Content policy
Punch at the team, never at a person.
The rules are short because they have one job: keep the boards going up. Sign owners run messages that are for something, so that’s what we run. Everything below follows from that.
The rules
Seven of them. They are the same rules the sign owners use, written down plainly.
- For, not against. Every message is for something: a team, a place, a cause, an idea, or a person who asked for it. Ribbing a rival is fine at team or city level, as long as nobody is named.
- No private individuals. No name, nickname, plate, address or workplace of a private person unless they’ve said yes in writing. That goes for shoutouts too: the birthday girl has to agree.
- No accusations. No claims that a person or business did something wrong: cheated, lied, broke the law, anything like it. That holds for public figures too. “Fire Coach So-and-so” is against a person, so it’s out.
- Seven words, text only. Your line plus the CrowdTroll mark, and nothing else. No uploaded images, logos, mascots or official team colors.
- Clean language. No profanity, censored or not. No nudity, innuendo, slurs, hate, threats or calls for violence.
- Nothing regulated. No alcohol, cannabis, tobacco or vape, gambling, firearms, or health and financial claims.
- No bystander punches. If the real target of the joke is a third group, it doesn’t go up.
Also out, no discussion
Some things are out before review even starts:
- Phone numbers, license plates, street addresses, QR codes or web addresses.
- Anything about minors.
- Wording that implies a school, team or brand paid for the sign.
- Claims about an event or a business that aren’t true.
- Attacks on a named local business.
- Anything for or against a candidate or a ballot measure.
Politics
Not at launch. Political messages carry disclosure rules that change by state, and sign networks handle them differently. We are starting with sports, memes, community and shoutouts.
Issue advocacy may come later, with its own rules and its own review. Messages for or against a candidate are not on the table at launch, full stop.
What passes, what doesn’t
Passes
- GO BUCKS. 55 IN THE LEFT LANE?
Team-level ribbing. Nobody is named.
- THANK YOU, KENTUCKY NURSES.
For a group of people, and clearly for them.
- HAPPY 80TH, GRANDMA ROSE!
A private person, but she said yes in writing.
Doesn’t pass
- FIRE COACH [NAME].
Against a named person. Public figure or not, it’s out.
- ABC 1234, LEARN TO MERGE.
A plate is a person. Aim it at the whole highway instead.
- THE REFS WERE PAID OFF.
An accusation of wrongdoing about real people.
Who has the last word
Every message is reviewed by CrowdTroll and pre-approved by the sign network before pledges open.
After that, we and the sign owner can reject or pull any message, for any reason, at any time. Backers see this before they pledge, along with the refund rule:
Nothing is charged unless the campaign funds. Your payment stays with Apple Pay, Google Pay or Stripe; we never see your card. If the sign owner rejects the message or it never posts, you're refunded in full automatically. If the sign owner pulls it early, the unused budget is refunded. Once the booked window has run, there are no refunds.
That’s the whole policy. If you’re not sure your line passes, write it anyway: the composer flags the obvious problems as you type, and we read every line before it goes up.