Community Guidelines

1. Why we're writing this

Lemma works because people show up for each other — a Practitioner who prepares properly, a Learner who's honest about where they're stuck, a rating that actually helps the next person decide. That only holds together if most people, most of the time, act in good faith.

This page is the friendly version of our Acceptable Use Policy, which is the formal rulebook our enforcement decisions are legally grounded in. Read this one for the "how to be a good member of this community" version. If the two ever seem to disagree, the Acceptable Use Policy governs.

---

2. What a good Session looks like

A good Session usually has three things going for it: the Practitioner showed up prepared, both people were honest about the Learner's actual level, and there was a real exchange — not a monologue, not a Learner who just nods along.

A few things that consistently make Sessions better:

• Practitioners: ask what the Learner already knows before diving in, and adjust the pace. It's fine to say "that's outside what I teach" and point them elsewhere.
• Learners: come with something concrete you're trying to get better at, not just "teach me X." Tell your Practitioner what's actually not working, even if it feels basic.
• Both: treat the other person's time the way you'd want yours treated. Show up, or cancel with enough notice that it doesn't cost the other person a slot.

None of this is a rule you can be punished for breaking casually — it's just what makes a Session worth having.

---

3. Giving ratings and feedback that actually help

Your rating is one of the main things that makes the Skill Credibility Index (SCI) mean something. A rating that's just kind or polite doesn't help the next Learner decide whether to book. A specific one does.

Some things that make a rating useful:

• Say what the Session was actually for and whether it delivered on that.
• If something didn't work, say what, not just that you were unhappy. "Moved too fast through the basics" is useful. "Bad" is not.
• Rate the Session you had, not the Practitioner's personality, unless the personality was actually the problem (e.g. dismissive, unprepared).

Please don't: trade ratings ("I'll rate you five stars if you rate me five stars"), pressure a counterparty into changing a rating after the fact, or rate a Session that didn't really happen. That's not just bad etiquette — it's SCI manipulation, covered by the Acceptable Use Policy with real consequences, because it corrupts a score other people rely on.

---

4. How to disagree well

Sessions involve real teaching opinions, and people won't always agree — about method, pacing, or whether feedback was fair. That's fine. Here's how to handle it without it turning into a mess:

• Say what you disagree with, not what's wrong with the person. "I don't think that's the best way to explain recursion" lands very differently from "you don't know what you're talking about."
• If a rating feels unfair, raise it with us at support@getlemma.io — you don't need to relitigate it inside someone else's Session or profile.
• If a Practitioner and Learner genuinely can't agree on what happened in a Session, that's what our support team is for. You don't have to resolve it yourselves.

---

5. If a Session goes wrong

Sometimes a Session just doesn't work — technical failure, a no-show, or someone behaving badly. Here's what to do, depending on what happened:

• Technical problems (connection dropped, LiveKit had an issue): this is covered by the Refund & Cancellation Policy. You shouldn't be out of pocket for something on our end.
• The other person didn't show up: report it through the Session page. No-show handling is also in the Refund & Cancellation Policy.
• Someone was abusive, inappropriate, or made you uncomfortable: end the Session immediately — you don't need permission or an explanation. Then report it. Don't feel obligated to sit through the rest of a bad Session to "be polite."
• Someone tried to record without asking, or asked you to move the Session off-platform to avoid fees: report it. Both are against the rules. Lemma doesn't record Sessions, and recording someone without their agreement may also be a criminal offence. See the Acceptable Use Policy.
• You're worried about a minor's safety, or saw something that sexualised a minor in any way: report it immediately at abuse@getlemma.io. We treat this with zero tolerance and act immediately — see the Acceptable Use Policy for what that means in practice.

To report anything, use the in-Session report button or email abuse@getlemma.io. If someone is in immediate danger, contact local emergency services first.

---

6. How enforcement actually works

We'd rather explain this plainly than leave you guessing. When something goes wrong, we try to use the lightest response that actually fixes the problem, and it usually escalates like this:

1. Warning. For a first, low-harm issue, you'll hear from us directly — what happened, why it matters, what to do differently. Most people never go past this stage.
2. Feature restriction. For repeated or more serious issues, we might limit something specific — messaging, booking new Sessions, running assessments — while leaving the rest of your account alone.
3. Suspension. Your account is paused, usually while we investigate something more serious, or after repeated warnings didn't change anything.
4. Termination. Reserved for serious breaches — fraud, safety risks, deliberate SCI manipulation, anything involving a minor's safety, or a pattern of lesser breaches that didn't stop.

A few things we want you to know are true at every one of those stages:

• You always get a reason. If we restrict your content or your account, we tell you what we did, why, and what it was based on — not just "you broke the rules."
• You can always appeal. Write to support@getlemma.io and a person — not just an algorithm — will look at it.
• If you're a Practitioner and a decision affects your ability to earn, a human reviews it before it becomes permanent, and again whenever you ask. We don't think it's fair for an algorithm alone to cut off someone's income, so we don't let that happen.
• Some detection is automated — things like unusual rating patterns or assessment irregularities get flagged by tooling — but the tooling flags, it doesn't decide. A person makes the actual call on anything that affects your account.

The full legal detail behind all of this — grounds, timing, your appeal rights under EU law — is in clause 12 of the Terms of Service and the Notice & Action Policy.

---

7. The short version

Show up. Be honest, including in ratings. Don't fake activity to game your SCI. Don't record without asking. Don't take Sessions off-platform to dodge fees. Look out for minors. If something feels off, tell us — we'd rather hear about a small problem early than a big one late.