diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 733aa92..ef57ebc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -36,12 +36,23 @@ Enable it on TinyWeb's `/style` page under "Forum".
 - Threads are auto-pruned after 30 days (configurable, or set to 0 to keep everything)
 - Moderation is local: block authors, mute threads, keyword filters, and gossip block lists with peers (auto-block after 3 peer reports)
 
+### Trust circle
+
+Content exchange is gated by a trust graph derived from your TinyWeb subscriptions:
+
+- Only peers you subscribe to (with forum enabled) are trusted sources of content
+- Content from trusted peers propagates transitively: you see posts from their trusted peers, and theirs, and so on — no hop limit
+- No open registration: a new identity has zero connections and zero reach. No bot can join without a human vouching for them
+- This is structural: spam is not a moderation problem, it's a graph problem
+
+Trust is seeded from TinyWeb's subscription page — each subscription has a "forum: on/off" toggle. When enabled, that peer's forum content (and their transitive trust network) enters your view.
+
 ## Moderation
 
 All moderation is local — it controls what you see:
 
-- **Block author** — hides all content from that identity
-- **Auto-block** — when 3+ of your peers have blocked the same identity, it blocks for you too
+- **Block author** — hides all content from that identity and cascades: the blocked peer's downstream trust network (peers they vouched for) is also removed from your view. If a downstream peer has an alternate trust path from another source you trust, they survive the cascade.
+- **Auto-block** — when 3+ of your peers have blocked the same identity, it blocks for you too (with cascade)
 - **Mute thread** — hides a thread from the listing
 - **Keyword filters** — hides threads matching keywords
 - **Instance sync** — choose which peers to sync with; unsync at any time
@@ -71,6 +82,7 @@ All moderation is local — it controls what you see:
 - Retractions are voluntary — peers can ignore them
 - Block gossip can be gamed (requires collusion by 3+ peers on Reticulum)
 - Threads prune after 30 days by default
+- The trust circle replaces open discovery: you can't find interesting strangers through topic blooms alone. Discovery is through the existing subscription graph — you find people your trusted peers already know.
 - Best-effort maintenance
 
 ## Security
@@ -79,3 +91,4 @@ All moderation is local — it controls what you see:
 - **Retractions are voluntary** — Retracting a thread or post sends a signal to peers, but any peer can ignore it. "Retract" is a polite request, not a guaranteed delete.
 - **Block gossip can be gamed** — Auto-block triggers after 3 peer reports. On Reticulum this requires 3+ real instances to collude, which is impractical at mesh scale, but is not cryptographically enforced.
 - **No rate limiting** — Forum POST endpoints have no throttling. Low risk since the HTTP port is localhost-only by default.
+- **Trust circle** — Spam resistance is structural (no open entry), not procedural. The weakest point is social engineering: a trusted human adding a bad actor. Mitigated by cascade removal on block — blocking a peer removes their entire downstream trust network from your view.