Help & Safety

Terms of Service

Effective

1. Agreement

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a contract between you and Poli-Sci, LLC ("Poli-Sci", "we", "us"), 529 14th Street NW, Suite 712, Washington, DC 20045. They govern your use of the Poli-Sci mobile apps, the website at poli-sci.com and any related service (together, the "Service").

You accept these Terms when you create an account and confirm your acceptance before you post for the first time. If you do not agree, do not use the Service. Our Privacy Policy and Community Guidelines are part of these Terms.

Section 18 contains an agreement to resolve disputes by individual arbitration and a waiver of class actions. Please read it.

2. Who can use Poli-Sci

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account or post. We ask for your date of birth when you create an account, and you must give it truthfully. By creating an account you confirm that you are 18 or older and that you can form a binding contract. We may close accounts we believe belong to anyone under 18.

You may not use the Service if you are barred from receiving it under US law, if you are in a country subject to a US government embargo, or if you are on a US government list of prohibited or restricted parties. You may not create an account if we have previously removed you from the Service.

Sign-up may be limited to email addresses at participating institutions or to invited users.

3. Your account

You sign in with your email address and a one-time code we send to it. Keep access to that email secure: anyone who can read it can sign in as you. Tell us at support@poli-sci.com if you believe someone else has used your account.

The information you give us must be accurate and yours, including your name, handle and credentials (organization, degree, focus and year). Do not impersonate anyone or misrepresent your affiliation. Credentials are self-declared unless the Service marks them verified; a verified badge means only that your email domain matched the organization.

You may hold one personal account. You are responsible for everything done through your account. Handles are not property: we may reclaim or change a handle that impersonates someone, infringes a trademark or breaks these Terms. A deleted account's handle stays reserved and is not reissued.

4. The Service, and what is public

Poli-Sci is a platform for short video debate. A topic starts with one video and others reply with their own. Debate on Poli-Sci is public by design. Unless the Service clearly tells you otherwise, the following can be seen by anyone, including people who are not signed in, people who open a shared link on the web, and search engines:

  • your videos, their transcripts and captions, and the topics you start or reply to
  • your display name, handle, profile photo, profile background, profile videos and credentials
  • the analysis of your posts described in section 6, and your per-category reputation
  • your agree and disagree votes, shown with your name
  • who you follow and who follows you

Think before you post. Anything public can be copied, recorded or shared outside the Service, and we cannot recall it.

We may change, add or remove features at any time. We may limit or stop the Service, in whole or in part, without liability to you, except that we will give reasonable notice before shutting down the Service entirely.

5. Your content

"Your content" means the videos, audio, text, images, profile details and other material you post or upload.

You own your content. These Terms do not transfer ownership to us.

License to Poli-Sci. To run the Service, you grant Poli-Sci a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable and transferable license to host, store, copy, transcode, transcribe, caption, analyze (including by automated and machine-learning systems), adapt, create derivative works from (such as clips, thumbnails, transcripts, summaries and share cards), publicly display, publicly perform and distribute your content. This license is for operating, improving and promoting the Service, including showing advertising before, between or alongside your content, and to create de-identified and aggregated information as the Privacy Policy describes. We may sublicense these rights only to the service providers that help us run the Service and as needed to show your content to other users.

License to other users. You grant other users a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to view, stream and share links to your content through the features of the Service. It does not let them download, re-upload or otherwise reuse your content outside the Service.

How long the licenses last. The licenses end when you delete the content or your account, except: (a) copies in backups, which we delete on our normal backup cycle; (b) content already shared outside the Service, or cached by others, which we cannot recall; (c) where another user's post depends on yours, such as a reply to your topic, a placeholder may remain showing that the original was deleted; (d) claims you made that other users also made may remain on the Service, shown as from a deleted user; and (e) anything we must keep for legal reasons or to enforce these Terms.

Your promises. You promise that you own your content or have every right needed to post it and grant these licenses; that anyone who appears or speaks in your video has agreed to be in it; and that your content and our use of it as these Terms allow will not infringe anyone's rights or break the law.

Feedback. If you send us ideas or suggestions, we may use them without obligation to you.

6. Automated analysis of posts

When you post a video, our systems transcribe it and automated models analyze the transcript. The analysis identifies the claims you make, your stance on each claim, how strongly you hold it, whether you cite evidence, possible logical fallacies, which other speakers you respond to, and the topic category. Our systems combine this analysis with votes and activity to compute per-category reputation measures shown on your profile.

