Community & Character Guidelines
Version 3.2 · October 2026 · 18+ platform
This is the rulebook for your character, your content, your account, and how you show up in the community. It is not the pay structure. Your portal and onboarding show the program details that apply to you. Those details can change; these guidelines should not.
1. Who this applies to
Everyone in the Character Studio Program, creators on earlier terms included. Where older terms conflict with this doc, this doc wins on conduct, character, and content.
By posting Cantina character content, you agree to these guidelines, the Cantina Terms of Service, and the terms of service of every platform you post to.
2. The short version
- Your character is yours. What it says and does is on you.
- No minors. Ever. In any form. Non-negotiable.
- No hate speech, no deepfakes, no impersonating real people to deceive.
- Your character is built in Cantina. That's the one non-negotiable about how you make things.
- One account per person. One character, one TikTok, and one Instagram linked at a time.
- Be a decent human in the community.
Everything below is detail on those six.
3. Community standards
The community space (forum, rooms, DMs, comments) is a workspace. The character rules are permissive on purpose. The community rules are strict on purpose.
Expected
- Give real feedback. Take real feedback.
- Share what's working. The program gets better when creators aren't guessing.
- Keep character content in character-content spaces.
Not allowed
- Harassment, threats, or targeted pile-ons against other creators or staff
- Hate speech directed at real people. The "it's my character talking" defense does not apply in community spaces
- Sharing another creator's personal information, private messages, or unpublished work
- Spam, referral-link dumping, or recruiting for outside programs
- Engagement pods, view-trading schemes, or organized gaming of program metrics
- Sexual content involving other members, unsolicited sexual DMs, or using the community as a hookup channel
Staff are held to the same standard. If a team member crosses a line, report it (Section 10).
4. What your character can be
Pretty much anything you can dream up. A conspiracy theorist potato. A houseplant running for city council. A scheming parody villain. A retired wrestler turned motivational speaker. A fictional celebrity from a universe you invented. Weird, dark, unhinged, absurd: that's the point.
Edgy. Satirical. Irreverent. Genuinely strange. All fine, as long as the content stays within Section 7.
5. What your character cannot be
No minors. Your character cannot be a minor: in name, bio, avatar, voice, or behavior. This includes characters that feel like a minor. Non-negotiable.
No child-coded characters in sexual contexts. Doesn't matter if they're "technically an adult." If the character reads as a child in a sexual context, it's gone.
No impersonating real people to deceive or harm. Parody is allowed. Pretending to actually be a real person, fabricating endorsements, or deceiving users is out.
No deepfakes. Creating convincing fake versions of real people, or fabricating statements they never made, is prohibited.
No non-consensual sexual content involving real people. Including sexualized depictions of identifiable real individuals.
No misleading descriptions. Your character's name, bio, and avatar should reflect what it actually does. Deliberately deceiving users about what they're interacting with isn't allowed.
No directing your character toward illegal activity or harm. Phishing, fraud, violence, self-harm encouragement, dangerous instructions. If your character is a vehicle for harm, it's a weapon and it's gone.
Your character is yours. Whatever it says, does, or encourages is on you. "The character did it" is not a defense.
6. Content and posting standards
Where you post
Approved platforms: TikTok and Instagram. YouTube Shorts is not yet approved. Don't count on it until it's announced.
What counts as your content
- All content must feature your Cantina AI character
- Content must be original. Do not repost other creators' content as your own
- A Cantina watermark and outro are required on all published content
External production tools
You can use external production tools (Kling, Higgsfield, other motion or video tools) in your workflow, provided:
- The character originates and lives in Cantina AI, built in Character Studio
- All content follows these guidelines and platform terms
- A Cantina watermark and outro are included
- Any use of Cantina logo or branding follows brand guidelines
Reviewed case by case. The rule is simple: your character is built here. What you do to bring it to life is up to you.
Authentic reach only
Views and engagement must be earned. Purchased views, bot traffic, engagement pods, click farms, and duplicate-account boosting are all prohibited. Suspicious activity gets audited, and affected metrics are excluded.
