Community Guidelines

Our articles are research. Comments are where readers add what we missed — local knowledge, a correction, a question that improves the next piece.

That only works if the space stays useful. These guidelines exist to keep it that way, and to tell you exactly what happens when we remove something, because a moderation decision you cannot see the reasoning for is indistinguishable from an arbitrary one.

You need an account, and you must be 18. Your display name appears with your comment; your email address does not.

Comments are public and indexed by search engines. Write accordingly.

Anything unlawful under Dutch or EU law.

Someone else's personal data — names, addresses, phone numbers, photographs of identifiable people — without their consent.

Harassment, threats, or abuse directed at anyone, including our team.

Spam: promotional posting, link farming, repetition, or comments whose purpose is to advertise.

Content that infringes copyright or other intellectual property.

Investment recommendations and property promotion. This one is specific to us. We sell independent analysis; a comment section where readers recommend particular developments, developers or agents becomes a sales channel, and it makes our independence claim worth less. Discuss a market, a method or a risk freely. Do not tell other readers what to buy, and do not promote a project you have an interest in without saying so.

Impersonation of another person, of a company, or of us.

We may hide or remove a comment that breaks these guidelines or the law, and we may suspend or close an account that does so repeatedly or seriously.

A small automated check holds comments that look like spam for review. That is a queue, not a decision — a person reads every held comment.

We do not moderate for disagreement. A comment that criticises our analysis, our conclusions or our business stays up, provided it stays within the rules above. We would rather be argued with in public than agreed with in an empty room.

We tell you. Every time.

You receive a message saying what was restricted, whether the ground is these guidelines or the law, which rule applies, and the actual reason in plain words — not a code. It appears in your account and by email, so you keep it.

The only exception is where telling you immediately would prejudice an investigation into a serious criminal offence. Where that applies we record why, and you are told as soon as it no longer does.

Every decision comes with a way to contest it, open for six months.

Use the link in the message you received, or write to info@dominicanvest.com quoting the decision. Tell us why you think we got it wrong.

We acknowledge within 5 business days and decide within 30 days. A person reviews it — not the same automated check that flagged it. If we were wrong, we restore the comment and say so. If we still think we were right, we explain why.

This is more than the law requires of a business our size. We offer it because a decision with no route of appeal reads as arbitrary even when it is correct.

Every comment has a Report action. You do not need an account to use it.

Tell us which rule you think it breaks and why — a report without a reason cannot be assessed fairly. If you leave an email address we tell you the outcome.

We read every report ourselves; there is no automated triage. Reports are handled in order, and we aim to respond within 5 business days. We may take longer at busy moments, and if we do, that is a queue problem we would rather tell you about than hide.

If we become aware of information giving rise to a suspicion that a criminal offence involving a threat to the life or safety of a person has taken place, is taking place or is likely to take place, we will inform the relevant authorities.

This is an obligation under Article 18 of the Digital Services Act. We mention it here so it is not a surprise.

Your comment stays yours. You give us permission to display it on this site and in the places the site is normally reproduced — nothing more.

We will not use your comment in marketing, quote it in a report, or reproduce it elsewhere without asking you first.

If you close your account, your comments stay online with your name removed. We do that so replies underneath them still make sense to the people who wrote those replies. If you want a specific comment deleted rather than anonymised, ask us and we will delete it.

You are responsible for what you post. If a comment causes a claim against us because it was unlawful, that is your responsibility, not ours.

We do not endorse comments and we do not verify them. A comment is a reader's opinion, not our research.