Crisis Protocol
If you are in danger right now, stop reading. Call or text 988 (US), text HOME to 741741, or call 911. Booniverse is not a crisis service, and nobody here can send help to you.
This page explains, in plain words, what Booniverse does when something in the app suggests a person may be at risk of harming themselves. We publish it because people deserve to know, and because California's companion-chatbot law (SB 243) asks services with an AI character to publish their protocol. Whether or not that law covers Moon, this is ours. The Medical Disclaimer has the full resources list and our legal position; this page is the mechanics.
The short version
- Automated checks look for language about self-harm or suicide in the parts of the app where people talk to each other, and in Moon.
- When they find it, the person sees crisis resources right away, in the app.
- In a BooFriend chat, the listener is prompted to share the crisis lines and to stay with the person.
- A member of our team is alerted (once per person per 24 hours, without the text) and reviews what happened.
- We do not call emergency services, find your location, or contact your family. We can't.
Where the checks run
| Place | What is checked | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| BooFriend chat (18+) | Every message, automatically, after it is sent | Resources shown; the listener is prompted; our team is alerted |
| Forum comments, shared journal entries, profile bios, notes and anonymous posts | The text, automatically | Resources shown to the writer; our team is alerted |
| Moon (AI reflection, led by Lyor) | Your journal entry and every open answer, before Lyor replies; every question and insight Lyor produces, before you see it | Resources offered once in that session; an unsafe AI reply is replaced with a neutral one; nothing is recorded about you and nothing is sent to our team; only an anonymous monthly total is kept |
| Private journal (Star) | On your phone only, when you save | A gentle prompt with the resources; nothing leaves your phone |
The checks are automated and imperfect. They can miss things and they can misfire. A misfire costs you a prompt you didn't need; a miss means the resources didn't appear. Neither replaces telling someone.
What the person sees
A short message that says, in effect: you're not alone, and here are people who can help right now. It lists 988 (call or text), Crisis Text Line (text HOME to 741741), 911 for emergencies, and findahelpline.com for other countries. Under More helplines it also lists The Trevor Project (LGBTQ+ young people), Childhelp (child abuse), RAINN (sexual assault) and ANAD (eating disorders). We check every number on the service's own site before launch and every three months after. The same resources are one tap away at any time from the ⓘ in a chat and in Moon.
In a BooFriend chat
Listeners are volunteers aged 21 and over who completed our training. They are not counselors. When a conversation turns to danger:
- The app prompts the listener to share the crisis resources in the chat.
- The listener is trained to stay warm and stay present, not to lecture, and to keep the bridge to the crisis line open. They may end the conversation if they need to. They are never expected to handle an emergency alone.
- A listener who is in distress themselves is never cut off by the system; they are shown the same resources.
- Our team receives an alert and reviews the conversation afterwards.
In Moon
Moon is a guided reflection led by Lyor, an AI character. The app says so at the start of every session and in the ⓘ on every screen. Lyor has no memory between sessions, and a session is short and fixed in length, so there is no open-ended companionship to drift. Everything you write is screened before Lyor replies, and everything Lyor writes is screened before you see it; a reply that fails the screen is replaced with a neutral one. If your words suggest you may be at risk, Moon offers the resources once in that session and keeps the ⓘ available. Moon does not alert our team and keeps no record of the check about you. The one thing kept is a monthly total of how many times Moon showed the resources, a single number with nothing linking it to anyone, which California's companion chatbot law may require us to report each year. That is a promise in our Privacy Policy.
What our team does
An alert reaches a member of our team by email: who, where in the app, and when. Never the words. At most one alert per person per 24 hours, so a bad night doesn't become fifty emails. The person reviews the record in our dashboard, checks the conversation (BooFriend) or the post (forum), and acts on anything that needs action, such as removing content or pausing an account that is harming others. Alerts are reviewed by a person, not by a clinician, and not around the clock.
What we do not do
- We do not contact emergency services, and we have no way to send anyone to you.
- We do not know where you are.
- We do not contact a parent or guardian.
- We do not diagnose, treat or monitor anyone.
- We do not keep a record of the on-device journal check or of Moon's screening.
If you are 13 to 17
Everything above applies to you. BooFriend chat is 18+, so the parts of the app open to you are the forum, journals, notes and Moon, with the checks described. If you're struggling, please tell an adult you trust, and use the resources. They are for you too.
Questions: support@booniverse.boo. If you think a check misfired or missed something, tell us. It helps us tune it.