7. What your content can't show
No sexual content
Avoid
- Explicit sexual content or nudity meant to arouse
- Presenting characters in a sexually suggestive manner as companions
What's ok
- Romance, flirtation, and emotional storylines that aren't explicit
No discriminatory content
Avoid
- Content whose core point is to demean people for their religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, national or ethnic origin, or another group
What's ok
- Satire, parody, and commentary from our creators and characters, including about public figures, politics, and culture
No excessively graphic realistic violence, weapon glorification, or substance abuse
Avoid
- Graphic realistic depictions of people or animals being killed, maimed, tortured, or abused. Content that aims to encourage violence
- Illegal or reckless use of realistic weapons or dangerous objects
- Making smoking, vaping, illegal drugs, or heavy drinking look aspirational or the core point of the content
What's ok
- Stylized, cartoon, or clearly fictional action
- Weapons as story elements that don't glamorize misuse
- Legal substance consumption socially and in moderation as part of a scene
No overly crude content (language included)
Avoid
- Language, gestures, or imagery whose main job is shock value: slurs, the harshest profanity, and crude sexual or bodily references
What's ok
- Edgy, irreverent humor that doesn't depend on shock words
8. Account rules
One account per person. Creating multiple Cantina accounts to game requirements or reset counts is a removal-level violation.
One character, one TikTok, one Instagram. You link one of each at a time, and only posts from them count. Adding a second social account on the same platform is a removal-level violation. If something happens to one, you can switch it in the portal, and the new one replaces the old one. Each switches on its own.
You keep what you build. Content, characters, and tools stay in your account.
9. Enforcement
Most problems are fixable, and most get fixed. Enforcement is graduated, except where it isn't.
Graduated path
Notice. In-app notification and email explaining what happened, what to change, and by when. No penalty.
Strike. Formal warning on your account. Content may be removed. Strikes expire after 90 days of clean standing.
Suspension. Posting and program participation paused pending review.
Removal. Program participation ends.
Three active strikes escalates to suspension.
Immediate removal, no warning
- Content involving minors, or child-coded characters in sexual contexts
- Hate speech or content built to degrade a real group of people
- Deepfakes, or impersonating a real person to deceive or harm
- Directing a character toward illegal activity or serious harm
- Non-consensual sexual content involving real people
- Creating multiple Cantina accounts to game requirements
- Purchased views, bot traffic, or organized metric manipulation
- Harassment or threats against creators or staff
Performance-based exits (falling below program thresholds) are not violations and carry no strike. They follow the program details shown in your portal.
Appeals
You can appeal any strike, suspension, or removal within 14 days by replying to the enforcement notice or emailing ops.characterstudio@cantina.ai. Include your account phone number and what you think we got wrong. You will get a decision within 5 business days. Appeals are reviewed by someone who wasn't involved in the original decision.
Immediate-removal violations can be appealed, but the bar is factual error, and a change of heart doesn't clear it.
10. Reporting a problem
- Another creator's content or conduct: report in-app, or email ops.characterstudio@cantina.ai
- Community space issues: flag to an Ambassador or moderator in the forum
- A staff member: email ops.characterstudio@cantina.ai, routed outside the program team
- Safety emergencies involving real-world harm: contact local emergency services first, then us
Reports are confidential to the extent we can keep them. Retaliation against someone who reports in good faith is itself a violation. Bad-faith reports to knock out a competitor are too.
11. Staying in good standing
Good standing on the guidelines side means:
- Content features your Cantina character and follows Sections 4 to 7
- One TikTok and one Instagram linked and tracked
- Posting 3 videos a week that each reach 350 views
- No active strikes
- You're a good presence in the community
12. FAQ
Can I make characters that are edgy?
Yes. Dark humor, satire, and irreverent characters are welcome. The lines are harm, hate, sexual content, and anything involving minors. Section 7 has the detail.
Does Cantina tell me what to post?
No. Your character concept and your posting strategy are yours. A grumpy cat who reviews movies, a time-traveling historian, up to you.
Do I need my character approved before posting?
No. Character approval is not required.
Do I need to show my face?
No. Your character is the star.
Can I have more than one character in the program?
One at a time. If you need to, you can switch your character in the portal, and it keeps your linked TikTok and Instagram.
Can I use tools like Kling or Higgsfield?
Yes, as long as the character originates in Cantina AI, a Cantina watermark and outro are included, and all rules are followed. Reviewed case by case.
Who can join?
US and Canada based creators, 18+.
My character got removed and I disagree.
Appeal within 14 days (Section 9).