or end existing relationships with any publishers that host content involving any of the below:

Illegal acts, or content that promotes illegal acts; Hate speech and/or other forms of targeted discrimination against individuals or groups; That which actively encourages or incites violent acts; Pornographic content; That which contains, solicits, and/or releases personal and confidential information about an individual (“doxxing”); That which knowingly spreads disinformation; That which is defamatory or libelous; Any content directed at children under the age of 13 and does not comply with national laws aimed at protecting the online privacy of minors (i.e., COPPA in U.S.A).

OpenWeb believes strongly in these standards. However, OpenWeb is not a fact checking or journalistic integrity organization, and does not have resources dedicated to analysing all content released by publisher partners. Thus, as stated, we are leveraging a number of third-party sources to guide us in determining which publishers align with these standards. This allows us to uphold our responsibility based on expertly devised and managed criteria. In the future, we will incorporate new academic and private resources into our policies and guidelines.

Enforcement

If we believe a publisher has violated this policy we reserve the right to suspend or terminate our engagement with such publisher. If we have terminated or suspended our engagement with you referencing this policy and you believe such suspension or termination was erroneous, please contact your former Partner Success Manager, contact at OpenWeb, or use our contact form.

You can read about our enforcement process in detail here.