Community Guidelines

These Community Guidelines explain the standards expected of anyone who may, in the future, participate in interactive features on SkyscrapersInfo. They are designed to support participation that is accurate, respectful, useful and lawful, and to clarify the boundary between legitimate expression and conduct that may require moderation.

At the time of publication, the document has the following status:

• The policy is a Draft and has not been formally adopted by the operator.
• Interactive community functionality is not represented as active.
• The policy is not an invitation to create an account or to submit content.
• The guidelines will be reviewed and, where appropriate, formally activated before applicable features launch.
• Additional Terms of Use, privacy notices, age-screening mechanisms and participation permissions may be required when those features become available.

This page is separate from the website's general Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Copyright Policy, Content Licensing Policy and editorial procedures. It is intended to complement, not replace, those documents once community features are activated.

The platform's central subject is skyscrapers and related structures, together with the architectural, urban, planning and engineering context that helps readers understand them. Future community participation, if introduced, is expected to relate to subjects such as:

• Discussions about specific skyscrapers, tall buildings and notable structures.
• Observations concerning construction status and project progress.
• Architecture, design and engineering commentary.
• Reader-submitted corrections to building statistics and project data.
• Publicly available technical or historical information relating to tall buildings.
• Photographic, video and 360° submissions of buildings and skylines.
• Research contributions, source links and archival references.
• Discussions of skylines, observation decks, surrounding streetscapes and urban environments.
• Comments on urban development, transport, planning, regulation and economics where they help readers understand a particular building or project.

Urban context is welcome when it helps explain a specific structure, its use, accessibility, construction or wider significance. SkyscrapersInfo is, however, focused. It is not represented as a general-purpose social network, and the guidelines should not be interpreted as inviting participation in unrelated subjects.

If community features become available, participants will be expected to engage in a manner that is honest, civil and useful. The platform intends to encourage:

• Evidence-based discussion of architectural and urban subjects.
• Respectful disagreement and reasoned counter-argument.
• Architectural and technical criticism, including robust critique of design choices.
• Clear identification of facts, estimates and personal opinions.
• Appropriate citation of reliable sources where claims are contested or non-obvious.
• Constructive corrections offered in good faith.
• Transparency about uncertainty, including where information is incomplete, contradictory or unverified.
• Respect for the work of other contributors, photographers, researchers and readers.

Legitimate criticism of buildings, architects, developers, governments, planning decisions, editorial choices and commercial interests is part of healthy architectural discourse and will not, on its own, be treated as misconduct. Firm disagreement is permitted. Harassment, threats, deliberate deception and other harmful conduct are separate matters, addressed in the following sections.

Submission of content to a future feature does not guarantee publication. The operator may decline, edit, contextualise or withhold material consistent with these guidelines, applicable law and the platform's editorial standards.

The platform intends to prohibit a clear category of harmful personal conduct. Where community features exist, this may include:

• Credible threats of violence or other serious harm.
• Targeted personal harassment of identifiable individuals.
• Repeated personal abuse or insulting conduct directed at a specific person, particularly when it forms part of targeted harassment.
• Stalking or sustained unwanted contact.
• Doxxing, where this involves the publication of private personal information with harmful intent.
• Unlawful discriminatory abuse targeting protected characteristics.
• Incitement to violence or to other serious wrongdoing.
• Coordinated intimidation, brigading or pile-on campaigns.
• Attempts to silence contributors through harassment rather than through argument.
• Deliberate impersonation of identifiable individuals used to harm, mislead or defraud.

These standards are not intended to prohibit lawful criticism, satire, negative reviews, or good-faith challenges to publicly made claims. Critical discussion of companies, governments, professionals or individuals in their public capacity is permitted even where strongly expressed. Ordinary criticism is not, by itself, defamatory.

Moderation decisions are expected to consider context, seriousness, repetition and applicable law. A single harsh remark is not the same as a pattern of harassment, and the operator will assess each situation in light of the actual conduct in question.

Personal privacy and legitimate safety interests must be protected. Where community features exist, disclosures of the following kinds may be prohibited, particularly where made with harmful intent or in circumstances creating material privacy or safety risks:

• Private residential addresses or personal living arrangements.
• Personal telephone numbers.
• Private email addresses not intended for public use.
• Identity documents, passport numbers or similar identifiers.
• Financial information, account numbers or payment details.
• Personal identification numbers and authentication credentials.
• Non-public location tracking of individuals.
• Intimate or highly sensitive personal images.
• Other personal information disclosed in a manner that creates a material risk of harm.

