Pictures which are not allowed:

• Sexual organs, pubic hair, anus or whole bottom visible

  • Sexual organs and pubic hair

    (Human) sexuals organs must not be visible in any pictures - this includes the penis, testicles and vulva. Also pubic hair directly around these sexuals organs and the anus must not be visible - yet hair in other body regions (for example abdomen, bottom, chest, armpits) are allowed.

  • Bottom and anus

    The anus must not be visible in the picture, and pictures which show the whole (naked) bottom (not only from the side or a smaller part of it) are not allowed either.

  • Exceptions: art and satire

    Exceptions in which more nudity is allowed (to a certain extent) include depictions of art, e.g. sculptures like Michelangelos "David" or paintings/drawings. This applies only if the focus is not predominantly on the sexual organs or the sexual activity - e.g. "revealing" anime comics which lean towards pornography are not exempt. Other exceptions are satirical/comical pictures which are clearly meant in a humorous way and thus put the pictures into perspective or give it a completely other meaning/effect.

  • Why such a rule?

    We do not allow such "revealing" pictures because we want to stay "G-rated" and we do not believe the communication (meaning finding friends or partners) profits from such pictures - on the contrary, it would only aid sexual encounters, which is not our intention. That is why we have these boundaries.

• Erect sexual organs visible below clothing

  • Displaying a clearly visible, erect penis located just beneath the clothing is not allowed - this is a small addition to the above rule about sexual organs.

• Depiction of sex (of any kind) or masturbation

  • Definition of sex/masturbation

    Pictures which clearly show a sexual act (of any kind) or in which somebody masturbates are not allowed - this also includes pictures in which a person puts his hand in his pants to make it look like he or she is masturbating. This rule only includes sexual acts by/between humans or humanoid people (humanoid comic figures and comic figures with human features also count).

  • If the situation in the picture is not clear-cut

    Pictures which show no clear signs of sexual activity are allowed - for example if it is not completely obvious the people in the picture are having sex and it could be argued that they are doing something else (for example cuddling or kissing only).

  • Exceptions: art and satire

    Exceptions in which more nudity is allowed (to a certain extent) include depictions of art, e.g. sculptures or paintings/drawings. This applies only if the focus is not predominantly on the sexual activity - e.g. "revealing" anime comics which lean towards pornography are not exempt. Other exceptions are satirical/comical pictures which are clearly meant in a humorous way and thus put the pictures into perspective or give it a completely other meaning/effect.

  • Why such a rule?

    We do not allow such "revealing" pictures because we want to stay "G-rated" and we do not believe the communication (meaning finding friends or partners) profits from pictures which clearly show sexual activity - on the contrary, it would only aid sexual encounters, which is not our intention. That is why we have these boundaries.

• Chest, abdomen or pelvis visible while face is truncated/disguised

  • Basic definition

    If part of the chest, abdomen or pelvis is visible in the picture (even if clothes cover these body parts), the corresponding face of the person must also be visible. Anonymised pictures, showing only the abdomen or pelvis of a person, are thus not allowed, because they cannot be clearly attributed to a person - faking is very easy this way.

  • More than one person visible or face not visible (obstacle)

    This rule applies mainly if a particular person is the focus of the picture, and when the focus lies mainly on showing the chest, abdomen, pelvis or bottom of this person. When several people/motives are shown in the picture this rule usually does not apply, and also in a regular foto where the face is not truncated, just not quite visible (e.g. by obstacles like hair or other objects) this rule should not be enforced too strictly - because the main reason for the rule is to prevent "anonymised", revealing pictures, not pictures which focus on other things (other than the body).

  • Other body parts (e.g. eyes, arms, legs, back)

    If other body parts are visible (e.g. eyes, head, arms, legs, back) and chest, abdomen or pelvis are not visible, then the face does not have to be visible either.

  • Exceptions: unclear body part, "from behind", satirical picture

    If the picture does not clearly show which body part is shown, then the picture is allowed. Pictures which show a person "from behind" with visible back and covered bottom are also allowed, because it is difficult to include a clear picture of the face in pictures like that. Pictures which focus on a satirical effect (e.g. a funny slogan on a t-shirt) are exempt from this rule too.

  • Why such a rule?

