THE CONTINUUM TIMES
Governance Framework · Effective 17 March 2026 · Subject to periodic review
This platform operates under a mandatory Human-in-the-Loop governance framework.
All content, actions, decisions, system outputs, publications, or communications that may affect child safety, public safety, legal or regulatory compliance, institutional integrity, or the Company's material interests are subject to restricted handling and enhanced internal controls.
Such matters shall not be executed, published, transmitted, or otherwise actioned without prior express authorisation from a Director or a duly authorised representative.
All high-risk, safety-sensitive, legally material, or reputationally consequential matters require prior express authorisation from a Director or a duly authorised representative acting under explicit, documented, and revocable delegated authority.
No system, agent, employee, contractor, or automated workflow may bypass, override, simulate, or assume such authorisation.
Any unauthorised attempt to bypass this control shall be recorded as a compliance incident and may result in disciplinary or legal action.
The following categories of matter are designated as restricted and subject to enhanced oversight:
3.1 Any matter relating to child safety, child welfare, or the safeguarding of minors.
3.2 Any matter relating to public safety, national security, or critical infrastructure.
3.3 Any matter involving legal proceedings, regulatory investigations, or enforcement actions.
3.4 Any matter that may create material financial, reputational, or operational risk for the Company.
3.5 Any matter involving personal data of vulnerable individuals or sensitive categories under UK GDPR.
3.6 Any matter involving AI-generated content that could be mistaken for human editorial judgement on matters of public interest.
Restricted matters shall be escalated immediately to the designated Director or authorised representative. No intermediate system, workflow, or agent may make a final determination on restricted matters without human authorisation.
All governance decisions, authorisation requests, content reviews, and compliance incidents are recorded in a structured audit log maintained by the Company. This log includes:
4.1 The identity of the requesting system, agent, or individual.
4.2 The nature and classification of the matter.
4.3 The risk level assigned (Low, Medium, High, or Critical).
4.4 The decision taken and the identity of the authorising Director or representative.
4.5 The timestamp of each action in the decision chain.
4.6 Any conditions, modifications, or restrictions imposed on the authorisation.
Audit records are retained in accordance with the Company's data retention policy and applicable regulatory requirements. Records relating to child safety or public safety matters are retained for a minimum period of seven years.
The Continuum Times is committed to transparency in the use of artificial intelligence in content creation and curation. All published content carries one of the following disclosure labels:
Human Written
Content authored entirely by human journalists and editors without AI assistance in the drafting process.
AI-Assisted
Content where AI tools were used to assist with research, drafting, translation, or summarisation, but where a human journalist exercised substantive editorial control over the final output.
AI-Generated, Human-Reviewed
Content generated primarily by AI systems and subsequently reviewed, verified, and approved for publication by a human editor in accordance with this governance framework.
AI disclosure labels are displayed on all article pages. The editorial log, maintained internally, records the specific AI systems used, the human reviewer, and the outcome of each review for every piece of published content.
The Continuum Times maintains a formal complaints procedure in accordance with professional journalistic standards and applicable UK regulatory guidance.
Complaints may be submitted in relation to any published content, editorial decision, AI-generated output, factual inaccuracy, or perceived breach of editorial standards. The Company also accepts requests for corrections, clarifications, and the exercise of the right of reply.
Complaints and enquiries may be submitted using the form at the bottom of this page, or by email to [email protected]. All submissions are acknowledged within two working days and substantively addressed within ten working days.
Upon receipt, each complaint is classified by type (editorial, factual accuracy, correction, clarification, AI concern, technical, or general) and assigned to the appropriate editorial or compliance officer. Complaints involving restricted matters under this governance framework are escalated to a Director.
If a complainant is not satisfied with the initial response, the matter may be escalated to the Editor-in-Chief. The Company's complaints procedure is independent of its commercial operations. In the event that internal resolution is not achieved, complainants may refer the matter to the relevant external regulatory body.
Where a factual error is identified in published content, the Company will publish a correction promptly and conspicuously. A record of all corrections is maintained and available for public inspection on the Corrections & Clarifications page.
The Company operates a structured decision framework for all matters requiring governance oversight. Each matter progresses through the following states:
All governance requests are classified according to the following risk levels:
Routine operational matters with minimal risk. May be approved by designated staff under standing delegated authority.
Matters with moderate operational, reputational, or compliance implications. Require review by a senior editor or compliance officer.
Matters with significant legal, financial, or reputational risk. Require express authorisation from a Director.
Matters involving child safety, public safety, regulatory enforcement, or existential institutional risk. Require immediate Director involvement and may not proceed without documented authorisation.
The Company's use of AI systems in content creation and curation is conducted in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. Specifically:
8.1 No personal data of readers, subscribers, or members of the public is used to train or fine-tune AI models operated by or on behalf of the Company.
8.2 AI systems are used solely for content generation, research assistance, translation, and editorial workflow automation.
8.3 All AI-generated content is subject to human review before publication, as set out in Section 1 of this framework.
8.4 Readers have the right to know whether content they are reading was generated or assisted by AI, as provided for in Section 5.
8.5 Data subjects may exercise their rights under UK GDPR (including access, rectification, erasure, and objection to automated processing) by contacting the Company's Data Protection Officer at [email protected].
For full details of the Company's data processing activities, please refer to our Privacy Policy.
Use the form below to submit a complaint, request a correction, raise an editorial concern, or make a general enquiry. All submissions are handled in accordance with the complaints procedure set out in Section 6 above.
Related Policies
This governance framework is effective as of 17 March 2026 and is subject to periodic review as this publication is currently in its Beta phase. The Company reserves the right to update this framework to reflect changes in applicable law, regulatory guidance, or operational requirements.
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