Complaints & reporting

Bloom for Mums is a user-to-user service subject to the UK Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA). This page sets out how anyone — a user or a member of the public — can report illegal content, appeal a moderation decision, and make a formal complaint, and what we do in response. It works alongside our Community Guidelines, Appeals route, and Privacy Notice.

You can report content you believe is illegal — for example terrorist content, sexual abuse material, extreme violence, threatening or harassing messages, or content encouraging suicide — in two ways:

• In-app: tap the 🚩 Report button beneath any published post. Reports reach our safeguarding inbox and moderator dashboard within seconds.
• By email: send the post text (or a screenshot) and the room name to hello@bloomformums.com with the subject line Illegal content report.

You do not need an account to email us, and you do not need to give your name. Where the content may be criminal, we also encourage you to report it directly to the police (999 in an emergency) or to the police online, and to the Internet Watch Foundation for child sexual abuse material.

If your own post was held or hidden, you can ask a moderator to review the decision through our dedicated Appeals page. You will see your hidden posts there and can submit a short explanation for a moderator.

If you cannot use the in-app route — for example you were suspended, or the post is not showing on the Appeals page — email hello@bloomformums.com with the subject line Moderation appeal and a brief description of what you tried to share.

For more detail on how we moderate, see the in-app Moderation Policy, which sets out the two-layer automated check, what we hold and what we don't, and the actions a moderator can take.

A formal Online Safety Act complaint is a complaint that Bloom has not complied with its OSA duties — for example that we failed to remove illegal content, failed to act on a report, or failed to handle an appeal properly.

To make an OSA complaint, email hello@bloomformums.com with the subject line OSA complaint and include:

• what happened and which content or decision it relates to;
• the date it happened, and the room or post if you know it;
• what you would like us to do; and
• a contact email or phone number if you want a reply (optional).

You may also complain to Ofcom as the UK regulator for online safety. Ofcom can consider complaints about a service's compliance with its OSA duties: see ofcom.org.uk. Complaining to Bloom first does not prevent you from contacting Ofcom.

"Working days" are Monday to Friday, excluding English and Welsh bank holidays. If a report needs more investigation we will tell you and give a revised estimate.

Once a report or complaint is received, the Bloom moderation team will:

• Assess the reported content against our Community Guidelines and the law.
• Remove or restrict illegal content as soon as it is identified, and prevent it being re-posted.
• Preserve evidence in a moderator-only archive for 30 days, then permanently purge it.
• Escalate child-safeguarding concerns through UK pathways — 999, the LADO, or NSPCC 0808 800 5000.
• Apply sanctions where appropriate: hide a post, suspend an author for 1 / 7 / 30 days, or permanently ban.
• Record every action in an audit log under UK GDPR Article 5(2) accountability.
• Tell you the outcome if you gave us a contact, and explain how to escalate if you disagree.

If we get it wrong, we will say so, restore the post where appropriate, and record the correction. Automated moderation is not perfect — human review sits behind every held post and every report.

If you disagree with our response, you can ask for a second review by the Bloom Director (Sonia Murison) by replying to our email. If you remain dissatisfied, you can complain to the ICO about data handling, or to Ofcom about online safety duties.

All reports, appeals and complaints: hello@bloomformums.com.

Bloom for Mums Ltd — Company No. 17208397, registered in England and Wales. ICO Registration No. ICO:00014027338.