    These anonymous pictures additionally create an athmosphere which lacks committment or trust by concentrating mainly on the corporeal aspect of a person, which makes it more like a meat market than a friendly place to meet new people. And because it is no huge effort to take some pictures of yourself with your face clearly visible, we demand this as a minimum - this also clarifies who is seen in the picture.

• Torture, abuse, mutilation, real or real looking violence visible

  • Basic definition with examples

    Depictions of excessive violence are not allowed - this includes, for example, bloody/brutal pictures of wars, the killing or tormenting of humans and animals or cruel and unworthy depictions of dead humans and animals. Also showing severed bodily parts or similar is not allowed, aswell as stabbing some body part with something (knifes or similar), showing the process (self-)mutilation or other pictures which are clearly real-looking and brutal.

  • Only explicitly visible agony with humans and animals

    In general only pictures which show humans or animals who are being harmed, tormented or shown in a explicitly brutal way are forbidden. Showing war pictures, weapons, combat scenes or pictures with blood are allowed if nobody is injured and no body parts or insides are part of it.

  • Exception for satirical violence

    Exceptions in which violence is (to a certain extent) allowed include satirical/comical pictures which are clearly meant in a humorous way and thus put the violence into perspective or give it a completely other, less harmful meaning/effect. On the other hand, if the violent pictures are included on CD covers, film posters, video games or similiar public material this does not automatically excempt them from being categorised as too violent.

  • Why such a rule?

    We do not allow violent pictures because we want to connect people through our website - to enable positive contacts with other people. Thus, we just do not provide the right place or context for these pictures. Additionally we want to stay "G-rated", so we do not want unsuiteable pictures for younger or more sensitive people.

• Violation of our general terms of use

  • Terms of use and copyright also apply for pictures

    Additionally to these explicit picture rules our general Terms of use also apply for the pictures - for example regarding dicriminating/offending content. Illegal content also is not allowed, which includes, for example, copyright infringement or any other misuse of pictures.

  • What does this mean?

    This means these picture rules do not cover all the rules which apply - we just listed the most important and common ones because pictures are a little different compared to other content (e.g. text). But with a little common sense and knowledge of our terms of use all the restrictions beside these rules should be quite clear and easy to understand.

Not allowed as preview picture:

• Advertising for an event or any other form of specific advertising

  • Basic definition

    Pictures which specifically and explicitly promote events, products or services are not allowed as preview pictures.

  • Events and parties

    This includes all events or parties which are scheduled at a certain date/time and which are promoted by the picture.

  • "Specific" advertising for products and services

    We define "specific advertising" as pictures which promote products or services by accentuating positive aspects of them or by insinuating or calling upon the viewer to buy or do something (e.g. "Now especially low-priced: X" or "Save mony with us" or "Our X has everything you could ever dream of"). Products and their attributes or images do not count as advertising (e.g. music cds, film posters, cars), just as little as company logos do.

  • Links to websites in pictures

    Links to other websites in pictures generally count as advertising, except if the link only serves as a reference to where the picture originally came from (e.g. party fotos which link to the website the foto was posted on and copied from). Yet the link should be a reference only, which means it should not cover the complete picture but should rather be the size of a footnote, and the link should have no immediate reference (content-wise) to the picture.

  • Why such a rule?

    Showing ones own views and activities in a profile is okay, but chosing a picture as preview picture can be quite a noticeable "advertising form" because pictures are perceived strongly. Because advertising (intentional or not intentional) is usually rather incommoding and also competes with the paid-for advertising on Purplemoon we must restrict preview pictures a little.

• Advertising for current political causes

  • Basic definition

    Additionally to the restrictions on regular advertising we also restrict advertising on political issues. This focuses on the advertising for concrete political issues (often apparent in elections/ballots) not on showing the own political viewpoint - even if, admittedly, these two can be quite similar.

  • Some examples and explanations

    For example, pictures with contents like "Vote for president X" or "Vote yes on initiative Y" would not be allowed as preview pictures, because they mainly represent advertising on a specific political issue.

  • Why such a rule?

    We generally advise not to use any political or demagogic texts or contents for the preview pictures - you can add these views to your profile if you wish, yet we do not think it is beneficial if aggressive campaining (for anything) is allowed too much. This just provokes people and does not improve on the athmosphere - nobody gains anything in the end.