Takedown and Appeal |

Clean Nagaland publishes imperfect information. Sometimes a pin on the public map is wrong, outdated, unfair, or dangerous. Sometimes a submitted report is rejected unfairly. This page explains how to challenge either situation and what we will do in response.

We take these requests seriously. Every takedown and every appeal is reviewed by a human moderator, not dismissed by an automated filter. If you are here because something published on this platform is causing real harm, please read the right section below and reach out.

Which process do I need?

Takedown. You want a pin removed from the public map, or you want the platform to stop showing something already published.
Appeal. Your own report was rejected by a moderator and you disagree with the decision.
Safety escalation. You believe a pin is creating immediate physical danger for a specific person.

Each has its own track below.

Takedown of a pin on the public map

Who can request a takedown

The owner or operator of a property where a pin has been placed.
The owner of a licensed business that has been mistakenly reported as illegal.
A resident of the immediate area who knows the pin is inaccurate or outdated.
The reporter who originally submitted the report and has changed their mind or realized an error.
A family member or representative of a person who faces risk from the pin.
A community or religious leader representing a site of traditional or ceremonial practice that has been misidentified.
A legal representative on behalf of any of the above.

Valid reasons for takedown

Factual error. The pin describes activity that is not occurring and has not occurred. The reporter made a mistake or targeted the wrong location.
Outdated. The activity the pin describes has stopped. The pin no longer reflects reality.
Licensed business. The pin has been placed on a legally licensed establishment. Evidence of the license resolves the matter.
Cultural or religious practice. The pin has been placed at a site of traditional ceremonial preparation protected under local practice.
Exposure risk. The pin’s location or accumulated detail, even without naming anyone, creates a foreseeable risk of harm to identifiable residents (retaliation, eviction, family violence, or similar).
Court order. A court with jurisdiction has ordered removal.
Duplicate. The pin is a duplicate of another already-approved pin that should have been auto-merged but was not.

What will not trigger a takedown

Disagreement with the platform’s existence or concept.
Dislike of being reported without a factual challenge to the report.
Political pressure, including from political parties, government departments, or public figures.
Commercial pressure from competitors, customers, or business associations.
Requests citing “reputation damage” without any factual error in the pin.
Requests accompanied by threats to Nagaland Me or its staff. These are documented and referred to appropriate authorities.

How to submit a takedown request

Send a message through the Contact page with the subject line starting “Takedown.” Include the following:

Pin identification. The approximate location shown on the map (district, nearest landmark, what the pin says). If you can read a pin detail page while it is live, include the category and report count.
Your relationship to the location. Owner, resident, licensee, representative, and so on.
Reason. Which of the seven valid reasons above applies to your request.
Supporting evidence. Depending on the reason: a copy of the license for a licensed business, a photograph or video showing the site’s current state, signed testimony from community leaders for cultural practice, a copy of a court order if applicable.
Your contact information. An email address or phone number we can use to follow up. You can ask us to respond through a specific channel.
Urgency level. If the pin is creating immediate risk, say so and use the Safety Escalation section below instead of a normal takedown.

We do not require you to reveal the name of the person who submitted the original report, because we do not have that information ourselves.

What happens after you submit

Receipt acknowledgment within 48 hours. You will know your request reached us.
Initial review by a moderator. They confirm the pin exists, read your reason, and assess the evidence.
Escalation if needed. Cases involving licensed businesses, court orders, or cultural practices may be escalated to Aloto Naga for direct decision.
Decision. Under normal conditions, within seven working days. Urgent safety cases are decided within 24 hours.
Notification. You receive a response explaining the decision and what action was taken.

Possible outcomes

Takedown granted. The pin is removed from the map immediately. If report count merging means your request affects only part of a merged pin, we adjust the count and reason the pin accordingly.
Takedown partially granted. The pin stays but specific attributes change (for example, the category is corrected, or the operator-verified badge is removed pending re-verification).
Takedown denied. The response explains why the evidence was insufficient or why the reason does not meet the platform’s takedown standard. You may resubmit with additional evidence.
Referred for further review. Complex cases may need additional time. You will be told the expected timeline.

Appeals of takedown decisions

If your takedown request was denied and you believe the denial was wrong, you can appeal once. Reply to the decision email with new evidence or a clearer argument. The appeal is reviewed by a different moderator or by Aloto Naga directly.

We generally do not reopen takedown decisions after the appeal has been decided, except on the basis of new evidence that did not exist at the time of the original decision.

Appeal of a rejected report

When to appeal

Appeal your own rejected report when:

You believe the rejection was based on a misunderstanding of what you wrote.
You believe the moderator applied the wrong guideline.
Circumstances have changed since rejection (the activity is now ongoing when it was marginal before).
You can add specific detail that was missing from the original submission.

Before appealing, consider submitting a fresh report with improved detail. A revised report is reviewed by a different moderator without bias from the earlier rejection, and it often moves faster than a formal appeal.

How to appeal

Send a message through the Contact page with subject line starting “Appeal.” Include:

Your tracking code. The eight-character code you received at submission.
The rejection reason shown on your status check, if you can read it.
Why you disagree. A clear, specific explanation of what you believe was wrong about the decision.
Additional information you did not include in the original submission, if any.
A contact channel where we can respond.

