File a Report Safely

Work Through The Task

Use this guide when a safety, accountability, or follow-up record needs careful handling. In this guide, File a Report Safely narrows that work to a beginner-safe workflow for creating a new incident report in the partner dashboard. Because this is a basics page, read it as part of the Report System learning path rather than as an isolated checklist.

A report is a written memory of something important. The goal is to protect people, keep facts clear, and leave enough context for future reviewers. Read the page for the decision it helps a person make, then use the steps and checks as a steady path from context to action to proof.

What This Task Changes

This is a practical workflow. Read it from top to bottom the first time: the early checks set scope, the middle steps make the change, and the final checks prove the result. The intended readers are Trust and Safety staff and Partner admins. If the guide names a dashboard route, service area, export, or record type, treat that name as a pointer to real operational responsibility.

• Primary surface or service: /reports/new.
• Records or contracts involved: Incident reports, Draft field values, and Report revisions.
• Main care point: Watch for incomplete facts, unfair wording, privacy exposure, or a decision that another reviewer cannot understand later.
• Proof worth keeping: report ID, saved status, revision history, person profile, evidence note, reminder, reviewer decision, and handoff owner.

Follow The Work In Order

1. Confirm the exact scope before opening the tool: Begin by naming the Report System situation, the owner, and the exact item involved in File a Report Safely.
2. Read the visible state before editing anything: Use /reports/new to connect the words on the page to the screen, file, service route, or record that people actually use.
3. Make only the change this guide describes: Keep Incident reports, Draft field values, and Report revisions in view so the work stays tied to the records or contracts it can affect.
4. Verify the result where another operator would look: Before handing off, save proof such as report ID, saved status, revision history, person profile, evidence note, reminder, reviewer decision, and handoff owner so another reviewer can understand the facts without relying on memory.

Finish With Proof

You are ready to use the rest of this page when the purpose, owner, affected information, and proof are all clear enough for a second person to review.

1. Scope is named: The work is tied to the correct page, event, report, route, file, person, or record.
2. Impact is understood: The operator can explain the effect on people, privacy, fairness, evidence, and the trustworthiness of the record.
3. Proof is findable: The handoff points to evidence that another reviewer can understand the facts without relying on memory.

End-to-end operator runbook

Use this numbered runbook when you need to operate this area without getting stuck. Read the purpose of each step, do the action in order, and use the final sentence as the checkpoint before continuing.

1. Step 1 - Identify the report and scope. Open /reports/new only after immediate safety needs are handled. This anchors the work to the correct scope before any record changes.
2. Step 2 - Read the existing facts before acting. Choose the correct partner scope, then enter subject identifiers exactly as known; use unknown instead of guessing. Pause here and confirm the note is factual, fair, and reviewable.
3. Step 3 - Make the smallest factual update. Write the incident as a short timeline, attach or describe evidence, and record who received the report. This keeps the report useful to the next reviewer instead of only to the person writing it.
4. Step 4 - Check fairness, privacy, and risk. Set severity and status from the facts, not from anger or pressure. The next action should still protect privacy, evidence, and due process.
5. Step 5 - Verify the saved record and history. Save once, open the detail page, and confirm the report ID, subject, status, evidence notes, and staff owner are correct. A later reviewer should be able to understand this step from the saved record.
6. Step 6 - Hand off the next responsibility. Hand off the report link or ID to the next responsible staff member and note any urgent follow-up. This leaves a handoff trail another operator can understand.

Before you start

Do not open /reports/new and start guessing. First collect the basics:

• What happened?
• When and where did it happen?
• Who reported it?
• Who was affected?
• Who is the subject?
• What evidence exists?
• Is anyone in immediate danger?
• Does another staff member need to be present?

Minimum safe report

A report can start small if information is incomplete. A minimum safe report should still include:

Field area	Minimum useful content
Subject	Best known name, handle, email, or description.
Incident	What happened, in plain words.
Time/place	Date, approximate time, event, chat, or platform.
Evidence	What evidence exists and where it came from.
Staff contact	Who received or is handling the report.
Status	Usually new or triage at first.

Filing steps

1. Action 1. Open New Report. Pause long enough to confirm the record says only what is known.
2. Action 2. Choose the correct partner or group if the dashboard asks. Check the saved value before adding more context.
3. Action 3. Fill subject identifiers carefully. Use the report history as the source of truth before continuing.
4. Action 4. Write the violation detail as a timeline: first this happened, then this happened. Pause long enough to confirm the record says only what is known.
5. Action 5. Add witness and evidence notes. Check the saved value before adding more context.
6. Action 6. Choose severity based on risk, not emotion. Use the report history as the source of truth before continuing.
7. Action 7. Add action notes only for actions already taken. Pause long enough to confirm the record says only what is known.
8. Action 8. Add appeal process notes if an enforcement action is recorded. Check the saved value before adding more context.
9. Action 9. Preview if available. Use the report history as the source of truth before continuing.
10. Action 10. Save and confirm the report appears in Detail and Manage. Pause long enough to confirm the record says only what is known.

Common mistakes

• Writing conclusions before evidence.
• Copying private chat logs without explaining why they are needed.
• Recording a ban but forgetting the appeal process.
• Using a network ban when a local watchlist is the only justified action.
• Forgetting to update status after triage.

After saving

After a report is saved:

• Check the detail page loaded the correct record.
• Confirm the report number or ID is noted in any staff handoff.
• Decide whether it stays new, moves to triage, or needs immediate action.
• Link it to a Person Profile if it appears connected to earlier reports.