These restrictions are distinct from the legitimate publication of architectural and public-interest facts. The street address of a commercial skyscraper, a public entrance, an observation deck, a transit station, a planning reference or a publicly registered project is not automatically prohibited merely because it identifies a geographic location. The operator will not restrict legitimate building information under the pretext of protecting private addresses.

Where legally relevant, the operator will have regard to Hong Kong's Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) and applicable restrictions on the unlawful disclosure of personal data. Information already lawfully available in public records is not automatically either lawful or unlawful to republish; the operator will assess publication decisions on the basis of context, accuracy, applicable law and the reasonable expectation of privacy in the specific circumstances.

Skyscrapers and tall buildings attract visitors, photographers and architectural enthusiasts. Where community features exist, participants will be expected to refrain from encouraging, instructing or celebrating unsafe or unlawful access, including:

• Trespassing or unauthorised entry to private property.
• Accessing rooftops, mechanical floors or restricted zones without permission.
• Bypassing locks, fences, security doors or other access-control systems.
• Unsafe climbing, scaling or balancing on building features.
• Unauthorised drone operations in restricted airspace or over active sites.
• Filming activities that create a foreseeable risk to the participant, to others, or to property.
• Interference with construction sites, scaffolding, hoardings or safety equipment.
• Tampering with building infrastructure, life-safety systems or sensitive installations.
• Sharing instructions specifically intended to facilitate unlawful or dangerous entry.

These standards do not restrict the legitimate exchange of information about public observation decks, lawful visitor access, public entrances, transport connections, architectural tours, published visitor rules and legal photography opportunities. SkyscrapersInfo does not, however, represent that any filming permit, building-owner permission or access arrangement exists or has been granted, and contributors must not imply otherwise.

Tall-building information is frequently contested. Heights, floor counts, completion dates and project status are often revised during design, construction and post-completion verification. Where community features exist, contributors should distinguish clearly between different categories of claim:

1. Officially confirmed information — for example, disclosures by the developer, the design architect, the building authority or other authoritative source.
2. Credible third-party reporting — from recognised industry publications, planning records or established research organisations.
3. Estimates — including figures based on public renders, planning applications or similar material where no official confirmation is available.
4. Rumours and unverified speculation — which should be clearly labelled as such.
5. Personal observations — including construction sightings and on-site impressions.
6. Predictions and forecasts — including anticipated completion dates and projected heights.

A proposed building must not be described as completed merely because a rendering exists. An anticipated height must not be represented as an officially approved measurement without a valid basis. Where different height methodologies exist — architectural height, roof height, tip height, height to highest occupied floor and similar measures — they should be identified where relevant.

Particular care should be taken with details that are frequently misreported, including architectural height, roof height, tip height, number of floors, completion date, construction status, developer, architect, permits and approvals, construction interruptions, demolition, reconstruction and the official names and addresses of buildings. The operator does not claim that all existing project records have been audited against a single universal verification standard.

Contributors are encouraged to identify reliable sources where claims are non-obvious, contested or otherwise liable to be questioned. Examples of credible source categories may include:

• Government planning records and building authority publications.
• Official project announcements by the developer, design team or public authority.
• Verified architectural documentation issued by the design firm.
• Credible industry publications and recognised tall-building research organisations.
• Dated original photographic evidence, including construction progress imagery.
• Public council, planning committee or regulatory records.

A source citation does not, by itself, prove the accuracy of a claim. Editorial assessment remains separate from the act of citation. Reader corrections are welcome and should ideally identify the specific statement in question, the proposed correction and any supporting evidence. Editorial acceptance of any correction is a separate decision by the operator, and these Draft guidelines do not promise automatic publication of corrections, fixed correction deadlines or a permanently staffed verification department.

Industry professionals and commercially interested parties may have legitimate reasons to participate in future community features. These guidelines are not intended to exclude architects, developers, contractors, real-estate professionals, investors, public-relations representatives or other interested contributors. They do, however, require that participation be honest.

Where community features exist, participants should not:

• Deceptively present commercial promotional material as independent community opinion.
• Conceal material commercial relationships that a reasonable reader would expect to be disclosed.
• Engage in deceptive coordinated promotion, fabricated endorsements or concealed marketing campaigns.
• Misrepresent paid placements as organic community discussion.

Material commercial relationships should be disclosed where appropriate. Legitimate participation by industry professionals remains possible; these standards address misrepresentation, not professional involvement. The operator does not represent that any sponsored-post programme, advertising placement system or commercial partnership framework is currently active on SkyscrapersInfo.

Contributors must have sufficient rights for any content they propose to submit or publish. Relevant material may include photographs, video, 360° recordings, drawings, renderings, written work, charts, illustrations, maps and other creative material.

