Qaswa Connect Child Safety Standards

1. What is prohibited

Child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) is prohibited on Qaswa Connect in every form, for every member, administrator and masjid. That includes:

• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) of any kind — images, video, text, illustrations or AI-generated content
• Any content that sexualizes a minor (anyone under 18)
• Grooming — building contact or trust with a minor for the purpose of sexual abuse or exploitation
• Sextortion, or asking a minor for sexual images, content or personal information
• Trafficking, or any content that promotes, facilitates or glorifies the abuse of children
• Attempts to get around the protections described on this page

2. Who can use Qaswa Connect

• 13 and over only. Everyone is asked for an age range when they first open the app. Anyone who answers “Under 13” is not given an account, and the app will not make a new one on that device afterwards; an account already started through Google or Apple sign-in is deleted straight away. If we learn an account belongs to someone under 13, we delete it and its data.
• 13 to 17 needs a parent or guardian. Members aged 13 to 17 must confirm that a parent or legal guardian has agreed to their use of the app. We rely on that confirmation; we do not contact or verify the parent.
• Extra protections for members under 18. They cannot donate or sign up to volunteer, their names and photos are not shown to other members (including on event attendee lists), their notifications default to essential-only, and location stays off until they choose to turn it on. An account whose age is not known is treated the same way for donations, names and notifications until it is.

3. How the app is built to protect young people

• No private messaging. Members cannot send direct or private messages to one another, and there is no member-to-member chat. Contact happens in public, in a masjid’s posts and the comments under them, where the community and its moderators can see it.
• Verified masjid administrators. Only a masjid’s administrators can publish its posts, events and announcements, and a masjid’s registration is reviewed by the Qaswa Connect team before its administrators receive those tools.
• Private contact details. Members’ email addresses and phone numbers are never shown to other members.

4. Automated and human moderation

• Automated comment screening. Before a comment is published, it can be checked by TypeSafe, an automated AI moderation service, for sexual content, harassment, threats, hate speech and scams. Members are asked for their permission first. A comment judged likely to be harmful is either held back from publication, or published and flagged, and in both cases it goes to a person for review.
• Masjid moderators. Each masjid’s administrators review reports and flagged content for their community, can remove posts and comments, and can ban a person from that community.
• Qaswa Connect’s own team. Our administrators can see and act on reports across the whole platform, and can remove any content or account on it.

5. Reporting and blocking

• Report in the app. Every post and every comment has a Report option. A report goes straight to the moderation queue, where it is reviewed.
• Block in the app. Any member can block another member, or a masjid, from a post or comment. Blocked members’ content is hidden from the person who blocked them.
• Report by email. Anyone — a member, a parent or guardian, or someone who does not use the app — can email the Qaswa Connect Child Safety Team at safety@qaswaconnect.com.

6. How we handle CSAM and CSAE

When we find, or are told about, child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or any other child sexual abuse and exploitation on Qaswa Connect, we:

• Remove it promptly, so no one else can see it
• Ban the account that posted or shared it, permanently, with no reinstatement
• Report it to NCMEC through the CyberTipline, as United States law requires (18 U.S.C. § 2258A), and to law enforcement where a child may be in danger
• Preserve the evidence securely, with access restricted to the people handling the report, for as long as the law requires
• Cooperate fully with NCMEC and law enforcement in any investigation

7. Law enforcement

We respond to valid legal process from law enforcement, preserve data in response to lawful preservation requests, and, where a child faces imminent danger, may disclose information to law enforcement without waiting for legal process, as permitted by 18 U.S.C. § 2702.

8. Contact

Child safety contact: Qaswa Connect Child Safety Team
Email: safety@qaswaconnect.com
General support: support@qaswaconnect.com
Developer: ETERNA LABS LLC

If a child is in immediate danger, call 911 or your local emergency number first. You can also report directly to NCMEC’s CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org or 1-800-843-5678.

9. Updates

We review these standards as the app changes and update this page when they do. The date at the top shows the latest version.