Safety & Crisis Policy

Version 0.1 (draft) · Last updated 2026-07-18

Why we take this seriously

People in the first year after a cancer diagnosis face a markedly elevated risk of suicide compared with the general population. A community for people facing cancer therefore has a duty of care that an ordinary social app does not. The measures below are that duty, made concrete.

What CanX Community is

A moderated peer-support and education community for people affected by cancer — patients, survivors, caregivers, and verified oncology professionals.

What CanX Community is not

• Not an emergency service and not a crisis-counseling service
• Not medical advice, and not a substitute for your oncologist, primary-care doctor, or mental-health provider
• Not a HIPAA-covered entity in its current form
• Not a place for individualized treatment recommendations, even from verified clinicians

Crisis detection before a post goes live

When you compose a post or a direct message, the text is screened for signals of suicidal ideation or self-harm before it publishes. This check runs on a rules-based layer that does not depend on any AI model, so it works even if other systems are down. When the screen flags a serious signal, we interrupt the flow and surface 988, 741741, and 911 immediately, so help is one tap away at the exact moment it is needed.

We do not silently delete a cry for help

If a member expresses distress or suicidal thoughts, our default is not to auto-delete the post. Deleting a distress signal can remove the one thread of connection a person has and can cause real harm. Instead we surface crisis resources to the member and route the event for prompt human review.

Human moderation and escalation

• Every post carries a report control. Reports flow to a moderation queue that trained moderators review.
• During early launch we triage crisis-flagged events on a daily cadence, with a documented escalation path.
• Moderators can remove violating content, restrict accounts, and add supportive context. Safety decisions are made in favor of protecting members.

The feed is built not to make things worse

• Stage-aware: newly diagnosed members are not shown worst-case or late-stage content by default in their most vulnerable early days.
• No engagement-maximizing algorithm: the feed is chronological, following-based, and channel-based — it does not race the most alarming post to the top.
• Transparent ranking: we document how content is ordered and offer non-algorithmic views.

Trust and verification

• Clinicians are verified against the public NPI registry before receiving a "Verified Clinician" badge.
• Members complete light verification (email and phone) to reduce impersonation and spam.
• Information from cancer centers, government sources, and industry programs is clearly labeled as such — including anything sponsored — and is never presented as peer advice. How we make money is disclosed transparently.

When to reach out beyond the community

Call your care team for new or worsening symptoms, medication side effects, or any decision about starting, stopping, or changing treatment. Call 911 or go to the ER for trouble breathing, severe chest pain, sudden weakness or slurred speech, heavy bleeding that won't stop, suicidal thoughts with a plan or intent, severe allergic reactions, or anything you reasonably believe is life-threatening.

Reporting a safety concern

Use the report control on any post, or email safety@canxspectrum.com with subject prefix [SAFETY]. If someone is in immediate danger, contact emergency services first.

Cross-references: Privacy Policy · Terms of Service