What is Verification?
The Verified badge on the Fox Studios - Scratch Forum lets people know that an account of public interest is authentic. To receive the verified badge, your account must be authentic, notable, and active.
Authentic
To encourage and maintain trust between users on the platform, you will need to confirm your identity with Fox Studios - Scratch in order to be Verified. Depending on the category, you will be asked to choose one of the following three methods of verifying your identity:
Official website: Provide the link to an official website that references you (or your business) and your Forum account. You may need to provide additional evidence confirming your affiliation/ownership of the site.
ID verification: Provide a photo of a valid official government-issued identification document, such as your Driver’s License or Passport. This requirement applies to individuals, not companies, brands, or organizations.
Official email address: Provide an official email address with a domain relevant to the notability category you choose. You may need to provide additional evidence confirming your affiliation/ownership of the site.
Notable
Your account must represent or otherwise be associated with a prominently recognized individual or brand, in line with the notability criteria described below. In addition to confirming the identity of the controller of the account, Fox Studios - Scratch will Verify the following types of accounts based on the criteria described. In all categories, Fox Studios - Scratch may independently confirm qualifying affiliation through business partnerships or direct outreach. For each category we may request the following type of information to confirm notability:
News Coverage: Provide news articles that are about or reference yourself or your organization multiple times in the article. These articles must be from Verified news organizations (like WFSB and CNN) and cannot be a blog or self-published content. Some categories may require you to submit articles that reference or link to your or your organization’s Fox Studios - Scratch handle/username in addition to referring to you or your organization.
Google Trends: Provide a link to a profile on Google Trends that depicts search history and is linked to the category in which you are applying.
Wikipedia: Provide a link to a stable Wikipedia article about you or your business/organization that meets the encyclopedia’s notability standards.
Other industry specific references: Depending on the category, we may ask for more industry specific references such as a link to an IMDB page for entertainment. We will also ask for evidence of your ownership of certain channels.
Follower or Mention Count: If your account is detected to be in the top 1% follower or mention count for your geographic location, it may count towards notability evidence for certain categories.
Note: FSS uses a mix of internal signals to evaluate the authenticity of a given account's followers and engagement. We also assess a range of signals from third-party public resources that have been submitted in support of applications (such as how recently they were updated) to evaluate the quality of those resources. We do this to confirm that you have not purchased followers.
Active
Your account must be active with a record of adherence to the FSS Terms of Service. This means:
Complete: Your account must have a profile name, and a profile image;
Active use: Your account must be public and you must have logged into that account within the last 2 weeks;
Security: Your account must have a confirmed email address and phone number; and
Forum ToS: Your account must not have had a moderated action for violating the FSS ToS in the past 12 months (excluding successful appeals).*
*Note: We may make exceptions to the above requirements for accounts at high risk of impersonation or safety related concerns. We reserve the right to deny or revoke Verification to accounts that meet any of the above criteria through artificial or inauthentic activity.
Can I lose Verification?
In accordance with the Forum Terms of Service, Fox Studios - Scratch may remove the Verified status of an account at any time without notice.
Sometimes, changes made to an account by the owner may result in loss of Verified status. User-made changes include, but are not limited to:
If your account becomes inactive or incomplete
If you are no longer in the position you initially were Verified for – such as an elected government official who leaves office – and you do not otherwise meet our criteria for Verification
If changes to your account are misleading or substantially alter the persona present on your account
If changes to your account result in failure to meet the eligibility requirements for Verification outlined above
If changes to your account cause you to fall under any of the categories in the "Ineligible Accounts" section
We may also remove verification badges from accounts that are found to be in severe or repeated violation of the Forum ToS. Any violation of the Forum Terms of Service or rules, manipulation of the Forums processes, or circumvention of enforcement actions may result in loss of the badge or in certain instances, suspension. This includes:
Impersonation or intentionally misleading people on the Fox Studios - Scratch Forum by changing your display name, bio, and/or profile image.
Severe violations that result in immediate account suspension.
Repeat policy violations in posts, including but not limited to:
Abusive behavior
Hateful Conduct
Glorification of violence
Civic integrity
Private information
Platform manipulation and spam
Removal of the badge based on repeated violations will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and is not automatic.
Forum Staff reserve the right to assess the qualifications of any Verified account under the currently published version of the Verification Policy.
Note: We may suspend accounts that use imagery of, or similar to, the Verification badge in a manner that may mislead the public about the account’s Verification status.
