Consistent with the Moderation Policy, petitions that are determined to violate the Terms of Participation will be removed from the site. Once your petition is published, you’ll receive an automatic email from us with a link that people can use to sign — simply forward it to friends and family and you’re on your way. Signing means giving up your details not only to the organization that started the survey or petition, but potentially to whomever they choose to sell it to. In addition, by participating in We the People you agree not to post the following types of material: Threats of unlawful violence or harm to any individual or group, Terms commonly understood to constitute profanity or abusive or degrading slurs or epithets, Information that invades an individual’s privacy, Information that if published would violate criminal law or give rise to civil liability. But what happens to these petitions after you sign it? Some petitions may be removed from the site consistent with the Terms of Participation. You should also check to be sure there isn’t already a recent petition with the same goal on the site. In order to create a We the People petition, you must create a WhiteHouse.gov User Account. You can learn more about WhiteHouse.gov User Accounts on our Privacy Policy page. In order to participate in the We the People platform on WhiteHouse.gov, users must create a WhiteHouse.gov account and verify their email address. You agree to only create petitions consistent with the limited purpose of the We the People platform, which is to allow individuals to petition the Administration to take action on a range of issues — to address a problem, support or oppose a proposal, or otherwise change or continue federal government policy or actions.
To do so, you can contact our Help Center here. You agree that the White House can send you email updates related to We the People. Petitions will only be removed under the Moderation Policy — no petition will be removed because of the viewpoint it expresses. (Very exciting!). There are several categories of material that are inconsistent with the limited purpose of We the People and the larger purpose and function of the White House’s website. Petitions that do not reach the threshold for official response will be archived and no longer publicly available on the site, unless you have the direct link.
New signature thresholds will only be applied to petitions created after the changes are made. But you can always just use one of our many template designs for your petition, and all you’ll need to do is fill out a form with some basic information. What you want the President or the Administration to do? Users who have a petition removed are welcome to create a new petition that complies with the Terms of Participation.
You can always view the current signature thresholds on the Terms of Participation page.
The We the People platform is the first time the Administration has attempted a project like this. When a petition is first created, only the petition creator will have the URL of the petition. While the White House will not combine similar petitions, one update may be applied to multiple petitions on the same topic. Petitions that do not meet these signature thresholds will be removed from the site after the time limit has expired.
Creating We the People petitions must be done by individuals interacting directly with WhiteHouse.gov and not through a third-party website or service. If you would like to sign an existing petition, you do not need to create or use an account. In some cases, the White House response might not address the facts of a particular matter to avoid the appearance of improper influence (such as in specific procurement, law enforcement or adjudicatory matters).