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Appeals

Appeals Policy

WoRaw entries include a status score and associated tags (e.g., Corrupt, Evil, Terrorist, Former President) derived from documented evidence. If you are the subject of an entry, a legal representative, or an authorized party, you may formally appeal the score, tags, or specific evidence attached to an entry through the process below.

What You Can Appeal

  • Score/rating — you believe the assigned score does not reflect the weight or nature of the underlying evidence
  • Tags/classifications — you believe a specific tag is inaccurate or no longer applicable
  • Individual pieces of evidence — you believe a specific source, document, or claim underlying the entry is false, fabricated, retracted, or was obtained/reported improperly
  • Cumulative fairness — you believe the entry as a whole is materially unbalanced (e.g., omits significant exculpatory evidence that was publicly available at the time of publication)

This is a higher bar than the standard correction process — appeals require substantive evidence, not just disagreement.

What Will NOT Succeed

  • Appeals based solely on reputational harm, embarrassment, or personal/professional consequences of accurate reporting
  • Appeals asking for full removal of an entry where the core underlying facts are not in dispute
  • Appeals unsupported by verifiable documentation
  • Repeated appeals of the same evidence without new material

Evidence Standards

To challenge a specific piece of evidence, you must provide one or more of the following:

  • Retraction or correction from the original source (news outlet, court, government body)
  • Court records showing dismissal, acquittal, expungement, or reversal — note: an acquittal or dismissal does not automatically mean the underlying conduct didn't occur; WoRaw evaluates this on a case-by-case basis and may adjust rather than remove
  • Proof of misattribution — documentation the source material was about a different person or entity
  • Chain-of-custody or authenticity challenge — for leaked/obtained documents, credible evidence the document was fabricated or altered
  • Updated status — proof a role, charge, or affiliation has formally changed since the entry was created

Sworn personal statements alone, without corroborating documentation, are generally insufficient to remove evidence but may support a score adjustment or added context.

How to Submit an Appeal

Send your appeal to [email protected] with the subject line "Appeal: "record woRaw" including:

  1. Entry URL
  2. Specific score, tag(s), or evidence item(s) being appealed
  3. Grounds for appeal (select from categories above)
  4. Supporting documentation (attached or linked to a verifiable source)
  5. Requested outcome — specific score change, tag removal, evidence removal, or added context
  6. Your name and relationship to the entry (subject, legal counsel, third party)
  7. Legal counsel contact info, if represented

Review Process

  1. Intake review (within 31 business days) — confirms the appeal meets minimum evidentiary requirements to proceed. Appeals lacking documentation are closed at this stage with an explanation.
  2. Substantive review (within 31 business days of intake approval) — evidence is weighed against original sourcing. We may contact original sources for verification.
  3. Determination — one of:
    • Evidence removed — source proven false/fabricated/misattributed
    • Score adjusted — evidence remains but is reweighted (e.g., dismissed charge downgrades severity but doesn't erase the allegation existed)
    • Tag modified or removed
    • Context added — subject's rebuttal or updated status appended alongside original evidence
    • Appeal denied — with written reasoning

Transparency

Where an appeal results in a change, WoRaw will note that the entry was modified following a formal appeal, without necessarily disclosing the appellant's identity if they requested confidentiality. This preserves platform credibility — silent, undocumented edits to accountability entries undermine the platform's purpose.

One Appeal Per Entry Per 31 days

To prevent process abuse, each entry may be formally appealed once every 2 months absent genuinely new evidence. This does not limit standard corrections under the separate Content Dispute & Correction Policy for simple factual fixes.

Not a Substitute for Legal Process

This appeals process is voluntary and offered in the interest of fairness. It does not waive, replace, or limit any party's legal rights, nor does WoRaw's decision on an appeal constitute a legal finding of fact. Formal legal action does not entitle a party to bypass this process, but valid court orders will be honored per applicable law.