Community Guidelines

1. Our Mission

informacja.com exists to help 20+ million Poles abroad — looking for jobs, housing, doctors, lawyers, events, news, guides, and community. Our goal is to build a digital Polonia — a space based on mutual help, respect, and reliable information.

To achieve this, we need a community that operates in a spirit of cooperation. These Community Guidelines describe what we expect from every participant.

2. Communication Culture

Communication on the site should be:

• Constructive — speak factually, share experiences, help others
• Respectful — respect the speaker, even in disputes
• Specific — context, facts, personal experience or source
• Helpful — remember someone is reading to help themselves

Unacceptable:

• Vulgar language, swearing
• Personal attacks (ad hominem)
• WRITING IN ALL CAPS (shouting)
• Spam in comments, classifieds, entries
• Trolling and provocations
• Off-topic — comments unrelated to the topic

3. No Hate Speech

Strictly prohibited content includes attacks on people because of:

• Nationality, ethnicity, race (including antisemitism, xenophobia, anti-Slavic/anti-German/anti-American etc. statements)
• Sexual orientation or gender identity
• Religion (including anti-Catholic hate, Islamophobia, religious antisemitism, etc.)
• Disability
• Age
• Gender (misogyny, misandry)
• Content promoting violence, terrorism, genocide
• Calls to harass specific individuals
• Holocaust, genocide, or crimes against humanity denial
• Promotion of Nazi, Stalinist, fascist, or totalitarian ideologies

Discussing social issues, immigration policy, or history — YES, but in a civilized manner without attacking entire groups.

4. No Political Flame Wars

Poles hold diverse political views — that's good. But informacja.com is not a political forum.

Unacceptable:

• Advocacy for Polish political parties (PiS, PO, Lewica, Konfederacja, Polska 2050 etc.)
• Advocacy for American parties (Democrats, Republicans, etc.)
• Personal attacks on politicians (Tusk, Kaczyński, Trump, Biden, Duda, etc.)
• Personal attacks on other users for their political views
• Ideological wars (left vs right, liberal vs conservative, etc.)
• Content promoting hatred toward any political group
• Conspiracy theories (QAnon, anti-vaccine, climate denialism, "Soros", "Rothschilds", "5G", "deep state", "great replacement", etc.)

Acceptable:

• Information about legal consequences of political decisions (e.g., changes in immigration or tax law)
• Education about systems (how to vote in USA as PR, how to vote in PL from abroad)
• Reliable news in the /news section

If you feel the need for political discussion — other forums and social media exist for that.

5. No Scams or Fraud

Polonia is often targeted by scammers. We have zero tolerance for:

• Romance scams
• Phishing — links to suspicious sites, requests for login credentials
• Pyramid schemes and "get rich quick" schemes (forex bots, crypto "guaranteed return", MLM)
• Fake job listings — especially requiring upfront payment, deposit, or "training fee"
• Fake businesses — listings for non-existent or misrepresented services
• Fake reviews — paid or fabricated reviews
• Lottery and "winnings" ("You won a trip to Poland, just pay tax")
• Scammer "notarios" and lawyers (see section 6)
• Fake apartment rentals — especially requiring deposit before viewing
• Fake fundraisers — e.g., "Polish orphan needs help" without verification
• IRS/SSA-impersonation scams — calls "from IRS" demanding urgent payment

Report scams via the "Report" button or email zgloszenia@informacja.com.

6. No Fake Professional Advice

Polonia is vulnerable to fake "experts" — especially so-called "notarios" in the USA, who claim to be immigration lawyers without being so.

