# Editorial guidelines

How Leakly sources, labels and updates leak and rumor reporting for U.S. readers.

Last updated: Nov 9, 2026

Leakly is a U.S.-first news desk for leaks and rumors that break on X. We write in U.S. English. A leak is a claim until independent evidence or an official confirmation says otherwise. These guidelines explain what readers can expect from our coverage. Leakly does not cover crypto markets or token rumors.

## Sourcing and verification

Every rumor we publish needs a real X post where the claim broke, plus the source that post points to when there is one. We capture engagement figures from the post at the time we read them and show the capture time in UTC. We never invent quotes, counts, dates, links or sources.

When we can verify the claim with filings, listings, code, certifications or other primary artifacts, we say so and quote narrowly. Independent reporting from other outlets strengthens a story. An official statement from the company, agency or named public figure involved — or the thing actually shipping — is what moves a story to Confirmed.

Impersonator and suspended accounts are never treated as sources. If we cannot verify a suitable breaking X post, we may still publish outlet-sourced reporting that cites real coverage and says so plainly. We do not fabricate a post, an embed or engagement figures.

## Status tags

Editorial status definitions

| Badge | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| [Unconfirmed] | One source or leaker. No independent confirmation yet. Labeled unconfirmed in the badge and the lede. |
| [Corroborated] | At least two independent sources or strong documentary evidence, but no official confirmation. |
| [Confirmed] | The company, agency or person involved has confirmed it, or it shipped. |
| [Debunked] | Denied with evidence, or shown to be false. We keep the page up and say so. |

Archive labels mark historical retrospectives. They are not a truth upgrade. Design chrome and terminal styling never upgrade a status tag.

## How rumors are labeled

Unconfirmed breaking rumors can still be newsworthy when the buzz is real. Unconfirmed means the claim is not settled. The lede attributes the claim, states the status, and explains what would confirm it. We do not dress a rumor up as settled fact.

## Linked sources

Every story links to at least one and at most five sources. Those links are the X origin post when we have one, plus the strongest corroborating pages. We do not pad the list, and we do not leave cited sources unlinked.

## Corrections and updates

1. We fix errors in place on the story.
2. We add a dated UTC note stating what changed.
3. Material corrections are listed on our Corrections page.
4. If the core claim fails, we re-badge the story Debunked instead of deleting it.
5. Material new developments become follow-up stories with a Previously on this story link, not silent rewrites of history.

## Right of reply

We do not hold a story solely to wait for a reply. Where practical we ask named companies or people for comment. If we publish before a response arrives, we note that. When a response lands, we update the story in place and timestamp the update in UTC.

## Ethics and red lines

We never publish:

* Hacked or stolen personal data, or links to breach dumps, paste sites, ransomware leak sites, torrents or malware samples.
* Private or intimate imagery, or anything involving minors.
* Doxxing: home addresses, private phone numbers or outing private individuals from leak files.
* Stolen credentials, keys, tokens, source dumps, builds, ROMs or malware. We describe impact; we do not reproduce secrets.
* Classified documents. We only summarize what major outlets have already reported.
* Pirated pre-release media (screeners, episode files, game builds, music rips) or links to them.
* Allegations about named private individuals without a credible public source already reporting them. Public-figure claims still require attribution and are marked alleged.
* Invented quotes, numbers, accounts or engagement figures.
* Buy/sell tips dressed as leaks.

## Images and credits

Every article gets its own original Leakly image. We do not reuse stolen documents, unlicensed product shots, leaked footage or intimate imagery. When a leak is visual, we describe it in text and link the origin post when appropriate. Alt text describes our graphic, not contraband.

## Independence

Leakly is editorially independent. Status badges, source choices and corrections are editorial judgments, not advertising. Sponsored or paid placement, if any ever appears, will be labeled as such and kept out of the news report.

## Times

All times on Leakly are UTC. Publish times are the real time a story went live. The time a leak surfaced is shown separately. We do not backdate.

## Contact

For corrections, right-of-reply responses, source tips that are not dump links, or questions about these guidelines, use the contact form. Do not send us stolen personal data, credentials or malware.

* [Contact form](https://leakly.com/contact/)
* [Corrections](https://leakly.com/corrections/)
* [Editorial policy & red lines](https://leakly.com/editorial-policy/)
* [Privacy](https://leakly.com/privacy/)
* [Terms](https://leakly.com/terms/)