Right of reply
and appeals
If GambleLABS names you, you get to answer — before publication where we can manage it, and at any time afterwards. Your answer is published alongside the record, in your words, whether or not it changes what we wrote.
01Before publication
How we approach a named subject
Where a record describes what a named party did, that party is approached before it is published. This is a requirement of the evidence standard, not a courtesy we extend when convenient.
What we send
Not a vague notice that we are working on something. The approach sets out each specific claim we intend to publish about the subject, in the form we intend to publish it, with enough detail that it can actually be answered — the date, the amount, the register entry, the document. A claim that cannot be put specifically enough to answer is a claim that is not ready.
How long we give
A stated deadline, proportionate to what is being asked. Routine factual checks get days; a complex set of allegations gets longer. We extend where a subject asks for more time and gives a reason, and we say no to open-ended extensions whose only function is to delay. Whatever the period was, the record states it.
What we do with what comes back
- A factual correction with evidence — the record is amended before publication, and the response is still published alongside it.
- A disagreement about significance — both positions are published. We do not adopt the subject’s framing, and we do not bury theirs in a footnote.
- A denial without evidence — published as a denial, in full. Readers can weigh it.
- A legal threat — logged, answered separately, and it has no effect on the publication decision. Where a threat is itself material to the story, it may be published.
- Silence — recorded as no response, with the date we asked and the period we allowed.
Where we cannot approach first
Occasionally advance notice would put a source at risk or allow evidence to disappear. In those cases the approach is made at publication rather than before, the record says that this is what happened and why, and the response is added to the record as soon as it arrives.
Off the record
A subject can answer on the record, on background, or not at all — but the terms are agreed before the conversation, not applied to it retrospectively. A response sent without conditions is treated as being for publication.
02After publication
What happens to your response
A response is a record in its own right, stored against the record it answers and shown with it. It is not a comment thread, it is not moderated for tone, and it is not removed when it becomes inconvenient.
- 01Received
A response has arrived and is being read against the record. It stays off the public record while that is happening: nothing of yours is published before it is cleared, so this state is visible to you and to us rather than to readers.
- 02Published
The response is published alongside the record, attributed to the person or body that sent it. This is the normal outcome.
- 03Declined to comment
The subject was approached and chose not to answer. Recorded as a decision they made, not as an absence — and never characterised as evasion.
- 04No response received
The approach was made, the stated period elapsed, and nothing came back. The record carries the fact that we asked, so a silence reads as a silence rather than as an offer never made.
Where each state is shown differs by record, so it is stated rather than assumed. Entity dossiers and public case files carry the outcome of the approach — published, declined or unanswered. Investigations and research records carry only a response cleared for publication; where there is none, the record says that no statement is published against it and leaves the reason to this page.
A published response carries the name of the person or body that sent it, the date we received it, and its text. We reproduce it in full where it addresses the record. We will condense only for length, only with the sender’s agreement, and we say when we have.
We reserve exactly three edits and no others: removing material that would identify a private individual who is not accountable for the conduct described; removing material that is separately unlawful to publish; and marking, without deleting, any factual assertion in the response that our own evidence contradicts. Each of those is disclosed where it happens.
What a reply cannot do
- Remove a record that the evidence supports.
- Delay publication indefinitely by asking for more time.
- Impose confidentiality on the fact that we asked.
- Trade a correction for a commercial arrangement.
03Corrections
Asking us to correct something
Open to anyone — the subject of a record, a reader, a regulator, someone mentioned in passing. You do not need a lawyer and you do not need standing.
- 01
The record and the sentence
The address of the record, and the specific passage you say is wrong. A general objection to a record’s existence is not a correction request, and we will treat it as a response instead.
- 02
What is wrong with it
Whether the claim is factually incorrect, materially incomplete, out of date, or correctly stated about the wrong party. Misidentification is the error we most want to hear about fastest.
- 03
What the correct position is
Stated as you would want it published. If we agree, this is what we work from.
- 04
The evidence
The document that shows it: the register entry, the filing, the notice, the judgment, the dated correspondence. A document beats an assertion, and a primary document beats a description of one.
- 05
Who you are
Your name, and — where you are writing for a company — your authority to do so. Anonymous correction requests are read and checked, but we cannot come back to you on them.
What we do with it
The request goes to an editor who was not the author of the record. They check the claim against the sources on file and against the evidence you have sent. One of four things then happens, and we tell you which.
- Corrected. The record is amended and a correction is issued into the public correction log, permanently, describing what was wrong.
- Clarified. The facts stood but the wording allowed a reading we did not support. The record is tightened and the change is logged.
- Retracted. The claim should not have been published. The record stays at its address, marked as retracted, with the reason attached.
- Declined. We think the record is right. We tell you why, we point you at the evidence, and — if you want — we publish your position alongside the record anyway.
Urgent categories jump the queue: misidentification of a company or person, anything that could expose a private individual, and any claim about a live regulatory or legal process.
04Appeals
If you disagree with the outcome
A decision made by the desk that produced the record is not a final answer. There is a route past it.
- Stage one
Reconsideration
Tell us you are appealing and say what you think was weighed wrongly. The request is reviewed by an editor with no involvement in the original record or in the first decision, working from the same source file.
- Stage two
Editorial review
Where the disagreement is about the standard rather than the facts — whether the evidence met the bar, whether the framing was supported — it is escalated to a full review of the record against the published evidence standard, and the outcome is written down.
- Stage three
External routes
Nothing here removes your other options. Regulators, data-protection authorities and courts in your own jurisdiction remain available, and we will not ask you to waive any of them as a condition of engaging with us.
Appeals are decided on evidence and on the published standard. They are not decided on the volume of correspondence, the seniority of the person writing, or the strength of a legal threat — and an appeal never becomes a negotiation about money.
05Contact
How to reach us
Stated exactly as it stands today, including anything that is missing.
The channel that exists
The secure submission form is the one intake channel GambleLABS currently monitors. It is built for player reports, but it accepts any submission with supporting documents, and it is the right route for a right-of-reply statement, a correction request or an appeal.
Begin your description with RIGHT OF REPLY, CORRECTION or APPEAL so it is routed correctly, name the record you are writing about, and attach your evidence. You will be issued a reference you can use to check the status of the submission without creating an account.
Correspondence is acknowledged within 10 working days. That is an acknowledgement, not a decision: the assessment windows set out in sections 02 and 04 run from the point the material is complete.
The channel that does not exist yet
GambleLABS does not currently publish a dedicated editorial mailbox, press contact or telephone number. Rather than print an address that nobody reads, we are stating plainly that this channel is not yet available — and when it is, it will be published here and in the site footer.
Any email address, social account or telephone number presented to you elsewhere as an official GambleLABS contact is not one. If someone approaches you claiming to represent GambleLABS — particularly offering coverage, removal or ‘partnership’ — tell us through the form above.