STRICTLY PROHIBITED:

• Posing as a lawyer / attorney if you are not one (even Polish legal education is NOT a license in the USA)
• Posing as a doctor if you are not one (Polish MD requires nostrification and state license)
• Posing as a tax advisor if you are not one
• Posing as an "immigration notario" — in the USA, "notario" has NO right to give immigration advice. Polish "notariusz" and Mexican "notario público" have different meanings than American "notary public"
• Selling "legal advice" by unlicensed persons (unauthorized practice of law — UPL — is a crime in many US states)
• Advertising "100% guaranteed Green Card" or similar — no guarantee exists in immigration law
• "Help with filling out USCIS" for a fee by unlicensed persons

ALLOWED:

• Sharing your own experience ("I went through this process — here's what I did")
• Pointing to official sources (USCIS, IRS, gov.pl)
• Recommending verified licensed lawyers (if actually licensed — check state bar)
• Business directory entries as licensed attorney / doctor / CPA with license number

If you advertise legal, medical, or tax services in the informacja.com business directory, you must provide your professional license number (bar number, NPI, EA/CPA number, etc.). Failure = listing removal.

7. No Illegal Immigration Advice

Immigration matters affect people's lives and future. Wrong advice can result in deportation, entry bans, family separation.

STRICTLY PROHIBITED:

• Advising fake marriage (marriage fraud) for a Green Card
• Advising fake asylum ("Just say you were persecuted, even if not")
• Advising working without papers as a long-term strategy
• Advising visa fraud — e.g., false answers at consular interviews
• Advising lies on USCIS applications (perjury)
• Advising buying fake documents
• Advising "notario" instead of a real attorney
• Promoting ways to evade immigration enforcement
• Advertising "100% chance" — no honest attorney promises this

Consequences of bad immigration advice can be irreversible. Always recommend consulting a licensed AILA attorney.

8. Respect Different Perspectives

Polonia is diverse — different generations (DP, Solidarity, 90s economic, post-EU accession), different life paths, different values. Our community must accommodate this diversity.

There is no single "correct" way of:

• Returning to Poland or staying abroad
• Assimilation or keeping Polish roots
• Mixing languages, using Polish-American slang
• Polish patriotism or criticism of Polish politics
• Religious or secular life

Everyone has the right to their path. Criticism of someone's choices only with respect and constructively.

9. Privacy of Others

Strictly prohibited to publish without consent:

• Names of others in negative contexts (doxxing)
• Home addresses, workplaces, phone numbers of others
• Photos of others (especially children) without consent
• Medical, financial, or immigration information of others
• Screenshots of private conversations (Messenger, SMS, email) without consent
• Others' social media posts for ridicule

Privacy violation = immediate content removal + ban + possible law enforcement referral if criminal (e.g., doxxing with harassment intent).

10. Copyright

Do not publish content you did not author without permission:

• Articles from other portals — only 1-2 sentence quote + link, not full content
• Photos from the internet — only your own or licensed (Creative Commons, public domain) with attribution
• Business logos — only if you represent that business (owner / authorized employee)
• Copyrighted content — no piracy

For copyright infringement — DMCA takedown notice to reports@informacja.com (procedure in Terms of Service).

11. Reporting Violations

Every community member helps keep it safe. Report content violating the Community Guidelines:

• "Report" button on each item (classified, business listing, comment)
• Email: zgloszenia@informacja.com
• Scam email: zgloszenia@informacja.com
• DMCA email: reports@informacja.com

Anonymous reports accepted. We do not disclose the reporter.

12. Moderation and Sanctions

The Administrator and moderators have the right (but not obligation) to take the following actions:

Sanction levels

1. Warning — first violation, minor; user education
2. Specific content removal without account ban
3. Temporary account block (24h, 7 days, 30 days)
4. Permanent account ban for repeated or serious violations
5. IP ban for users trying to evade bans through new accounts
6. Law enforcement referral for crimes (fraud, doxxing with harassment, child-related content, etc.)

Immediate ban without warning for

• Pornographic content
• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM)
• Violence or death threats
• Doxxing with harassment intent
• Phishing or malware attempts
• Hacking attempts, DoS attacks
• Mass spam

13. Appeals

If you believe your account or content was blocked unjustly, you may appeal:

• Email: pomoc@informacja.com
• Deadline: 30 days from sanction date
• Required: link to account/content + brief justification
• Review time: 7-14 days

The Administrator's post-appeal decision is final within the platform.

14. Contact

Questions, suggestions:

See also:

• Terms of Service
• Disclaimer
• Privacy Policy