Withheld Accounts and Posts

What “withheld” means

Sometimes a court or another authority orders Sincerus to make an account or a post unavailable, either in one country or everywhere. When that happens we withhold it: people in the countries the order covers can't see it, and everyone else still can. Nothing is deleted.

A withholding is not a moderation decision. It doesn't mean the account or post broke our Community Guidelines; content that does is removed instead.

If you see a withheld account or post

• The profile or post shows “This account is withheld” or “This post is withheld”, the country it is withheld in, and why: a court order, a legal demand, or another legal reason. Where we can, we also say which authority ordered it and the decision's reference.
• A withheld account's posts don't appear in your feeds, search or replies, and a quote of a withheld post shows a placeholder.
• You can't start a new chat with a withheld account.

Which countries apply to you is decided by the country on your Sincerus account.

If your account or post is withheld

• You still see and keep everything. Your profile shows a notice, and Settings → Account status lists what is withheld, where, and why. We also send you an account notice and an email.
• People outside the countries the order covers see your account and posts as usual.
• We can't overturn a court order ourselves. To challenge it, use the legal remedies against the decision (in Türkiye, an objection under Law No. 5651 to the court that issued it). If the decision is lifted or overturned, send it to legal@sincerus.app and we restore visibility right away. Questions about a withholding go to the same address.

How we handle orders

Only an administrator can withhold content, and only against a written order or demand we have reviewed. We withhold no more than the order covers (one country rather than everywhere, one post rather than a whole account, where the order allows it), and every withholding and its lifting is recorded. How authorities send us orders is in our Law Enforcement Guidelines and on the content removal page.