The short version

Where these rules apply

Everywhere on this site that displays something a community member wrote: the live chat, the Raise Your Voice board, direct messages and group chats, Supporter Wall notes, contest entries, and any comments. Posting in these spaces is a member feature; reading is open to everyone.

A reminder that matters legally: “membership” here is symbolic community participation in an independent satire project — it is not membership of any political party, and posting here is not political-party activity. See Membership & members.

The rules

• No harassment, threats, or hate speech.No attacks on people for their religion, caste, gender, sexuality, disability, or region. Criticising a politician’s public conduct is fine; inciting anything against anyone is not.
• No targeting private individuals.Public figures’ public roles are fair game for satire. Their families, private citizens, and personal lives are not.
• No doxxing.Never post anyone’s address, phone number, documents, or private information — including your own, for your safety.
• Nothing unlawful. Nothing that violates Indian law — including content that is obscene, incites violence, or violates the IT Act and its rules. Zero tolerance, immediate removal, and where the law requires it, reporting.
• No spam, scams, or malware.No flooding, no phishing, no links you would not open yourself. Guests cannot post links in chat at all; members’ links are screened.
• No impersonation. Not of the project, its organisers, other members, or real officials in a way meant to deceive (parody that is obviously parody is the house style — deception is not).
• No fabrications presented as fact.Satire is labelled by its own absurdity; inventing “news” and passing it off as real breaks the entire project’s contract with readers.

Responsible use of BitChat

We sometimes point members to BitChat as a practical way to stay in touch when mobile networks fail — at protests, during outages, or in a crowd. BitChat is not part of this website: we do not run its servers, read its messages, or moderate its networks. What you do on BitChat is your responsibility, and Indian law still applies.

• We do not operate BitChat. Messages on BitChat never pass through this site. We cannot remove BitChat content, ban BitChat users, or answer for what happens on mesh networks.
• The same standards apply. No harassment, threats, hate speech, doxxing, impersonation, spam, or unlawful content — the rules above are the floor everywhere you represent this movement.
• Messages can relay through nearby phones. Mesh traffic may hop through strangers’ devices. Send only what you would be comfortable having pass through someone else’s phone.
• Verify who you are talking to. Confirm mesh contacts with people you already know — in person, if you can — before trusting plans, locations, or urgent requests.
• Stay peaceful and lawful. BitChat is for coordination and reassurance, not for violence, vandalism, evading emergency services, or obstructing lawful directions. See our Peaceful Protest Guidelines.
• Install from official sources only. Download from bitchat.free or the official app stores listed there. Do not sideload copies from random links or forwarded APKs.
• Protect yourself and others. Do not broadcast meeting points, home addresses, or other sensitive details to open mesh rooms. Prefer direct contact with people you have already identified.

Install and learn more at bitchat.free. For peaceful participation at public gatherings, read the Peaceful Protest Guidelines and the offline safety tip there.

BitChat is third-party open-source software by Permissionless Tech. A link here is a practical safety tip, not an endorsement — we are not affiliated with BitChat and are not responsible for its software, availability, or data practices.

Moderation and enforcement

• Administrators may review and moderate content in all community spaces — including direct messages and group chats — as the Terms of Use explain, to keep members safe and enforce these rules.
• Enforcement is proportionate: content may be hidden or removed; repeat or severe violations lead to restrictions or removal of the account. Moderation actions are recorded in an internal audit log.
• Rate limits and anti-spam checks run automatically; they are tuning, not accusations.

Reporting content

Members can use the in-page report controls on chat messages and Voice posts. Anyone — member or not — can report content by emailing contact@thecockroachjantaparty.org.in with a link or description. Reports are reviewed by the project team; content that breaks these guidelines or the law comes down.

Appeals

If your content was removed or your access restricted and you believe that was wrong, email contact@thecockroachjantaparty.org.in with GRIEVANCE in the subject. We acknowledge within 48 hours and aim to resolve within 15 days — the same channel and timelines as every other complaint, described in the grievance policy.

Your content

You own what you write; by posting you let the site display it. You can delete your own content where the interface allows, and you can ask for your content or account data to be removed under the Privacy Policy — including Supporter Wall entries, at any time.