Guardian's Handbook
Everything you need to know about protecting the EveryTongue.Church community
Role Overview
EveryTongue.Church relies on three tiers of guardians to keep the platform safe. Each role has distinct permissions, responsibilities, and training requirements.
Watchmen
Volunteer Monitors
Primary duty: Monitor live sessions via the threat dashboard.
Shift Types
Can:
- Flag content
- Escalate to moderators
- Report threats
Cannot:
- Ban users
- Suspend churches
- Modify word lists
Training required before first shift
Moderators
Trained Volunteers
Primary duty: Review flagged content, handle abuse reports, enforce standards.
Can:
- Warn churches
- Approve or reject community content
- File formal reports
Cannot:
- Permanently ban
- Modify system settings
- Trigger kill switch
Extended training with scenario walkthroughs
Administrators
Full Platform Control
Final escalation point with complete authority over the platform.
Can:
- All moderator powers
- Bans (IP, email, church, geographic)
- Word list management
- Kill switch activation
- Archive scanning
- Church suspension and termination
Responsibility: Final escalation point
What to Look For
Content issues are classified into four severity levels. Each level determines the urgency of response and who needs to be involved.
- Hate speech or racial/ethnic slurs in translations
- Threats of violence
- Content promoting self-harm
- Sexually explicit language
- Non-Christian religious proselytizing
- Persistent profanity (not just one-time)
- Political messaging masquerading as sermons
- Financial solicitation targeting vulnerable people
- Repeated keyword alert triggers from same church
- Content contradicting the Statement of Faith
- Unusual session patterns (very long, very frequent, odd hours)
- Single instances of mild profanity (could be accidental)
- New registrations from geographic areas with high abuse history
- Community posts with borderline content
- Translation quality issues (not moderation, but worth noting)
- Technical anomalies in session data
- Minor community guideline friction
How to Report
Reporting procedures differ based on your role. Follow the steps below for your specific position in the guardian hierarchy.
For Watchmen
Identify the issue during live monitoring
Note the session ID, church name, timestamp, and exact content
Classify the severity (Critical / High / Medium / Low)
File an escalation through the Watchmen dashboard
If Critical: immediately escalate to an administrator (do not wait)
Document everything - include direct quotes of problematic content
For Moderators
Review the flagged content or abuse report
Cross-reference with the keyword alert watchlist
Check the church's history (prior warnings, suspensions)
Make initial determination: dismiss, warn, or escalate
Document your decision with detailed notes
If escalating: tag the severity and route to admin
For Listeners (Public)
Use the in-session "Report" button
Select the category (cursing, hate speech, non-church content, inappropriate, other)
Optionally add details
Submit - the report goes directly to the moderation queue
How to Escalate
Escalation follows a strict four-level pathway. Each level has defined response times and triggers.
Level 1: Watchman Detection
Issue identified during live monitoring or via automated keyword alert.
Level 2: Moderator Review
Within 15 minutes. Moderator reviews context, checks history, makes determination.
Level 3: Administrator Action
Within 1 hour for High severity. Immediate for Critical. Full enforcement authority.
Level 4: Emergency Response
Kill Switch activated. All sessions halted until threat is contained.
Escalation Criteria
| From | To | When |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Any flagged content, keyword alert, listener report |
| Level 2 | Level 3 | Confirmed policy violation, repeat offender, high severity |
| Level 3 | Level 4 | Coordinated attack, platform-wide threat, active safety emergency |
Procedures by Scenario
Click each scenario to expand the step-by-step procedure. These cover the most common situations guardians will encounter.
- 1System auto-flags the content via keyword detection
- 2Watchman reviews context surrounding the flagged word
- 3If confirmed first offense: document and continue monitoring
- 4Second offense: escalate to moderator
- 5Moderator issues formal warning to the church
- 6If translation artifact: dismiss and add to exception list
Zero Tolerance Policy
- 1Immediate escalation to administrator
- 2Admin reviews transcript in full
- 3If confirmed: immediate church suspension (minimum 7 days)
- 4Force-stop active session
- 5Document fully with timestamps, quotes, and evidence
- 6Repeat offense: permanent ban
- 1Moderator reviews transcript or abuse report
- 2Verify genuinely non-church (business meetings, political rallies)
- 3Issue formal warning
- 4Repeat: 30-day suspension
- 5Third offense: permanent removal
- 1Multiple sessions showing coordinated harmful content
- 2Administrator activates Kill Switch
- 3Review all active sessions and recent registrations
- 4Block offending IPs, emails, geographic regions
- 5Lift Kill Switch only after threat is contained
- 6Post-incident report with full documentation
- 1Report enters moderation queue
- 2Moderator reviews within 15 minutes during active hours
- 3Cross-reference with transcript
- 4Determination: dismiss (false report), warning, or escalate
- 5Log everything for pattern analysis
- 1Review registration details
- 2Cross-reference against ban list
- 3If flagged: auto-reject and notify admin
- 4If borderline: place in pending review
- 5Admin verifies legitimacy before approval
- 1Auto-flagged terms in pending queue
- 2Moderator reviews full context
- 3Approve or reject
- 4If rejected: author notified with reason
- 5Repeat offenders: escalate for potential ban
Tools Reference
Access levels for each platform tool, organized by role. Green indicates full access, amber indicates view-only, blue indicates limited access, and red indicates no access.
| Tool | Watchmen | Moderators | Admins |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live Stream Monitor | View | Full | Full |
| Threat Dashboard | View | Full | Full |
| Word Block List | None | View | Full |
| Ban Management | None | None | Full |
| Keyword Alerts | View | Full | Full |
| Archive Scans | None | Limited | Full |
| Kill Switch | None | None | Full |
| Abuse Reports | Limited | Full | Full |
| Church Management | None | View | Full |
| Community Moderation | None | Full | Full |
Decision Trees
Use these visual guides when you need to quickly determine the right course of action.
Decision Tree 1: Content Flagged
Is it profanity?
Translation artifact?
Yes: Dismiss, add to exception list
First offense?
Yes: Document and monitor
No: Escalate to moderator
Is it hate speech?
Immediate admin escalation
Zero tolerance - no exceptions
Is it off-topic?
Warn church
Formal notice issued
Repeat offense?
Yes: Suspend
Decision Tree 2: Abuse Report Received
Is the reporter a listener?
Verify report source and context
Review transcript
Cross-reference reported content with session data
Confirmed? Determine severity:
Best Practices
The ten golden rules every guardian should live by.
Document everything - timestamps, session IDs, exact quotes
Never act alone on Critical severity - always involve an administrator
Assume good faith on first offense (could be translation error, cultural difference)
Zero tolerance on hate speech - never excuse it, not even once
Check context before acting - a single word in isolation can be misleading
Protect yourself - some content may be disturbing, take breaks as needed
Communicate with your team - use the escalation channel, not personal messages
Review the Statement of Faith periodically - it defines what the platform stands for
Treat every church with dignity even when enforcing consequences
Pray for wisdom in grey areas
“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.”
Acts 20:28 (ESV)