Skip to the main content
The Bench
Sign in

Reporting something

Help and rules

Version 1.0, last updated 5 Nov 2026

Who may report

Anyone: a member, a visitor without an account, or a person affected by something on The Bench (for example someone named in a post, or whose design has been copied). No account is needed. A robot check protects the form when the person is signed out.

The flows in the product

  1. Report button on every post, comment, answer, job ad, business page, file, event and profile.
  2. Panel. The person picks a reason, may add words and a link or picture as supporting information, and may leave an email so we can tell them the outcome. Reasons: scam or fraud (including a fake job or business); threat, harassment or bullying; hate or abuse; child safety; terrorism; pornography or sexual content; suicide, self-harm or eating disorders; weapons or drugs; copyright or design (goes to the takedown form); something untrue said about me (goes to the complaints page); something else. The panel starts with "If someone is in danger now, call 999."
  3. "Before you report" text: we do not tell the poster who reported; we tell the poster which rule was applied and how to appeal. We tell the reporter the outcome.
  4. Report page for visitors without the button, with the same fields and a field for the address of the item.
  5. Email: hi@hamedarab.academy.
  6. Confirmation on screen and by email: a case number and the time we aim to answer.

What happens, and how fast

  • Agent first read
    • Illegal content, child safety, threats, suspected scam or fraud: Within 1 hour (target; the agent runs round the clock)
    • Any other house-rule breach: Within 1 hour
  • Hidden
    • Illegal content, child safety, threats, suspected scam or fraud: At once if credible: any report of child safety, terrorism or threats, or an item the agent finds matches the scam signs. Hidden items stay hidden until a person decides.
    • Any other house-rule breach: Only plain spam is hidden by the agent. Everything else stays visible until a person decides, unless the agent judges it likely to break a rule.
  • A person decides
    • Illegal content, child safety, threats, suspected scam or fraud: The same day (Hamed Arab)
    • Any other house-rule breach: Within 48 hours
  • Reporter told
    • Illegal content, child safety, threats, suspected scam or fraud: Same day as the decision
    • Any other house-rule breach: Within 48 hours
  • Poster told
    • Illegal content, child safety, threats, suspected scam or fraud: At the decision
    • Any other house-rule breach: At the decision

Steps

  1. Receive. Case number and timestamp.
  2. Agent first read. Sort by reason and urgency, check for duplicates, write a one-line summary, hide plain spam or a credible high-risk item, and raise an alert to the person on duty. The alert is a real push or Telegram message, built as a send, not a line in a file. The report and the item reach the agent as untrusted text: it never follows instructions found inside them.
  3. A person decides. Remove, keep, warn, suspend, or report on. Note the rule used. Where the terms ban the kind of content, the test is "does it break our terms".
  4. Tell. The reporter in plain words, without the poster's identity. The poster: what was removed, which rule, and how to appeal. Do not tell the poster if that would put someone at risk or tip off a police inquiry.
  5. Refer where it is a crime (see Referrals).
  6. Close with the record (see Records kept).

Support. If a post suggests someone may be at risk of suicide or self-harm, show support information to the poster as well as removing the content.

Referrals

  • Police
    • When: Immediate danger: 999. Threats, stalking, crime: 101 or the local force
    • Address: https://www.gov.uk/contact-police (GOV.UK, Contact the police: call 999 for a crime in progress or immediate danger, 101 for anything else, or report online)
  • Internet Watch Foundation
    • When: Suspected child sexual abuse imagery
    • Address: https://www.iwf.org.uk/en/uk-report/ (Internet Watch Foundation, report online child sexual abuse imagery)
  • CEOP Safety Centre
    • When: A child is being groomed, abused or exploited online
    • Address: https://www.ceop.police.uk/Safety-Centre/ (CEOP Safety Centre: make a report to one of its Child Protection Advisors)
  • UK counter-terrorism online reporting
    • When: Terrorist material
    • Address: https://www.gov.uk/report-terrorism (GOV.UK, report online material promoting terrorism or extremism; the form is linked from that page)
  • The firm named
    • When: A real firm's name used in a fake ad
    • Address: email the firm directly

Records kept

For every case: the case number; times received, first read, decided and closed; the reason; a snapshot of the item (kept even after removal, access limited); who or what decided (agent or person) and the rule used; what the reporter and the poster were told; any appeal and its outcome; any referral. Retention: 12 months after closing, longer if the police ask or a claim is possible. The privacy notice says how long personal data is kept. Each month, count reports by reason, time to first read, time to decision, outcomes and appeals reversed.

Who provides The Bench

The Bench, by Hamed Arab Academy, is provided by Studio Saina Ltd, company number 12770445, Victoria Mansions, 32-35 Hall Street, Birmingham B18 6BS. You can write to us at hi@hamedarab.academy.