These models run on servers we control. The model is not given your name or account details, only an anonymous label for each speaker in a topic.

The analysis is produced by software, not written by Poli-Sci staff. It can be wrong, incomplete or unfair to what you meant. Labels such as "fallacy", stance and reputation scores are automated readings of the words spoken. They are not statements of fact by Poli-Sci about you or anyone else, and they are not an endorsement of any view.

If you believe a label on your post or your profile is wrong, use the report option on that item or write to support@poli-sci.com. We will review it and may correct, hide or remove it. We may change how the analysis works at any time.

7. Votes and engagement

You can agree or disagree with claims made in posts. Your votes are public and shown with your name. Do not manipulate votes, follows, views or reputation, for example with multiple accounts, automated tools, or coordinated or paid activity. We may discount or remove activity we believe is not genuine.

8. Rules for content and conduct

Poli-Sci is for vigorous, good-faith debate. Argue with ideas, not people. We have zero tolerance for objectionable content and abusive users. The Community Guidelines explain these rules with examples. You may not post or do any of the following:

  • threats, incitement or glorification of violence, or support for terrorist or violent extremist groups
  • harassment, bullying or abuse of any person, including coordinated pile-ons and targeting private individuals
  • hateful content that attacks people for race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability or similar characteristics
  • nudity, sexual content, or any content that sexualizes or endangers a minor
  • intimate images of anyone shared without their consent
  • another person's private information, such as a home address, phone number or private records
  • impersonation, or edited or synthetic media that falsely shows a real person saying or doing something
  • false information about how, when or where to vote or register
  • content that encourages suicide, self-harm or dangerous acts
  • spam, scams, commercial solicitation, or links to malware
  • content that infringes copyright, trademark, privacy or publicity rights, or recordings of people made without consent where the law requires it
  • anything illegal, or that promotes illegal activity

You also may not: access the Service by automated means, scrape it or collect data about users; reverse engineer, interfere with or overload the Service; get around any limit, block or removal, including by opening a new account; access another person's account; or sell or transfer your account.

9. Moderation, reporting and enforcement

We use automated systems and human review to find and act on content that breaks these Terms. We may remove, hide, label or limit the reach of any content, and may warn, restrict, suspend or terminate any account, at our discretion. We are not obliged to monitor content, and we are not responsible for content posted by users.

Reporting. You can report a post, topic or user from within the app, or write to support@poli-sci.com. We review reports and act on those that break these Terms, generally within 24 hours.

Blocking. You can block another user. Blocking removes their topics and posts from your feed. Because debate content is public, it does not stop a blocked user from seeing your public posts.

Notice and appeal. When we remove your content or restrict your account, we will tell you why unless doing so would break the law, endanger anyone or compromise an investigation. You may appeal within 30 days by writing to support@poli-sci.com. We will review the decision and tell you the outcome.

Legal duties. We report apparent child sexual exploitation to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and we may preserve and disclose information when the law requires it or to protect the safety of any person.

10. Copyright and intimate-image removal

Copyright notices. We respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Send notices to our designated agent: Copyright Agent, Poli-Sci, LLC, 529 14th Street NW, Suite 712, Washington, DC 20045, legal@poli-sci.com. A notice must include:

  1. your physical or electronic signature, as the owner or someone authorized to act for the owner
  2. identification of the copyrighted work
  3. identification of the material you say infringes, with enough detail to find it, such as a link
  4. your name, address, phone number and email
  5. a statement that you believe in good faith that the use is not authorized by the owner, its agent or the law
  6. a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the notice is accurate and that you are the owner or authorized to act for the owner

Counter-notices. If your content was removed and you believe it was a mistake or misidentification, you may send our agent a counter-notice with your signature; identification of the removed material and where it appeared; a statement under penalty of perjury that you believe in good faith it was removed by mistake or misidentification; your name, address and phone number; and your consent to the jurisdiction of the federal court for your address (or, outside the US, any district where Poli-Sci may be found) and to accept service from the person who sent the notice. We may restore the material in 10 to 14 business days unless the claimant tells us they have filed a court action.

Repeat infringers. We terminate, in appropriate circumstances, the accounts of users who repeatedly infringe.

Intimate images shared without consent. If an intimate image or video of you, including a realistic synthetic one, appears on Poli-Sci without your consent, send a removal request to takedown@poli-sci.com. Include your signature, enough information to find the content, a brief statement that it was shared without your consent, and how to contact you. We will remove valid reported content, and make reasonable efforts to remove identical copies, within 48 hours of receiving the request.

11. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy explains what we collect, what our systems infer from your posts, what is public, who we share data with, how long we keep it, and the choices and rights you have. Please read it.

12. Third-party services and app stores

The Service may link to or rely on services we do not control, such as app stores, email and push providers, advertisers, and other websites. Their own terms apply, and we are not responsible for them. You are responsible for any data or network charges from your carrier.

If you got the app from Apple's App Store: these Terms are between you and Poli-Sci only, not Apple, and Poli-Sci, not Apple, is responsible for the app and its content. Your license to use the app is non-transferable and limited to Apple-branded devices you own or control, as the App Store's usage rules allow. Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for the app. If the app fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple and Apple will refund any purchase price; Apple has no other warranty obligation for the app. Poli-Sci, not Apple, is responsible for addressing any claims about the app, including product liability, legal or regulatory compliance, consumer protection and privacy claims, and any claim that the app infringes a third party's intellectual property. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them against you.

If you got the app from Google Play: Google's terms of service for Play also apply to your download.

13. Advertising

The Service shows advertising, including sponsored topics and video ads from third parties, which may appear before, between or alongside user content. Ads may be personalized as the Privacy Policy describes, and you can opt out there. Sponsored content is labeled. We do not endorse advertisers or their products, and your dealings with them are between you and them. You are not entitled to any share of advertising revenue.

14. Ending your account

You may delete your account at any time in the app under Edit Profile, or on our website. Deletion is permanent. It removes your profile, votes, follows and media, and removes or replaces with a placeholder the posts you made, as described in section 5 and the Privacy Policy.

We may suspend or terminate your account, or stop providing all or part of the Service to you, if you break these Terms, if the law requires it, or if your use creates risk or legal exposure for us or others. Sections 5 (as to what survives), 6, 10 and 15 to 21 survive the end of these Terms.

15. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE". TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS, POLI-SCI DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT PROMISE THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT ANY CONTENT OR AUTOMATED ANALYSIS IS ACCURATE, COMPLETE OR RELIABLE.

Content on Poli-Sci comes from users and from automated systems. It reflects the views of the people who post it, not Poli-Sci. Do not rely on it as professional, legal, financial or medical advice.

16. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS, POLI-SCI AND ITS MEMBERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, DATA, REPUTATION OR GOODWILL, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE, USER CONTENT, AUTOMATED ANALYSIS OR THESE TERMS, WHATEVER THE LEGAL THEORY.

OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATED TO THE SERVICE IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF USD $100 OR THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM AROSE. SOME LAWS DO NOT ALLOW THESE LIMITS, SO THEY MAY NOT ALL APPLY TO YOU.

17. Indemnity

To the extent the law allows, you will defend, indemnify and hold harmless Poli-Sci and its members, officers, employees, contractors and agents from any claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from: (a) your content, including any claim that it infringes someone's rights, defames anyone, or violates their privacy or publicity rights; (b) your use of the Service; (c) your breach of these Terms; or (d) your violation of any law or the rights of any third party. We may assume the exclusive defense of any matter you must indemnify, at our expense, and you will cooperate with us.

18. Disputes

Governing law. These Terms are governed by the laws of the District of Columbia and applicable US federal law, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.

Talk to us first. Before filing any claim, you agree to contact us at legal@poli-sci.com and try to resolve it informally for 60 days.

Arbitration. Any dispute not resolved informally will be settled by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, except that either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court, and either party may seek relief in court for infringement of intellectual property. You and Poli-Sci waive the right to a jury trial and to bring or join any class, collective or representative action. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by emailing legal@poli-sci.com within 30 days of first accepting these Terms.

Courts. Any dispute not subject to arbitration will be heard only in the courts of the District of Columbia or the federal courts located in Washington, D.C., and you and Poli-Sci consent to their jurisdiction.

19. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. For material changes we will give you at least 30 days' notice in the app or by email before they take effect, except where a change is needed for legal reasons or to address abuse. If you keep using the Service after a change takes effect, you accept the updated Terms. If you do not agree, delete your account before then.

20. General

These Terms, with the Privacy Policy and Community Guidelines, are the entire agreement between you and Poli-Sci about the Service. If any part is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms; we may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition or sale of assets. We are not liable for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control. Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, employment or agency relationship.

21. Contact

Poli-Sci, LLC
529 14th Street NW, Suite 712
Washington, DC 20045

  • Support and reports: support@poli-sci.com
  • Legal notices: legal@poli-sci.com
  • Copyright agent: legal@poli-sci.com