What we will do

Appeals are reviewed by a moderator different from the one who made the original decision, or by Aloto Naga directly. Review happens within seven working days under normal conditions.

Possible outcomes:

Reversed. The original decision is overturned. For alcohol reports, this usually means the pin now goes live on the map. For drug reports, this usually means the case is forwarded to partners.
Upheld. The original decision stands. You receive a clearer explanation of why.
Modified. The report is accepted in a modified form (for example, approved but with a reduced severity flag, or forwarded with additional moderator notes).

What we will not do

Reverse a decision because you kept asking. Appeals are decided on merit. Repeat requests after a final decision are logged but not acted on.
Reverse a rejection for a report that named specific individuals, promoted hate speech, or violated the Community Guidelines in ways that cannot be remedied by additional detail.
Identify the original moderator who made the decision.

Safety escalation

If a pin is creating immediate physical danger for an identifiable person, treat this as urgent.

What counts as a safety escalation

The pin is in a small community where residents can reasonably guess who reported.
The pin’s detail, combined with known local facts, points to a specific home or family.
There is ongoing retaliation, threats, or violence directed at the person or family associated with the location.
Cultural factors make ordinary publication inappropriate for a specific community context.

How to escalate

The pin’s approximate location.
A clear description of the safety concern.
Who is at risk (without naming them publicly in the message subject).
A contact channel where we can reach you quickly.

Our commitment on safety escalations

Acknowledgment within six hours during daytime, and by 10 AM IST the next morning if received overnight.
Pin hidden within 24 hours while review takes place, so the safety risk does not persist during the review window.
Final decision within 72 hours under normal conditions.
If the safety concern is validated, the pin is removed permanently.
If the safety concern is not validated, the pin is restored with a note in the audit log recording the review.

Safety escalations are the highest priority takedown class. They take precedence over other pending reviews.

If you are the subject of a report

Clean Nagaland does not publish the names of individuals. If you believe a pin refers to a location associated with you, several things to consider:

If you operate a licensed business at the location

Submit evidence of your license through the takedown process. We remove mistakenly-placed pins on licensed businesses promptly.

If the location is your private residence

We do not generally take down pins based solely on the claim that the location is residential, because illegal liquor operations often occur from residential addresses. However, if the pin is factually wrong, we consider evidence in the normal takedown process. If the pin creates specific safety risk for identifiable residents, use the safety escalation above.

If you believe the report is retaliatory

Reports submitted as part of personal feuds, political grudges, or commercial retaliation are against the Community Guidelines. If you believe a pin falls into this category, describe the context in your takedown request. Moderators consider pattern evidence: multiple pins targeting one area submitted in a short window, timing that coincides with known disputes, and similar signals.

If you are named in a draft report a reporter showed you

The Community Guidelines prohibit naming individuals in reports. If you have seen evidence that someone is preparing a report that names you, you can contact us preemptively so moderators are alerted. We cannot prevent anyone from submitting, but we can ensure that submissions naming individuals are rejected.

If you are a public figure or public office holder

Clean Nagaland treats reports about locations associated with public figures and office holders under the same standards as any other location. We do not give special weight to public-figure requests for removal. We do not give special weight to public-figure requests for placement.

If you are a public figure submitting a takedown request, please route it through the normal process. We do not offer a separate fast-track for public figures.

Court orders and legal process

If you hold a valid court order directing removal of specific content, send it through the Contact page with subject line starting “Legal.” Please attach a copy of the order and any associated documents showing jurisdiction and service. Under the Source Protection Policy, we respond to valid legal orders after verification, scope review, and any applicable challenge.

Informal “requests” from law enforcement, government officers, or officials acting without a court order are not processed as takedowns. They are handled as described in the Source Protection Policy.

Bad-faith requests

We document patterns of takedown abuse: submissions that cite invented court orders, coordinated takedown campaigns against specific pins, threats against Nagaland Me staff, and similar behavior. Patterns of bad-faith requests are:

Noted in the takedown response so the requester understands the pattern has been observed.
Referenced in future requests from the same source to set context.
Publicly disclosed in aggregate form through the monthly transparency page where the pattern is material.
Referred to legal counsel where threats or fraud are involved.

Our goal is not to embarrass legitimate requesters. It is to prevent the takedown process from being used as a weapon against the platform itself.

Transparency about takedowns

The Monthly Transparency page shows aggregate takedown statistics: how many takedown requests came in, how many were granted, how many were denied, and how many are still under review. Individual requests are not identified.

We do not publish the reasons specific pins were taken down. That information is retained internally for audit but not made public, to protect the privacy of the parties involved.

Retention of takedown records

We retain a record of every takedown request and its outcome for 24 months. This lets us track patterns, review our own consistency, and respond to follow-up questions. Personal contact details in takedown requests are handled according to the Privacy Policy.

Questions

If this page does not cover your situation, use the Contact page with a subject line describing your issue. We read every message. Real situations often fall between the categories on this page, and we will work to find the right response.

Effective from: April 2026. Last updated: April 2026.