A participant must not knowingly present another person's photograph or other creative work as their own. Attribution alone does not substitute for the permission needed to publish, distribute or modify someone else's protected material. Where a contribution incorporates third-party content, applicable copyright exceptions, public-domain status or existing open licences must be identified where relevant.

The operator does not assume ownership of content simply because it is submitted through a future platform feature. No blanket copyright assignment is created by these Draft guidelines. Copyright, attribution, and the operator's permission to host and display submitted content are separate legal questions and are addressed in greater detail in the following section.

This section distinguishes between four separate legal questions, all of which matter when community features are eventually introduced:

1. The contributor's ownership of the original work they create.
2. The permission needed for the operator to host, format and display that work through the service.
3. Any separate commercial licence that may be required for marketing, redistribution or third-party use.
4. Any assignment of copyright, which is a transfer of ownership rather than a permission.

If user publishing is introduced, an appropriate participation agreement may need to establish a limited licence for the technical activities necessary to operate the service — for example, hosting, displaying, formatting, transmitting and moderating submitted material. Any such licence must be appropriately scoped, transparent and accepted through a suitable mechanism before it is relied upon.

Commercial redistribution, stock-media licensing, third-party sublicensing, marketing reuse and the use of user contributions for machine-learning or AI training all require an independently established legal basis and any necessary additional permissions. Applicable moral rights and other mandatory legal protections remain unaffected. The Draft guidelines themselves do not purport to obtain contributor consent, transfer copyright, or grant any commercial rights. Related provisions are described in greater detail in the platform's separate Content Licensing Policy.

Architectural photography, video and 360° media raise a number of distinct legal considerations. A photograph may be original to the photographer while still incorporating other legally relevant rights or contractual restrictions. Contributors should be aware of, among others:

• The photographer's ownership and any associated licensing terms.
• Creative Commons conditions, including attribution, share-alike and non-commercial clauses.
• Stock-media restrictions and any embargoes on commercial or editorial use.
• Property access rights and any conditions imposed by building owners or managers.
• Filming permissions, including local authority, building-management or security requirements.
• The presence of identifiable individuals and any applicable consent or publicity issues.
• Logos, trademarks and branded signage visible in the image.
• Architectural designs and any specific protection that may apply.
• Music, narration or other audiovisual rights attached to video.
• Drone restrictions, including local aviation rules and property-based no-fly zones.
• Applicable rules for commercial filming, including permits and professional licensing requirements.

The operator does not represent that any contributor release, building permit or pre-existing licence is currently in place. Independently hosted images and embedded media may remain governed by the terms of the third-party platform on which they are hosted, and contributors should review those terms before submission.

Future community features may involve AI-assisted and synthetic content, including AI-generated architectural renderings, synthetic skylines, edited construction photographs, AI-assisted research summaries, automated analyses, manipulated media, fictional skyscraper concepts and predictions of future developments. Where community features exist, contributors should:

• Not present an AI-generated building image as a genuine photograph of an existing structure.
• Disclose material AI manipulation where it is necessary to prevent readers from being misled.
• Distinguish clearly between conceptual architecture and a confirmed development.
• Not present a fictional concept as a planned, approved or under-construction project.
• Be transparent where automated tools have substantially shaped a contribution.

Not all AI-generated content is unlawful or unprotected. Copyright and usage rights depend on applicable law, the specific work and the manner of its creation. These guidelines do not declare all AI-generated content to be infringing, nor do they create a licence permitting the operator to use user contributions for AI training. Any such use, if introduced, would require a separate legal basis and explicit, informed permission.

Future community features, where they exist, are intended to support genuine discussion of architecture and tall buildings — not to provide a channel for commercial promotion or coordinated manipulation. The following conduct may be prohibited:

• Repetitive commercial promotion unrelated to the subject of a thread.
• Fake accounts, impersonation and the use of bots for deceptive amplification.
• Artificial engagement, vote manipulation and fabricated endorsements.
• Fraudulent links, phishing attempts and scams.
• Unsolicited advertisements and disruptive off-topic promotion.
• Referral spam and undisclosed affiliate promotions.
• Coordinated misleading activity designed to misrepresent opinion or consensus.
• Attempts to manipulate building rankings, popularity indicators or public perception through fabricated evidence.

Legitimate source links and genuine industry recommendations are distinct from spam and remain welcome where they are relevant and honestly presented. The operator does not represent that automated bot detection, active advertising placement systems, or sophisticated anti-fraud infrastructure are currently deployed on SkyscrapersInfo.

