Child safety standards

These are the published standards of The Bridge against child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE). They apply to everyone who uses the app, everywhere it is available.

Our commitment

The Bridge has zero tolerance for child sexual abuse and exploitation. Child sexual abuse material and any content or behaviour that sexualises, endangers or exploits a minor are absolutely prohibited on our platform. We remove such material, terminate the accounts responsible, and report to the relevant authorities.

Who can use The Bridge

The Bridge is a private, verification-gated professional network for working seafarers and the wider maritime industry. Members must be 18 years of age or older. The app is not directed at children, is not rated for children, and contains no features intended for a child audience.

What is prohibited

The following are prohibited on The Bridge, in posts, comments, polls, profiles, direct messages and uploaded files alike:

• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in any form — images, video, audio, drawings, computer-generated or AI-generated depictions.
• Sexualisation of a minor, including sexualised commentary about a child, or text describing the sexual abuse of a child.
• Grooming — building a relationship with a minor, or with someone who has access to a minor, in order to sexually exploit them.
• Sextortion — threatening to release intimate material of a person in order to obtain more material, money or anything else of value.
• Trafficking of a minor, or advertising, soliciting, facilitating or arranging the sexual abuse of a child.
• Sharing links, contact details or off-platform locations where any of the above can be found.

How we prevent abuse

• The Bridge is not open to the public. Every account is manually reviewed and approved before it gets access.
• Registration requires verifiable maritime credentials — CDC or seaman's book, certificate of competency, SID, and proof of employment. Anonymous and pseudonymous accounts are not permitted.
• The platform is restricted to people aged 18 and over. Accounts found to belong to a minor are removed.
• Reporting tools are built into posts, comments, profiles and directory entries, so any member can flag content in a few taps.
• Reported content and accounts are reviewed by our team, and accounts may be suspended while a review is in progress.

How to report a child safety concern

Anyone can report a concern, whether or not they are a member of The Bridge.

1. In the app: open the options menu on any post, comment, profile or directory entry and choose Report. Reports go directly to our review team.
2. By email: write to [email protected] with the subject line “Child safety”. Please include a link to the content or profile, and any detail that will help us locate it.

Reports of child sexual abuse or exploitation are treated as the highest priority and are reviewed ahead of all other reports. Please do not download, save or forward suspected CSAM — report it and leave it in place so that it can be preserved as evidence.

How we respond

When we confirm a violation of these standards, we:

1. Remove the content immediately.
2. Terminate the account of the member responsible, and block re-registration.
3. Preserve the content, account records and associated data as evidence, in line with the requests of law enforcement and applicable law.
4. Report the incident to the relevant authorities — including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) through its CyberTipline, and India's National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal — and cooperate with any resulting investigation.

Legal compliance

The Bridge complies with all child safety laws that apply to it, including the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 and the Information Technology Act, 2000 of India, and cooperates with reporting obligations in every other jurisdiction where the app is available. We report confirmed child sexual abuse material to regional and national authorities, and preserve associated records for law enforcement.

Point of contact

Our designated point of contact for child safety matters, including questions from regulators, platforms and law enforcement about our CSAM prevention practices, is [email protected].

External resources

• NCMEC CyberTipline — report.cybertip.org
• National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (India) — cybercrime.gov.in
• Internet Watch Foundation — report.iwf.org.uk

These standards are reviewed at least once a year and updated whenever our practices change. Last updated: 22 September 2026.

See also our Privacy Policy.