Decentralized Social Network
Decentralized Social Network
Last updated: October 22, 2025.
These Sheriff Rules (hereinafter, the “Rules”) govern the moderation of user-generated content in the decentralized Moera network for the purposes of complying with the requirements of app stores, including Google Play (hereinafter, “Google Play”), applicable to applications that display user-generated content. The Rules define the rights and obligations of the Sheriff, Users, and Nodes regarding the display of content in the Moera Application installed via Google Play (hereinafter, the “Google Play Application”).
1.1. Moera Network — a decentralized network for the exchange of user-generated content based on the interaction of independent nodes, with no central administrator.
1.2. Node (blog) — a hardware-and-software complex that hosts and processes a User’s Content and interacts with other nodes of the Moera network. The owner of a node is the administrator of that node and determines its settings.
1.3. Google Play Application — Moera client software installed via the Google Play catalog.
1.4. User — the owner and administrator of a node (blog) in the Moera network who posts and/or views Content.
1.5. Content — any messages, posts, comments, images, audio and video materials, and other data posted by the User in the Moera network. Public Content — Content available to everyone; non‑public Content — Content with restricted access (including, without limitation, access levels other than “Everybody” and “Logged In”), excluding data at the “Only me” level.
1.6. Sheriff — the owner of a special node in the Moera network vested with the authority to issue orders that are mandatory for other nodes to execute for the purpose of displaying Content in the Google Play Application.
1.7. Sheriff’s Mark — a mark (flag) placed by the Sheriff on an individual item of Content (post, comment, media, etc.) or on a node as a whole, signifying a restriction or prohibition on displaying such Content (or all Content of the node) in the Google Play Application.
1.8. Pre‑Hide List — a list maintained by the Sheriff of entities (users, nodes, and/or other identifiers) whose Content is subject to hiding without issuance of separate decisions for each item of Content.
1.9. Complaint — a User’s submission to the Sheriff indicating an alleged violation of the Application’s user content rules and/or app store requirements, specifying the category of violation and, where available, an explanation.
2.1. These Rules apply solely to the procedure for displaying Content in the Google Play Application and do not affect access to Content via a browser or other applications/clients.
2.2. Mandatory Execution. By default, all nodes are required to execute the Sheriff’s orders related to the display of Content in the Google Play Application.
2.3. Consequences of Non‑Execution. If a node fails to execute the Sheriff’s orders, any Content of such node shall not be displayed in the Google Play Application until the violations are remedied.
3.1. Oversight approval by the Sheriff means granting the Sheriff extended access to a node’s non‑public Content to the extent necessary to review Complaints and issue orders under these Rules. Access to Content at the “Only me” level is not granted.
3.2. In the absence of oversight approval, the node’s non‑public Content shall not be displayed in the Google Play Application; at the same time, the node’s public Content shall continue to be displayed, subject to compliance with the other provisions of these Rules.
3.3. The User may revoke oversight approval at any time. Revocation results in the cessation of the display of the node’s non‑public Content in the Google Play Application as of the time of revocation. Public Content shall continue to be displayed subject to these Rules, except as provided in sub‑clauses 4.2–4.4 and clause 5.2 of these Rules.
4.1. The Sheriff acts for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the app store requirements governing user-generated content (including prohibitions on spam, illegal content, threats, incitement to hatred, etc.).
4.2. The Sheriff may place a Sheriff’s Mark on individual items of Content or on a node as a whole. Placement of a Sheriff’s Mark on an item of Content results in its being hidden in the Google Play Application. Placement of a Sheriff’s Mark on a node as a whole signifies a prohibition on displaying all Content of that node, including both public and non‑public, in the Google Play Application.
4.3. The Sheriff may maintain a Pre‑Hide List that applies to any Content, without issuance of separate decisions for each item. Nodes must automatically place a Sheriff’s Mark on Content that falls under the Pre‑Hide List.
4.4. The Sheriff’s orders are subject to automatic execution by the nodes. Failure to execute an order entails the consequences stipulated in clause 2.3 of these Rules.
5.1. A Complaint is submitted via the corresponding menu item (“Report…”) in the interface of the Google Play Application, indicating the category of the alleged violation and, if necessary, an explanation.
5.2. Based on the results of reviewing a Complaint, the Sheriff issues a decision to place or to refuse to place a Sheriff’s Mark (on an item of Content or on a node as a whole), or to apply the Pre‑Hide List.
5.3. Significant actions (receipt of a Complaint, issuance of a decision, execution of an order) are accompanied by the distribution of notifications to interested parties, where technically feasible.
5.4. By default, Complaints are public. A User may petition for the temporary concealment of their Complaint until the Sheriff issues a decision; subsequent publicity is determined by the Sheriff and may be limited only in exceptional cases.
5.5. The User undertakes to refrain from abusing the Complaint submission procedure, including by filing knowingly unfounded or mass repetitive Complaints.
5.6. The User may use the tools available in the Application to independently filter and block unwanted content, irrespective of the Sheriff’s measures.
6.1. Oversight approval (clause 3.1) grants the Sheriff access to non‑public Content to the extent necessary to enforce these Rules. Without oversight approval, a node’s non‑public Content is not displayed in the Google Play Application.
6.2. Data processing is carried out within the decentralized architecture of the Moera network; no central repository is created. The Sheriff does not process data beyond what is necessary.
7.1. Given the decentralized nature of the Moera network, the parties shall not be liable for the inability to physically remove Content from the network or for access to it via channels not covered by these Rules (browsers, third‑party clients and applications, other app stores, etc.).
7.2. The Sheriff and the Application developers do not guarantee the absence of errors and/or delays in handling Complaints and executing orders, but will make reasonable efforts to minimize them.
8.1. These Rules take effect as of the date specified in the preamble and shall remain in effect until repealed or replaced.
8.2. The Rules may be amended. The updated version shall be published by an accessible means. Continued use of the Google Play Application and/or retention of node settings that ensure execution of the Sheriff’s orders after the effective date of such amendments constitutes acceptance of the amendments.
8.3. Revocation of oversight approval is governed by clause 3.3. At the same time, the obligation of nodes to execute the Sheriff’s orders provided for in clause 2.2 remains in force with respect to the display of public Content, except where a Sheriff’s Mark has been placed on the node as a whole or the consequences of clause 2.3 apply.
By checking “I agree to the Sheriff Rules” and/or continuing to use the Google Play Application, the User confirms that they: