Campus Board Guidelines

1About these Guidelines

Campus boards have become one of the most useful channels in school life. They help students find lost property, ask questions, share notices, say thank you and feel part of a community. Because they are run by students, often anonymously and with very little support, they also carry real risks: personal information can leak, rumours can spread in minutes, and a single careless post can hurt someone or put a whole board at risk.

These Guidelines set out a common standard for running a campus board well. They were drafted with more than 30 campus boards in Fuzhou and are maintained by the Fuzhou Campus Board Alliance. They turn the experience of many boards into rules, workflows, checklists and templates that any team can use from its first day.

1.1Who these Guidelines are for

• Member boards of the Fuzhou Campus Board Alliance, which agree to follow them as a condition of membership (see Section 18).
• Any campus board in Fujian or elsewhere that wants a sound operating standard. You are welcome to adopt them in full or in part.
• Teachers, school staff and parents who want to understand what a responsible campus board looks like.

1.2How to read them

Requirements use three levels of wording, so that it is always clear what is optional:

1.3How they relate to the law and to platform rules

Chinese law and the rules of each platform always come first. These Guidelines add a further layer of good practice on top of them. If anything here appears to conflict with a law, a regulation or a platform’s terms, follow the law or the platform and tell the Alliance so that the Guidelines can be corrected.

2Core Principles

Every rule in this document comes from six principles. When a situation is not covered by a specific rule, decide by asking which choice best honours all six.

1. Lawful. We follow Chinese law and the rules of every platform we use. A post that is popular but unlawful is never worth publishing.
2. Safe. The physical and emotional safety of students, especially minors, comes before engagement, speed or follower numbers.
3. Respectful. We protect privacy, reputation and dignity. Campus boards exist to connect people, not to expose, mock or target them.
4. Truthful. We do not knowingly publish false or misleading information, we label what we cannot verify, and we correct mistakes openly.
5. Transparent. Our house rules are public. Readers know what we will and will not publish, why, and how to reach us.
6. Accountable. A sender may stay anonymous to readers, but the board is always responsible for what it publishes. The board can always explain its decisions.

3Definitions

4Team, Roles and Account Security

Most serious incidents on campus boards begin with a weak team structure: one person doing everything, passwords shared in group chats, or a board abandoned when its operator graduates. A small, clearly organised team prevents almost all of these.

4.1Minimum team

4.2Roles

Larger boards may split these roles further, for example by giving one operator responsibility for advertising or for the comment section. Smaller boards may combine the editor and reviewer roles, provided that no one reviews their own high-risk post alone.

4.3Account ownership and security

4.4Operator code of conduct

• Operators must not use the board to promote themselves or their friends, or to pursue personal disputes.
• Operators must not reveal a sender’s identity, or any non-public information they see through their role, to anyone outside the review process (Section 8).
• An operator who is personally involved in a submission, for example as the person it is about, must step back and let another operator decide.
• Operators should keep a respectful, calm tone with readers, even under pressure.

4.5Handover and succession

Boards often fail when the only experienced operator graduates. Plan the handover at least one term in advance. Recruit and train a successor, let them run the board with supervision for several weeks, then transfer the accounts formally using the checklist in Appendix F. A board that cannot find a successor should announce a pause rather than leave an unattended account that others could misuse.

5What We Publish

A campus board is most valuable when it focuses on the everyday needs of its school community. The following categories are welcome on any board:

Boards may add their own categories, but each category should have a clear purpose that serves the school community.

6What We Never Publish

The content below is prohibited on every member board, whatever the source, however popular, and whether or not it is anonymous. Much of it is also prohibited by Chinese law, including the Cybersecurity Law and the Provisions on the Governance of the Online Information Content Ecosystem.

7The Review Workflow

Every submission goes through the same steps. Consistency is what makes a board fair and predictable, and it protects operators when a decision is questioned.

7.1Step by step

1. Receive. Accept submissions only through the board’s official channels. Do not accept submissions forwarded through unknown third parties.
2. Triage. Sort each submission into one of three levels using the escalation matrix in Appendix C: routine, high-risk or urgent.
3. Check. Apply the review checklist in Appendix A. Confirm the content is allowed, accurate enough to publish and free of personal information.
4. Redact. Remove or blur personal information using the redaction guide in Appendix B.
5. Decide. Publish, publish with changes, hold for more information, or decline. High-risk posts need a second reviewer.
6. Record. Note the decision in the board’s review log (Section 17).
7. Respond. Where the platform allows, tell the sender what happened, using the templates in Appendix D.

7.2Editing standards

• Operators may correct typing errors, shorten long posts, remove personal information and add neutral labels such as “unverified” or “sender’s view”.
• Operators must not change the meaning of a submission, add their own opinions as if they were the sender’s, or combine several submissions into one without saying so.
• If a submission needs substantial changes to be publishable, ask the sender to rewrite it rather than rewriting it yourself.

7.3High-risk posts: the two-person rule

The following submissions must be reviewed by two operators before publication, and should be declined if the two cannot agree:

• Complaints or criticism involving an identifiable teacher, staff member, student or business.
• Romantic confessions (表白) or messages that refer to a specific person.
• Photos or videos in which a person can be recognised.
• Anything involving health, injury, death, accidents, crime, police, or disciplinary action.
• Information about emergencies, closures, exam arrangements or admissions.
• Paid content or advertising of any kind.

7.4Response times

8Anonymity

Anonymity is what makes many students willing to ask a difficult question, report a problem or say something kind that they would be too shy to sign. It is worth protecting. But anonymity applies to the sender, not to the board: the board is fully responsible for every word it publishes.

To keep this promise, collect as little information about senders as possible. Do not ask for a name or class unless it is genuinely needed, and delete submission records on the schedule in Section 9.

9Personal Information and Privacy

Personal information is protected by the Personal Information Protection Law and by the personality rights in the Civil Code, which cover a person’s name, portrait, reputation and privacy. For campus boards the practical rule is simple: if a reader could work out who a post is about, and that person has not agreed, remove the identifying details.

9.1Rules for publishing

9.2Handling the information you receive

• Keep submissions inside the platform’s own inbox or a private, access-controlled space. Do not copy them into shared group chats.
• Delete original submissions, including images, within 30 days of publication or rejection, unless they are needed for an open complaint, a safety case or a legal request.
• Never sell, share or use readers’ or senders’ information for anything other than running the board.
• If personal information is exposed by mistake, remove it immediately, tell the lead operator, record what happened and, if the exposure could cause harm, inform the person affected and seek advice from the Alliance.

10Protecting Minors

Most readers of middle and high school boards are under 18. The Law on the Protection of Minors and the Regulations on the Protection of Minors Online require online services to protect minors from harmful content and to treat their information with special care. Campus boards should hold themselves to the same standard.

11Accuracy, Rumours and Verification

Rumours travel fastest during exams, emergencies and controversies, exactly when accurate information matters most. A board’s credibility is built slowly and lost in one post.

11.1Before publishing factual claims

• Ask whether the claim can be checked. If it can, check it against an official source such as a school notice or a government announcement.
• If it cannot be checked but is low-risk and useful, label it clearly, for example “Unverified: shared by a student”.
• If it cannot be checked and could cause harm or panic, do not publish it.
• Information about emergencies, closures, weather alerts, exams and admissions must come only from official sources, and should link to or name the source.

11.2Corrections

• When a published post turns out to be wrong, correct it openly: edit or remove it, and publish a short correction where readers will see it.
• Never silently delete a widely shared post that has misled readers. Explain what was wrong.
• Record every correction in the review log.

11.3AI-generated and edited content

Images, audio and video generated or heavily altered with AI must be labelled as such, in line with platform rules and the national requirements for labelling AI-generated content. Boards must not publish AI-generated content that depicts real, identifiable people without their consent, or that could be mistaken for a real event.

12Complaints, Disputes and Takedown Requests

12.1Criticism of schools, teachers and staff

Campus boards may carry constructive feedback about school life. They are not the place to accuse identifiable people. Students have a legitimate interest in raising concerns, and teachers and staff have the same rights to reputation and privacy as anyone else.

• Publish feedback about facilities, services and policies when it is factual and respectful.
• Remove names and identifying details of individual staff unless the post is clearly positive and the person would reasonably expect it.
• Do not publish allegations of misconduct against identifiable people. Instead, point the sender privately to the proper channel: the school’s student affairs office, a counsellor, a parent, or, where a crime may be involved, the police.

12.2Disputes between students

Boards must not become a stage for personal conflicts. Decline posts that name or hint at the other party in a dispute, and decline replies that continue an argument. If a dispute appears to involve bullying or threats, treat it under Section 14.

12.3Takedown requests

1. Anyone may ask for a post to be removed or changed, using the board’s contact channel or the Alliance’s.
2. If the request concerns the requester’s own personal information, hide the post first and review afterwards, within 24 hours.
3. For other requests, review within 3 days using the same standards as for new submissions.
4. Tell the requester the outcome and, if you decline, the reason.
5. Never ask for or accept payment to remove or keep a post. Paid deletion (有偿删帖) is prohibited for all member boards.

12.4Right of reply

If a published post criticises a group, a club or a service, the board should offer that group a fair chance to respond, and publish a short, factual response if they wish.

13Advertising and Commercial Activity

Some boards accept advertising to cover their costs. This is allowed, but it is also where trust can be lost fastest. The Advertising Law applies to paid promotion on social media, including on student accounts.

• Boards should check that advertisers are genuine and that their offers are lawful.
• Boards should keep a simple record of advertising income and spending, and the lead operator should be able to explain it to the team.
• Boards should limit advertising so that it never outweighs community content.

14Crisis and Emergency Response

Sooner or later, every board receives something frightening: a message suggesting self-harm, a report of bullying, a threat, or news of an accident. The way the board responds in the first hour matters. Operators are not counsellors or police officers, and are not expected to act like them. Their job is to connect people with real help quickly and to avoid making things worse.

14.1If someone may be at risk of self-harm

1. Do not publish the message, and do not discuss it in public.
2. Reply privately and kindly, and encourage the person to talk to someone they trust now: a family member, a teacher, the school’s counselling service, or the national psychological assistance hotline 12356.
3. If there is an immediate danger to life, call 110 or 120 and, if you know the school, inform a teacher or school staff member straight away. This is the situation in which Section 8 allows disclosure of information.
4. Tell your lead operator and record what you did. Do not handle it alone.
5. Look after yourself and your team afterwards. Difficult messages affect operators too.

14.2Bullying, threats and violence

• Do not publish posts that describe or expose a specific case of bullying, even with good intentions, because they can identify and further harm the person being bullied.
• Reply privately and encourage the person to report it to a teacher, the school’s student affairs office or a parent. Offer to explain how.
• If there is a threat of violence or a crime in progress, contact 110 and inform the school.

14.3Accidents, incidents and breaking news

• Do not publish photos or videos of injured people, accident scenes or emergency responses.
• Do not speculate about causes, names or numbers. Wait for official information and share only that.
• Turn off or closely moderate comments on related posts.

14.4When the board itself is in trouble

If the board has published something harmful, if an account has been compromised, or if the board is receiving a wave of complaints, the lead operator should pause publishing, secure the accounts, remove the harmful content, inform the people affected where appropriate, and contact the Alliance for support. Explain to readers what happened once the situation is under control.

15Working with Schools and Authorities

• Campus boards are independent, student-run accounts. They must not present themselves as official school channels, and must not use the school’s emblem or name in a way that suggests official status. A short line in the profile, such as “Student-run, not an official account of the school”, is recommended.
• Boards should build a respectful working relationship with the school, for example by sharing official notices accurately and passing on safety concerns promptly.
• When the school asks for a post to be changed or removed, treat it like any takedown request: review it against these Guidelines and the law, respond within 3 days, and record the decision.
• When a public authority makes a request, such as a request for information, verify that it is genuine, involve the lead operator, comply with lawful requests, disclose only what is required, and record the request.

16Platform Compliance and Copyright

Each platform has its own rules on content, account names, real-name verification, advertising and the protection of minors. Boards must know and follow the rules of every platform they use, including WeChat, QQ, Xiaohongshu (RED) and Bilibili, as well as the national rules on internet user accounts and public account information services.

• Use account names and avatars that do not impersonate the school, another board or any official body.
• Credit creators when sharing their work, and ask permission before reposting photos, artwork, music or videos made by others.
• Do not repost paid materials, textbooks, exam papers or course content.
• Keep the board’s profile, house rules and contact information up to date on every platform.

17Records, Transparency and Self-Review

17.1Review log

Every board must keep a simple review log, which can be a private spreadsheet. It protects the team when decisions are questioned and makes handovers far easier. The log should record:

• High-risk posts: date, short description, decision, the two reviewers, and the reason.
• Takedown requests and complaints: who asked (without unnecessary personal details), what was requested, the outcome and the date.
• Corrections, incidents, disclosures under Section 8 and requests from schools or authorities.

The log must not contain the content of anonymous submissions beyond what is needed, and should be cleaned of personal information when records are no longer needed.

17.2House rules

Every board must publish its house rules where readers can find them, such as a pinned post or the profile. Appendix E provides a template. House rules tell readers what the board publishes, what it does not, how anonymity works, and how to ask for a post to be removed.

17.3Termly self-review

At least once a term, the team should spend an hour reviewing the board: go through the review log, check account security and access, re-read these Guidelines, and agree on anything to improve. Boards may share a short summary with the Alliance.

18Membership and Compliance

Membership of the Fuzhou Campus Board Alliance is voluntary and free. By joining, a board agrees to follow these Guidelines and to help improve them. The Alliance’s role is to support boards, not to police them, and most problems are solved by a conversation.

18.1When something goes wrong

Before any suspension or removal, the Alliance will explain its concerns to the lead operator and give the board a fair chance to respond. A board may appeal a decision by writing to the Alliance, and the appeal will be considered by members who were not involved in the original decision.

19Revising these Guidelines

These Guidelines belong to the boards that use them. They are reviewed at least once a year, and whenever a new law, platform rule or incident shows that they need to change.

1. Any member board may propose a change by writing to the Guidelines Working Group, explaining the problem and the suggested wording.
2. The Working Group collects proposals and drafts revisions, and shares them with all member boards for comment for at least two weeks.
3. Changes are agreed at a review session, open to all member boards, aiming for consensus.
4. Each new version is published with a version number, a date and a summary of changes.