Safety

Child safety standards

Link Up has zero tolerance for child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE). This page sets out our standards, how we enforce them and how to report a concern.

Version 2026-10-01 Effective 1 October 2026

These standards apply everywhere Link Up is available.

Our standards

Link Up is a social planning app for people aged 13 and over, provided by Link-Up Social Inc. We prohibit any content or behaviour that sexually exploits, abuses or endangers children, anywhere on Link Up, including in private chats. This includes:

  • child sexual abuse material (CSAM) of any kind, including drawn, cartoon, computer-generated or edited images, and links to it;
  • grooming: building a relationship with a child or teen in order to sexually abuse or exploit them, including asking them for sexual images, asking them to keep secrets or pressuring them to meet;
  • sexual messages to, or sexualised comments about, anyone under 18, and adults seeking romantic or sexual relationships with anyone under 18;
  • sextortion, trafficking, and offering or seeking sexual services involving anyone under 18;
  • accounts belonging to children under 13, who aren’t allowed to use Link Up.

These standards are part of our Terms of service and Community guidelines, which everyone accepts before they can post or send messages.

How we prevent harm

  • Everyone gives their date of birth before an account is created. We refuse and delete sign-ups from children under 13, and we also use age information from Apple and Google where it’s available.
  • Direct messages are only possible between accepted friends, and nobody joins a group without accepting an invitation. There is no random or anonymous chat.
  • Adults can’t find teens by searching. An adult can open a teen’s profile only from a private link the teen created, which expires after 7 days, or through a group they both belong to. Teens’ photos, city and bio are visible only to their friends and group members.
  • Groups with a member under 18 can’t use invite links, and adults who aren’t a teen’s friend can’t send them friend requests through a shared group or @mention them.
  • Group messages, display names, bios, and group names, descriptions and notes are checked automatically when they’re posted, and sexual content involving a minor is always hidden. In a group with a member under 18, a message that can’t be checked in time is held as “pending review” until it has been.
  • Profile photos are checked automatically for sexual content before anyone can see them.
  • Teen accounts never show read receipts or message text in notifications, screenshots are blocked on Android in chats that include a teen, and a teen’s exact home location is never stored.
  • Patterns such as an adult sending many friend requests to teens are flagged to our safety team.

How to report

  • In the app: press and hold a message, or open a profile, group or event, tap Report and choose “Child safety”. Choose “Under 13” to report an account you believe belongs to a child under 13.
  • Without the app: use our report form and choose “Child sexual abuse or exploitation”. You don’t need an account, and you can stay anonymous.
  • By email: contact our child-safety contact at Help@link-up.life.
  • If a child is in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services first. You can also report child sexual exploitation to the NCMEC CyberTipline (report.cybertip.org) in the United States, Cybertip.ca in Canada, the Internet Watch Foundation (report.iwf.org.uk) in the UK, or the national hotline or police where you live.

Please don’t share, forward or take screenshots of sexual images of a child, even to report them. Report the account or message instead.

What we do with a report

  • Child-safety reports go to the top of our moderation queue and alert our on-call moderator and our child-safety contact straight away. Our target is to act within one hour.
  • We remove the content and suspend or close the accounts involved.
  • When we identify apparent child sexual abuse material, we report it to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) through its CyberTipline, as US law (18 U.S.C. § 2258A) requires, and to other authorities where the law requires.
  • We preserve the reported content and related account information in secure, access-restricted storage for one year, so that it’s available to law enforcement, and we share it with nobody else. Only the moderator reviewing the report sees the reported content.
  • We cooperate with law enforcement. We respond to valid legal requests, and we act without delay when a child’s life or safety is at risk.
  • We delete the account of anyone we learn is under 13 and stop that device from signing up again for 7 days.

Compliance and accountability

We comply with the child safety laws that apply to us, including the reporting duties of US law (18 U.S.C. § 2258A), the EU Digital Services Act and the UK Online Safety Act 2023. Our designated child-safety contact is responsible for these standards, reviews them regularly and answers questions about them, including from app stores and law enforcement.

Contact

Child-safety contact, Link-Up Social Inc.
124 Arleta Avenue
Toronto, Ontario M3L 2L5
Canada
Email: Help@link-up.life

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