Terms & Conditions

Unify the-lit, builds technologies and services that enable people belonging to marginalized communities to experience an environment where they can nurture their financial literacy, entrepreneurial skills, and subconscious mind. These Terms govern the usage of Unify the Lit and its services, features, apps, services, technologies, and software that we offer, except where we expressly state that separate terms (and not these) apply. These services are provided to you by Unify the Lit.

 

 We do not charge you to use Unify the Lit or the other products and services covered by these Terms, except for accessing premium services. 

We don't sell or share your personal data to any advertisers or Third Party administrators, and we don't share information that directly identifies you (such as your name, email address, or other contact information) with anyone unless you give us specific permission.          

 

 The services we provide are strictly compliant with the following Terms and Conditions as mentioned below:

1. Your commitments to Unify the Lit and our community

We provide these services to you and others to help advance our mission. In exchange, we need you to make the following commitments:

1. We expect you to utilize our services for genuine purposes of need to the underprivileged minorities of India.

2. We expect you to enable and cooperate with us to serve you for the betterment of society.

3. We expect you to behave reasonably and soundly of general prudence.

4. We always expect you to abide by the instant terms and conditions.

 

2. Updating our Terms

We work constantly to improve our services and develop new features to make our Products better for you and our community. As a result, we may need to update these Terms from time to time to accurately reflect our services and practices. We will only make changes if the provisions are no longer appropriate or if they are incomplete, and only if the changes are reasonable and take due account of your interests.

We will notify you (for example, by email or through our Products) at least 30 days before we make changes to these Terms and allow you to review them before they go into effect unless changes are required by law. Once any updated Terms are in effect, you will be bound by them if you continue to use our Products.

We hope that you will continue using our Products, but if you do not agree to our updated Terms and no longer want to be part of the Unify the Lit community, you can terminate the usage of products and services.

 

3. Account suspension or termination

We want to Unify the Lit to be a place where people feel welcome and safe to express themselves and share their thoughts, ideas, and problems.

If we determine that you have, seriously, or repeatedly breached our Terms or Policies, including in particular our Community Standards, we may suspend or permanently disable access to your account. We may also suspend or disable your account if you repeatedly infringe other people's intellectual property rights or where we are required to do so for legal reasons.

Where we take such action, we'll let you know and explain any options you have to request a review, unless doing so may expose us or others to legal liability; harm our community of users; compromise or interfere with the integrity or operation of any of our services, systems or Products; or where we are restricted due to technical limitations; or where we are prohibited from doing so for legal reasons.

You can learn more (add hyperlink) about what you can do if your account has been disabled and how to contact us if you think that we have disabled your account by mistake.

If you delete or we disable your account, these Terms shall terminate as an agreement between you and us, but the following provisions will remain in place: 3, 4.

I. Limits on liability

We work hard to provide the best Products we can and to specify clear guidelines for everyone who uses them. Our Products, however, are provided "as is", and we make no guarantees that they will always be safe, secure, or error-free, or that they will function without disruptions, delays, or imperfections. To the extent permitted by law, we also DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. We do not control or direct what people and others do or say, and we are not responsible for their actions or conduct (whether online or offline) or any content that they share (including offensive, inappropriate, obscene, unlawful, and other objectionable content).

We cannot predict when issues may arise with our Products. Accordingly, our liability shall be limited to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, and under no circumstances will we be liable to you for any lost profits, revenues, information or data, or consequential, special, indirect, exemplary, punitive, or incidental damages arising out of or related to these Terms or the Unify the Lit Products, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

II. Disputes

We try to provide clear rules so that we can limit or hopefully avoid disputes between you and us. If a dispute does arise, however, it's useful to know upfront where it can be resolved and what laws will apply.

If you are a consumer, the laws of India will apply to any claim, cause of action, or dispute that you have against us that arises out of or relates to these Terms or the Unify the Lit Products, and you may resolve your claim in any competent court in India that has jurisdiction over the claim. You also agree that you submit to the personal jurisdiction of either of these courts to litigate any such claim and that the laws of India will govern these Terms and any claim, without regard to conflict of law provisions.

III. Funding

We run Unify the Lit by crowd finding and Angel Investors, to support in providing services to our users. However, the premium features can be accessed only through payment made by the user herself/himself.

