1. Core Journalism & Editorial Standards
Fact-Checking, Accuracy, and the Right to Edit
All submissions must be completely factual, accurate, and verifiably sourced. GNN retains an absolute right to edit, modify, or adapt any submitted text if inaccuracies, errata, or structural biases are identified. These corrections are enacted to bring the piece inline with our high standards of institutional objectivity. If a piece cannot be brought inline with these standards through standard editing, it will not be published.
Sourcing & Citation Requirements
Contributors must explicitly cite their sources within the text. Data points, historical assertions, statistics, direct quotes, and critical investigative claims must be backed by transparent, verifiable primary sourcing. Failing to attribute information or passing off secondary reporting as original work is grounds for instant rejection.
Supported Content Formats
- Journalism & Hard News: Fact-driven, multi-sourced reporting on current events that maintains strict structural neutrality.
- Op-Eds & Opinion Pieces: Persuasive essays rooted in sound analysis. While Op-Eds may advocate for a specific perspective, their foundational premises, data points, and referenced events must remain entirely objective and factual.
2. Image, Media, and AI-Generated Content Policy
Visual assets accompanying submissions must complement our high standard of editorial integrity. We enforce strict guardrails regarding media ownership, attribution, and generation:
- Mandatory Image Attribution: All uploaded or embedded imagery must include proper legal attribution, photographer credit, or licensing details. Unauthorized use of copyrighted media is strictly prohibited.
- AI-Generated Imagery Guardrails: GNN accepts AI-generated synthetic imagery under highly conditional circumstances. Synthetic or AI images are allowed only if the underlying content is entirely legal and does not bring individuals, brands, or organizations into disrepute (e.g., non-consensual deepfakes, misleading photojournalistic fabrications, or corporate smear campaigns).
- Absolute Ban on Explicit Content: GNN does not accept explicit images of any kind. This includes sexualized imagery, graphic nudity, or gratuitously violent visuals. Any submission containing explicit media will be deleted instantly and trigger immediate account review.
3. Forbidden Text Content & Prohibitions
GNN maintains zero-tolerance parameters for content that compromises truth, safety, or legal boundaries. The following types of content are explicitly banned:
- Fake News & Misinformation: Fabricated events, manipulated multimedia, unverified conspiracy theories, or assertions deliberately presented to deceive the public.
- Hate Speech: Any content that attacks, dehumanizes, incites violence against, or promotes hatred toward individuals or groups based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or nationality.
- Disparagement & Personal Attacks: Content must critique ideas, institutions, public records, and public actions—not individuals. Defamatory language, character assassination, and personal disparagement will be stripped immediately.
- Low-Quality Content: Content plagued by poor syntax, lack of structural clarity, or unsubstantiated arguments will be rejected out-of-hand.
¹ Regulatory Note on Section 3: Prohibitions on text content are strictly audited in compliance with global cross-border digital safety frameworks and jurisdictional defamation statutes.
4. Commercial Restrictions & Link Schemes
Our platform exists to inform the public, not to serve as an unearned marketing vector. We strictly enforce the following commercial boundaries:
- No Pure Self-Promotion: Submissions cannot function primarily to market a business, individual brand, product, service, or personal commercial venture.
- Anti-Backlink Mill Safeguards: GNN does not accept content designed to act as a backlink mill or vehicle for search engine optimization (SEO) link building campaigns. Links within articles must be strictly editorial, highly context-dependent, and point exclusively to trusted, authoritative secondary sources. Hyperlinks embedded to artificially inflate search rankings or fulfill hidden paid insertion contracts will result in immediate content blacklisting.
5. Content Length and Newsworthiness Requirements
Length Thresholds
Standard analytical essays, news reports, and Op-Eds should aim for a benchmark length of 850 words or more. This baseline guarantees that topics are handled with sufficient depth, nuance, and structural context. Shorter content is acceptable under specific constraints, but it is reviewed strictly on a case-by-case basis and remains entirely dependent on contextual urgency (e.g., breaking emergency news alerts or fast-evolving investigative updates).
Newsworthiness Baseline
All contributions must possess clear newsworthiness and hold genuine interest for a global audience. The piece must address contemporary developments, historical context of active events, public policy, culture, or societal trends. Mundane, localized, or irrelevant subject matter will not pass our editorial triage.
6. Freedom of Speech & Jurisdictional Legal Compliance
At GNN, we aggressively advocate for and uphold freedom of speech as a pillar of healthy democratic discourse. However, this advocacy does not extend to statements that cross legal thresholds. All content must comply with the prevailing statutes, defamation laws, copyright legalities, and speech regulations active within your local jurisdiction and our global operating zones. We will not publish material that constitutes criminal incitement, actionable libel, or intellectual property theft.
7. Enforcement Framework: The Two-Strike Policy
To preserve our ecosystem while offering contributors a fair path to correction, GNN operates under a transparent, administrative strike system for structural policy violations:
Strike One (Official Warning): The first time an author submits content containing prohibited elements (e.g., severe factual negligence, uncredited imagery, hidden self-promotional backlinks, or disparaging text), the article is permanently rejected or unassigned. The contributor receives a formal warning detailing the specific infraction and actionable guidance on our policy bounds.
Strike Two (Permanent Ban): If a contributor commits a second policy violation—or deliberately repeats the pattern of behavior outlined in their initial warning—the account enters Strike Two. The contributor’s account is permanently deactivated, all pending and published submissions are subject to immediate removal, and the author is banned from contributing to GNN in perpetuity.
Note: GNN reserves the right to skip Strike One and issue an immediate permanent ban in extraordinary scenarios involving explicit hate speech, explicit media uploads, intentional criminal behavior, or severe legal liabilities.