Where community features exist, participants must not contribute material that is designed to compromise the platform, its users or third parties. Proportionate standards apply to:

• Malware, ransomware and malicious links.
• Attempts to compromise accounts, infrastructure or connected services.
• Credential theft, password harvesting and similar activity.
• Fraud, deceptive solicitation and impersonation for financial gain.
• Credible threats of serious harm.
• The sexual exploitation of minors.
• Non-consensual intimate imagery.
• Other clearly unlawful or seriously harmful material.

Operational instructions for exploiting the website's infrastructure must not be published. These standards are not intended to make universal statements that every listed category is criminal in every jurisdiction; applicable law varies, and the handling of illegal content will remain subject to mandatory reporting obligations and the legal framework in force at the relevant time.

SkyscrapersInfo does not currently invite participation from any specific age group, and no minimum registration age is established by these Draft guidelines. No unsupported worldwide age rule is adopted at this stage.

If accounts, comments or other interactions become available to minors, additional safeguards may be necessary, including age-appropriate design, privacy notices designed for younger users, applicable consent mechanisms, parental involvement where required by law, and proportionate protection against harmful content or contact.

If community features are activated in the future, the platform intends to provide a way for readers to raise concerns about user-generated material. Helpful information for any future report may include:

• The URL or specific location of the disputed material.
• A description of the issue and the standard it is alleged to breach.
• Relevant context, including timestamps where applicable.
• Available supporting evidence.
• Appropriate contact details where further communication may be needed.

These Draft guidelines do not introduce a functioning reporting button, automated ticketing system or 24/7 reporting desk. No guaranteed response deadlines are promised at this stage, and the platform does not represent an emergency support service.

For general information, the contact page may serve as a destination for enquiries. It should not be understood as evidence that a functioning community submission or reporting mechanism is currently available. Copyright complaints involving material controlled by SkyscrapersInfo should be directed to the separately described procedure on the copyright notice and takedown page, once its dedicated intake channel has been independently verified as operational. Editorial feedback, safety reports and formal statutory copyright notices remain distinct categories and should be directed to the appropriate channel for each.

Where appropriate community features launch, moderation may be exercised in a proportionate and graduated manner. Possible actions include:

• Seeking clarification from the contributor.
• Adding contextual information, labels or corrections.
• Restricting the distribution of disputed material.
• Temporarily hiding content pending review.
• Removing content that breaches these guidelines.
• Restricting participation in specific areas of the service.
• Suspending an account for a defined period.
• Terminating participation for sufficiently serious or repeated violations.
• Preserving relevant evidence where appropriate for legal, security or audit purposes.

The operator does not represent that account suspension is possible today. Moderation decisions are expected to consider severity, context, risk, applicable legal obligations and the rights of those affected. No guarantee of continuous proactive monitoring is given, and the operator does not claim that publication of these guidelines automatically shields it from legal liability for content it hosts, selects or publishes. Disagreement, criticism and contested architectural opinions are not, on their own, grounds for enforcement.

If moderation decisions are introduced, affected participants may be given an appropriate opportunity to request reconsideration. The exact mechanism will be described once it is operational. These Draft guidelines do not promise a working appeals portal, a review committee, guaranteed restoration of removed material or fixed turnaround times.

Several distinct procedures should be understood as separate:

• Voluntary community moderation reviews.
• Editorial corrections issued by the operator.
• Copyright complaints handled under the platform's takedown procedure.
• Statutory notice or counter-notice mechanisms.
• Court orders, regulatory directions and other mandatory legal processes.

Under Hong Kong's Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528), the online service provider regime contains conditional protections and related procedures. The operator does not, by publishing these guidelines, claim automatic compliance with, or entitlement to, those protections. The wording of any takedown and counter-notice process will be aligned with the separately published Copyright Notice & Takedown policy.

If future participation mechanisms are introduced, they may involve the processing of personal data and will require appropriate safeguards. Subject to applicable law, these are expected to include:

• Lawful and proportionate collection of personal data.
• Clear collection notices provided at the point of collection where applicable.
• Defined purposes of use and minimum-necessary principles.
• Appropriate access controls and staff-side restrictions.
• Security measures proportionate to the actual risks involved.
• Retention and deletion practices consistent with applicable law.
• Access and correction rights where granted by applicable law.
• Careful handling of personal data involved in reports, appeals or moderation actions.
• Transparency concerning relevant service providers and disclosures where required.

Where relevant, the operator will have regard to Hong Kong's Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486), including the applicable Data Protection Principles. No specific retention periods, technical security arrangements, storage locations or service providers are represented as established by this document. Any future processing arrangements will be described through appropriate notices and supporting policies when implemented.