Community rules and take-down

Effective 1 November 2026

Cohort works because people can speak honestly about pay, interviews and employers without fear. That only lasts if what's posted is fair, accurate and safe for everyone, including the people and organisations being discussed.

Post this

• Your own experience: how an interview went, how long a firm took to reply, what a rotation was like, how your package is structured.
• Honest opinions, framed as opinions: "In my experience the hours in tax season were long" rather than "they break the law".
• Questions about your own situation.

Not this

• People. Don't name or describe a private individual, such as a colleague, manager, partner, recruiter or candidate, in a way that could identify them.
• Allegations as fact. Don't state that a person or organisation committed a crime, fraud or misconduct. Posts like this are held for review and usually removed.
• Confidential material. Client names, engagement details, internal documents, case material, and exam or assessment content you're not allowed to share.
• Contact details and ID numbers, yours or anyone else's.
• Harassment, hate or discrimination, threats, or sexual content.
• Gaming the system: several accounts, fake ratings, coordinated votes, or offering anything in exchange for posts.
• Selling and recruiting. Recruiters and employers can't advertise in posts.

If you witnessed wrongdoing

An anonymous post doesn't protect you, and it can expose you to a claim. If you have information about fraud, corruption or other wrongdoing at work, the Protected Disclosures Act, 2000 protects disclosures made through the right channels, such as your employer's whistleblowing line, a regulator like IRBA, or the Public Protector. Cohort isn't one of those channels.

How moderation works

• Automatic hold. Posts with contact details, ID numbers, links or serious allegations are held until a moderator looks at them.
• Reports. Anyone can report a post, answer, job note or interview report. Three reports from verified members hide it until a moderator decides.
• Blocking. Block a member from the report menu and you won't see what they write anywhere on Cohort.
• Decisions. We aim to decide within 24 hours. We remove content that breaks these rules and suspend members who break them repeatedly or seriously. Moderators see the post and the reports, not who wrote it.
• Employers can't pay to remove, change or rank content or ratings.

Take-down requests

If you believe content on Cohort is unlawful, for example defamatory, an invasion of your privacy, or an infringement of your copyright, email highveldreefai@gmail.com with "Take-down" in the subject. Please include:

1. your full name and address (and, for an organisation, your authority to act for it);
2. your written or electronic signature;
3. the right you say is being infringed;
4. a link to the content, or enough detail to find it;
5. what you want us to do (for example, remove it);
6. your telephone number and email address;
7. a statement that you are acting in good faith;
8. a statement that the information in your notice is true and correct, to the best of your knowledge.

These are the details section 77 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 asks for. We acknowledge notices within two working days. Where content is plainly unlawful we remove it straight away; otherwise we hide it while we review it, and we may ask the author for their side without revealing who complained. Knowingly making a false or misleading take-down request can make you liable for the damage it causes.

What we won't remove: honest opinions and accounts of members' own experience just because they are unfavourable, or aggregated figures that meet our publication rules. An employer that believes a post contains a factual error can send a correction, which a moderator may add beside the post.

Court orders and the authorities

We comply with valid court orders and legal requirements. Because Cohort doesn't hold members' names or email addresses, we can't identify most authors, and we will tell a member about a request for their information unless the law prevents us.

Contact

highveldreefai@gmail.com