📘 CT-SOP-105.1.5 — Abuse Escalation & Ban Process SOP

Effective Date: July 27, 2025 Applies To: Executive Committee, Legal Ops, Community Moderators, Platform Directors, Support Team Review Cycle: Quarterly or after any abuse incident triggering escalation Related Legal Depot Sections: Sections 4.1, 4.4, 6.1.8, Privacy Policy, Community Standards

1. Purpose

To ensure that any user-reported abuse—including harassment, fraud, threats, impersonation, discrimination, grooming, or platform misuse—is handled promptly, fairly, and with legal, ethical, and emotional care for all parties.

2. Scope

This SOP applies to:

• All platforms where users can create profiles, upload content, send messages, or earn revenue
• All member, instructor, affiliate, and partner accounts
• Abuse types including:
• Harassment or stalking
• Financial scams
• Hate speech, racism, transphobia, homophobia
• Fraudulent reviews
• Doxxing or privacy breaches
• Sexual or grooming behavior (especially toward minors)
• Platform sabotage or impersonation

3. Required Inputs

4. Process Steps

4.1 Step 1: Initial Triage

• Support reviews report within 24 hours
• Escalate based on severity:
• Low risk → Educate or warn
• Medium risk → Temporarily suspend and investigate
• High risk → Immediate ban + escalate to CLO/CEO

4.2 Step 2: Evidence Collection

• Pull:
• Screenshots, video, chat logs
• User history across platforms
• Any related email or automation triggers
• Store all evidence in private Legal Archive (7-year retention)

4.3 Step 3: Internal Escalation

• High risk cases routed to:
• CLO (if legal consequences possible)
• CEO (if brand harm or platform threat)
• CTO (if automation/sabotage suspected)
• Notify COO for any pattern-based enforcement

4.4 Step 4: Action Decision

• Available responses:
• No action (false report or misunderstanding)
• Warning (first offense)
• Temporary suspension (7–30 days)
• Platform-wide ban (permanent)
• Ban decision must be signed off by at least 2 of the following:
• CLO, CEO, Platform Director, or Community Lead

4.5 Step 5: Notification & Documentation

• Email user with:
• Violation summary
• Policy link
• Appeal instructions
• Ban recorded in user record, Help Center, and Abuse Registry

4.6 Step 6: Optional External Reporting

• If legal/criminal risk exists:
• File with local authorities (user's or HQ's jurisdiction)
• Retain timestamped report logs
• CrownThrive will comply with subpoenas or warrants

5. Escalation Contacts

6. Compliance Markers

✅ Report triaged within 24 hours ✅ Decision made by two authorized leaders ✅ Evidence stored securely ✅ Member notified in writing ✅ Platform registry updated ✅ External escalation (if applicable) documented

7. Version Control

• Version: 1.0
• Last Updated: July 27, 2025
• Maintained By: CLO + CEO
• Next Review Due: October 2025 or after next critical incident