Content Policy

Scope

This policy applies to all content submitted to, published on, or generated through ia-tree.com, including:

ia-tree.com is a platform, not a publisher. We do not author, edit, or endorse any user-submitted content. Admin approval of a tree is a moderation step to verify compliance with this policy — it does not constitute endorsement of the views, arguments, or positions expressed.

Who Is Responsible for Content

2.1 Publishers

The Publisher — the signed-in user who submits a tree — is legally responsible for the submission. This includes ensuring that the content complies with this policy, that they have the right to publish any third-party or historically authored content named in the tree, and that panelists they add are aware of their role.

The named Author of a tree may differ from the Publisher. The Publisher is responsible for the submission regardless of who authored the original argument.

2.2 Panelists

Panelists are responsible for content they add to a Publisher's tree. Additions are attributed to the panelist's account and cannot be removed by the panelist after submission. Panelists may not delete or move existing tree content.

2.3 Commenters

Signed-in users are responsible for General Comments they post. Comments are publicly visible and attributed to the commenter's account.

2.4 Password-protected trees

Publishers who upload password-protected trees — for example, lecturers sharing trees with students — are responsible for all activity on their tree, including General Comments posted by viewers. If a tree is used in an educational context, the Publisher is responsible for ensuring student participants are aware of and comply with this policy.

Prohibited Content

The following content is prohibited across all content types and all parts of the platform — tree nodes, titles, comments, author fields, and tags. There are no exceptions.

Content Standards

4.1 What is permitted

ia-tree.com is built for structured intellectual debate. The following content is explicitly permitted:

• Structured arguments on any topic, including religion, philosophy, politics, science, law, and ethics
• Arguments that present controversial, minority, or unpopular positions, provided they do not cross into prohibited content
• Historical, third-party, or AI-generated content, clearly and accurately attributed
• Templates that provide neutral structural skeletons for others to build upon
• Decision matrices on practical real-world topics across supported categories
• Civil disagreement, rebuttal, and counter-argument in comments

4.2 Attribution standards

The Author field identifies who wrote the original argument — this may be a historical figure, an organisation, a third party, or the Publisher themselves. If AI was used to generate the tree, do not misrepresent the content as entirely human-authored. Leaving the Author field blank is acceptable — the platform will display the author as unknown.

4.3 AI-generated content

Trees generated using the Generate feature are subject to the same content standards as manually authored trees. Publishers are responsible for reviewing AI output before submission. AI-generated content that violates this policy will be treated the same as manually authored violations.

4.4 Node comments in submitted trees

Node comments are embedded within the .iat file structure and become publicly visible when the tree is published. Publishers are responsible for ensuring that node comments within their submitted files comply with this policy. Node comments cannot be moderated individually via the web platform — if node comments violate this policy, the entire tree may be unpublished.

Comments

5.1 General Comments

General Comments are posted by signed-in users on the web platform and are publicly visible. Comments must:

• Be relevant to the tree or the discussion thread
• Engage with arguments rather than attacking the person making them
• Not contain prohibited content as defined in Section 3

Comments may not be deleted by the commenter after posting. On account deletion, comments are retained in anonymised form.

5.2 Reporting comments

Any signed-in user may report a comment using the Report button. Reporting flags the comment for Admin review. A comment can only be reported once per user — the Report button is disabled after use. Admin may dismiss the report or delete the comment. Deleted comments are soft-deleted and no longer visible to users.

5.3 Node Comments

Node comments are embedded within the .iat file and are created in i.a.T.Creator only. They are visible on the web platform and in i.a.T. Viewer when the tree is published, but cannot be added or edited via the web or i.a.T. Viewer. Node comments are not reportable individually via the web platform. If node comments in a published tree are found to violate this policy, the tree may be unpublished. Contact support@ia-tree.com to report violating node comment content.

Moderation Pipeline

All tree submissions go through the following pipeline before appearing on the platform:

6.1 Post-publication moderation

Admin may unpublish, archive, revoke, or permanently delete any tree at any time if it is found to violate this policy after publication, or in response to demands from legal or governmental authorities. Where Interactive Argument Tree PLT is permitted by law to notify the Publisher of the reason for a compliance-driven revocation, we will endeavour to do so via the My Submissions dashboard. Trees permanently deleted for policy violations or authority demands are not returned to the Publisher. Publishers may resubmit a corrected version as a new submission where appropriate.

Visibility and Downloads

7.1 All published trees are public

All trees approved for publication on ia-tree.com are publicly visible to all visitors — including anonymous visitors with no account. There is no private or members-only tree visibility on the web platform.

7.2 Password-protected trees

Password protection on a .iat file controls who may modify the tree structure in i.a.T.Creator — it does not restrict visibility of the tree content on ia-tree.com. A password-protected tree published on the platform is fully readable by all visitors. The .iat file itself is not available for download when password protection is enabled.

7.3 Downloadable trees

Publishers may enable .iat file downloads for their trees. Templates are always downloadable. Users who download a .iat file are responsible for their own use of that file and any content they derive from it.

Post-Publication Modifications

8.1 Publisher modifications

Publishers may modify their tree content after publication. They may also change the tree status (active, closed, or archived) and edit the panelist list. All modifications to published trees remain subject to this policy. Significant content changes post-publication may trigger re-review at Admin discretion.

8.2 Panelist contributions

Panelists may add content to a published tree. Panelists may not delete existing tree content or move existing nodes. Panelist contributions are attributed to the panelist's account and are subject to this policy.

8.3 Publisher withdrawal

Publishers may archive or delete their published trees at any time from their My Submissions dashboard. Deleted trees are removed from the Community page immediately. Associated .iat files are deleted from storage on account deletion.

8.4 Admin revocation

Admin may revoke any published tree at any time. Revocation may be triggered by policy violations discovered after approval, or by demands from legal or governmental authorities. A revoked tree is immediately removed from public view but is not permanently deleted. The Publisher can see the revocation and its reason in their My Submissions dashboard. No email notification is sent.

A revoked tree may be restored to published by Admin if the reason for revocation is resolved. It may also be permanently deleted by Admin, or by the Publisher from their own My Submissions dashboard. Permanent deletion removes the tree, all associated comments, engagement data, and stored files irreversibly. This action cannot be undone by either the Publisher or Admin.

Interactive Argument Tree PLT will comply with valid legal process requiring content removal. Where permitted by law, we will endeavour to communicate the reason to the Publisher via the My Submissions dashboard.

Enforcement

Admin may take the following actions in response to policy violations, at their discretion based on the nature and severity of the violation:

There is no formal appeal process. If you believe an enforcement action was taken in error, contact support@ia-tree.com and we will review your case at our discretion. See our Terms of Service for full details on account termination.

Reporting and Contact

10.1 Reporting comments

Use the Report button on any General Comment to flag it for Admin review. You must be signed in to report a comment. The Report button is disabled after use — you cannot report the same comment twice.

10.2 Reporting trees and node comments

There is no in-platform reporting button for published trees or node comments. To report a tree or embedded node comment that you believe violates this policy, contact us at support@ia-tree.com with the URL of the tree and a description of the violation. We aim to review reports within 30 days.

10.3 Policy questions

For questions about whether specific content would comply with this policy, contact support@ia-tree.com before submitting. We are happy to advise on borderline cases.