Yalu

Community Guidelines

Effective October 24, 2026

The short version

  • Be a person other people are glad showed up. That is most of it.
  • No harassment, hate, threats, sexual content, intimate images shared without consent, scams or impersonation.
  • Zero tolerance for anything involving the sexual exploitation of children. We remove it, terminate the account, and report it.
  • Yalu is not a hookup app and not a place to sell sexual services.
  • Report anything that worries you. Blocking is immediate and private.

This summary is here to help you read the rest. It is not a substitute for it, and the full text below is what applies.

Yalu is for meeting people in real life. That only works if it feels safe to show up. These Guidelines are part of our Terms of Service, and breaking them can cost you your account.

1. The rules

Do not use Yalu to do any of the following.

  • Harassment. Targeting someone with unwanted contact, insults, intimidation, or repeated messages after they have asked you to stop, or encouraging others to do it.
  • Hate speech. Attacking or demeaning people over race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, disease, age, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
  • Violence and threats. Threatening harm, glorifying violence, or organising it.
  • Sexual content. Posting nudity or sexually explicit material, or sending it to someone who did not ask for it.
  • Intimate images shared without consent. Sharing, or threatening to share, an intimate image of anyone without their consent, whether real or made or changed with AI. To have one removed, see Remove an image.
  • Self-harm. Encouraging suicide, self-injury or disordered eating. If you are struggling, please reach out to one of the resources at the bottom of this page.
  • Impersonation. Pretending to be someone else, or using a photo of a person who is not you.
  • Scams and fraud. Deceiving people for money, running investment or crypto pitches, phishing, or spam.
  • Illegal and regulated goods. Buying or selling drugs, weapons, or anything else you are not allowed to sell.
  • Sharing private information. Posting someone else's address, phone number, workplace or other private details without their permission.
  • Fake or unsafe Sessions. Creating Sessions that are not real, that misrepresent where or what they are, or that are set up to put people in danger.
  • Spam. Bulk or repetitive messaging, or using Yalu mainly to promote something.

Some words are blocked automatically in public places and in Session and Circle chats, so text that uses them is not posted.

2. Child safety

Yalu is strictly for adults. You must be 18 or older, and we close accounts we believe belong to anyone younger.

We have zero tolerance for child sexual abuse and exploitation. If Yalu becomes aware of apparent child sexual abuse material, we remove the content, permanently terminate the account, and report it to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's CyberTipline as 18 U.S.C. 2258A requires.

This covers child sexual abuse material, sexualised depictions of minors, grooming, sextortion, and any attempt to arrange contact with a child for sexual purposes.

If you encounter anything of this kind on Yalu, report it in the app using the Child safety reason. Those reports skip our normal rate limits and go straight to us. If a child is in immediate danger, contact law enforcement first. You can also report directly to the CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org or 1-800-843-5678.

3. Yalu is not for hookups or sex work

Yalu is for platonic plans: coffee, climbing, board games, dinner. It is not a dating or hookup app.

Do not use Yalu to solicit sex, to advertise or arrange commercial sexual services, or to recruit for them. Accounts doing this are removed. Anything suggesting sex trafficking or coercion is reported to the authorities.

4. How we enforce this

What we do depends on what happened, how bad it was, and whether it has happened before. Roughly, in order:

  1. A warning. You get a notification explaining what crossed the line.
  2. Content removal. We take down the specific message, comment, photo or Session.
  3. A temporary suspension. You cannot sign in until it expires. It lifts by itself.
  4. A permanent ban. Your account is closed for good and you cannot sign in again. Sessions you were hosting are handed over to a co-host or cancelled, any Circle you own is handed to another member, your profile photo is taken down, and your upcoming places are released to other people.

Yalu has zero tolerance for objectionable content and for abusive users. We remove content that breaks these rules and take action against the accounts of people who post it, up to closing them.

We skip straight to the end for the most serious things, particularly anything involving children, credible threats, or sexual violence. A person makes these decisions, not an algorithm. Some reports hide content automatically until a person reviews it.

This applies to all of these Guidelines. Everything on this page describes how we generally aim to operate. It is not a commitment to you in any particular case. We do not promise that we will review any given report, that we will review it within any particular time, that we will take any particular action, or that we will reach any particular outcome. We do not verify, screen or vet the people who use Yalu, and apart from the automatic checks our Privacy Policy describes, we do not monitor what they post. None of this changes what we say about child safety or about intimate images shared without consent, which describe obligations the law places on us.

5. How to report, and what happens next

Every profile, Session, comment and message has a report option. Pick the reason that fits best and add detail if you can. Reports are not shown to the person you reported.

Blocking is immediate and private. Blocking someone stops them contacting you, hides them from you, and removes you both from each other's Sessions. They are not told.

After you report, we review it and take whatever action fits. We prioritise reports about child safety, threats of violence and self-harm above everything else. You may be told when your report has been reviewed, though we cannot always share what we did about another person's account.

If something is urgent and involves real-world danger, contact your local emergency services first. Yalu is not an emergency service.

6. Staying safe

Most Sessions are exactly what they look like. These habits are worth having anyway.

Meeting someone for the first time

  • Meet somewhere public, with other people around.
  • Tell a friend where you are going, who with, and when you expect to be back.
  • Arrange your own transport, and keep enough charge to get home.
  • Stay where you can see your drink.
  • Leave if you feel uncomfortable. You do not owe anyone an explanation, and you never need permission to go.

Chatting before you meet

  • Keep the conversation in Yalu until you are comfortable. Moving to another app early is a common tactic.
  • Do not send money, gift cards or crypto to someone you have not met. This is the most common scam we see.
  • Be careful with your address, workplace and daily routine.
  • Be wary of anyone who avoids video, has an unusually thin profile, or pushes hard for personal details.

If something happens

Report the person in the app and block them. If a crime has been committed, contact the police. These services are free, confidential and available around the clock:

  • 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988
  • National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
  • RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673
  • Emergency services: 911

If you are not sure whether something breaks these Guidelines, report it anyway and let us look. Questions go to support@yalu.co.