Moderation Policy

This Moderation Policy sets out the way Throttl Pty Ltd (ACN 603 716 329) (“Throttl”) manages the publication of reviews and ratings and other materials in its www.throttl.com and other online and media channels (the “Website”).

The terms “Clients”, “Experts”, “Website” and “User Content” used in this Moderation Policy have the meaning given in the General Terms and Conditions of Use available at https://www.throttl.com/terms-and-conditions.

Verification of Reviews and Ratings

  1. Throttl will use commercially reasonable endeavours to ensure and verify the validity of reviews and ratings, such as:
    1. allowing a Client who has previously engaged a Expert to review and rate on that particular Expert;
    2. the number of reviews that have been used in calculating the average rating on a Expert; and
    3. displaying reviews and ratings in the order that they are received.

Variation, Rejection or Removal of Reviews and Ratings

  1. Throttl will not:
    1. remove genuine reviews and ratings solely because a business or individual has lodged a complaint about the review and rating;
    2. alter, reject or remove reviews and ratings solely because they are negative or bad;
    3. engage in conduct that manipulates reviews and ratings such as approaching the Clients with incentives to either provide positive reviews and ratings or to remove negative reviews and ratings;
    4. manipulate or re-order reviews and ratings in such a way that a misleading impression is created; and
    5. apply disproportionately more rigorous checks on negative reviews and ratings than positive reviews and ratings.
  2. Throttl may alter, reject or delete any content that it knows reasonably believes or knows:
    1. is false or misleading;
    2. is offensive, defamatory or irrelevant;
    3. is commercial, advertising, solicitation or spam, including the posting of the same or similar message more than once; and
    4. is automated, unintelligible or is linked to unrelated sites or content;
    5. is in breach of its Privacy Policy which can be found at https://www.throttl.com/privacy-policy;
    6. is discriminative or fosters discrimination based on gender, race, appearance, nationality, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation or disability;
    7. impersonates or falsely claims to represent another individual or organisation;
    8. promotes personal or political interests; and/or
    9. infringes intellectual property rights.
  3. Throttl may take action to prevent the participation of the author of such content in its platform and may, in certain cases, report the issue to the relevant authorities.
  4. Throttl aims to moderate content in a timely manner. However, Throttl cannot make specific commitment to time frames for moderating content as certain cases may require further investigation.

Detection of False Reviews and Ratings

  1. Throttl will use commercially reasonable endeavours to detect any false reviews and ratings, including allowing:
    1. only a Client who has previously engaged a Expert to review and rate that particular Expert in order to minimise the risk of false reviews and ratings; and
    2. users of the Website to flag suspicious reviews and ratings by contacting Throttl.

Detection of Incentivised Reviews and Ratings

  1. Experts must not:
    1. solicit or incentivise Clients to post positive reviews and ratings; and
    2. solicit, harass or incentivise Clients to remove negative reviews and ratings.
  2. If an Expert contravenes clause 4.1 of this Moderation Policy, the Client must notify Throttl of such conduct as soon as possible.
  3. If Throttl receives a complaint of such conduct from the Client, Throttl will investigate the matter. If Throttl reasonably believes that the Expert has engaged in such conduct, Throttl may, depending on the severity of the conduct, do any one or a combination of the following:
    1. prominently disclose on the Expert’s profile that the Expert has provided incentives for reviews and ratings;
    2. remove that particular review and rating;
    3. provide a warning to the Expert;
    4. suspend the Expert’s account;
    5. terminate the Expert’s account; and/or
    6. report the conduct to the relevant authorities.

Phoenixing

  1. In this context, phoenixing occurs when the Client or the Expert’s account is suspended or cancelled, the Client or the Expert then open another account and pretend to be a new user of the Website. Both the Clients and Experts must not engage in such activities
  2. To prevent phoenixing, Throttl will use commercially reasonable endeavours to:
    1. verify the identity and address of individuals or businesses who register for an account; and
    2. cross check details of new registration with existing or cancelled accounts.

Complaints about Reviews and Ratings

  1. If a Expert has a complaint in relation to a review and rating made by a Client, the Expert can contact Throttl at support@throttl.com and identify which review and rating the Expert wishes to make a complaint about and provide Throttl with evidence why the Expert believes that the review and rating is untrue or should be altered or removed.
  2. Upon receipt of the complaint from the Expert, Throttl will investigate the complaint and may provide an opportunity to the Client to respond to the complaint.
  3. Once Throttl reaches a decision, Throttl will advise both the Expert and the Client regarding the outcome of its investigation and any action it has decided to take in relation to the complaint.
  4. Throttl may alter or remove the review and rating pursuant to clause 2.2 of this Moderation Policy. However, if Throttl does not alter or remove the review and rating as requested by the Expert, under no circumstances will Throttl be deemed to have published the review and rating and the Expert acknowledges that the review and rating is User Content and Throttl’s liability is limited in accordance with the General Terms and Conditions.

Variation to this Moderation Policy

  1. Throttl reserves the right to review and change any of the Moderation Policy by updating this page. When Throttl updates the Moderation Policy, it will use reasonable endeavours to provide you with notice of same. Any changes to the Moderation Policy take immediate effect from the date of their publication. Your access and use of the Website after Throttl makes any changes constitute your acceptance of any such changes and you will be bound by those changes. If you do not agree to any changes, you must cease usage of the Website immediately.

    Please contact Throttl at support@throttl.com if you have any questions regarding this Moderation Policy.