IV. Other

a) These Terms (formerly known as the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities) make up the entire agreement between you and Unify the Lit, Inc. regarding your use of our Products. They supersede any prior agreements.

b) Some of the products that we offer are also governed by supplemental terms. If you use any of those Products, supplemental terms will be made available and will become part of our agreement with you. 

c) If any portion of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining portion will remain in full force and effect. If we fail to enforce any of these Terms, it will not be considered a waiver. Any amendment to or waiver of these Terms must be made in writing and signed by us.

d) You will not transfer any of your rights or obligations under these Terms to anyone else without our consent.

e) You may designate a person (called a legacy contact) to manage your account if it is memorialized. Only your legacy contact or a person whom you have identified in a valid will or similar document expressing clear consent to disclose your content upon death or incapacity will be able to seek disclosure from your account after it is memorialized.

f) These Terms do not confer any third-party beneficiary rights. All of our rights and obligations under these Terms are freely assignable by us in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, or by operation of law or otherwise.

g) You should know that we may need to change the username for your account in certain circumstances (for example, if someone else claims the username and it appears unrelated to the name that you use in everyday life). We will inform you in advance if we have to do this and explain why.

h) We always appreciate your feedback and other suggestions about our products and services. But you should know that we may use them without any restriction or obligation to compensate you, and we are under no obligation to keep them confidential.

i) We reserve all rights not expressly granted to you.

OTHER TERMS AND POLICIES THAT MAY APPLY TO YOU

a) Fraud and deception

Policy rationale

To prevent and disrupt harmful or fraudulent activity, we remove content aimed at deliberately deceiving people to gain an unfair advantage or deprive another of money, property, or legal right. However, we allow people to raise awareness and educate others as well as condemn these activities using our platform.

Do not post:

• Fake user reviews

• Fake or manipulated documents, e.g. coupons, medical prescriptions

• Fake or counterfeit currency

• Offering or selling of personally identifiable information

• Coordination or facilitation of betting manipulation, e.g. match-fixing

• Recruitment of workforce for fraudulent activities, e.g. National Insurance Number scams

• Other forms of deception aimed at depriving people of money or property such as:

• Confidence schemes, e.g. romance/military impersonation scams

• All Multilevel Marketing schemes, Ponzi schemes or pyramid schemes

• Setting up false businesses or entities

• Investment schemes with the promise of high rates of return

• Bribery

• Embezzlement

• Money laundering (concealment of the origins of criminally obtained money)

• Charity scams or fake fundraising campaigns

• Debt relief or credit repair scam

b)    Bullying and harassment

Policy rationale

Bullying and harassment happen in many places and come in many different forms, from making threats to releasing personally identifiable information, to sending threatening messages and making unwanted malicious contact. We do not tolerate this kind of behavior because it prevents people from feeling safe and respected on Unify the Lit.

We distinguish between public figures and private individuals because we want to allow discussion, which often includes critical commentary of people who are featured in the news or who have a large public audience. For public figures, we remove severe attacks as well as certain attacks where the public figure is directly tagged in the post or comment. For private individuals, our protection goes further: we remove content that's meant to degrade or shame, including, for example, claims about someone's sexual activity. We recognize that bullying and harassment can have more of an emotional impact on minors, which is why our policies provide heightened protection for users between the ages of 13 and 18.

Context and intent matter and we allow people to share and reshare posts if it is clear that something was shared to condemn or draw attention to bullying and harassment. In certain instances, we require self-reporting because it helps us understand that the person targeted feels bullied or harassed. In addition to reporting such behavior and content, we encourage people to use tools available on Unify the Lit to help protect against it.

We also have a Bullying Prevention Hub, which is a resource for teenagers, parents, and educators seeking support for issues related to bullying and other conflicts. It offers step-by-step guidance, including information on how to start important conversations about bullying. Learn more about what we're doing to protect people from bullying and harassment here.

 

Do not:

• Repeatedly contact someone in a manner that is:

• Unwanted, or 

• Sexually harassing, or

• Directed at a large number of individuals with no prior solicitation

• Target anyone maliciously by:

• Attacking them based on their status as a victim of sexual assault, sexual exploitation, or domestic abuse

• Calling for self-injury or suicide of a specific person or group of people

• Attacking them through derogatory terms related to sexual activity (e.g. whore, slut)

• Posting content about a violent tragedy, or victims of violent tragedies, that includes claims that a violent tragedy did not occur

• Posting content about victims or survivors of violent tragedies by name or by image, with claims that they are:

• Acting/pretending to be a victim of an event

• Otherwise paid or employed to mislead people about their role in the event

• Threaten to release an individual's private phone number, residential address, or email address

• Creating Pages or groups that are dedicated to attacking individual(s) by:

• Calling for death or serious disease or disability

• Making statements of intent of advocating to engage in sexual activity

• Making claims that the individual has or may have a sexually transmitted disease

• Sending messages that contain the following attacks when aimed at an individual or group of individuals in the thread

• Targeted swearing

• Calls for death, serious disease or disability, or physical harm

• Target another private individual or public figure who is a minor, with:

• Calls for death or serious disease or disability

• Female-gendered cursing terms when used in a derogatory way

• Claims about sexual activity or sexually transmitted diseases

• Pages or groups created to attack through:

• Targeted swearing

• Negative physical descriptions

• Claims about religious identity or blasphemy

• Expressions of contempt or disgust

• Female-gendered cursing terms when used in a derogatory way

• Target public figures by purposefully exposing them to:

• For adults

• Calls for death or serious disease or disability

• Statements of intent to engage in sexual activity or advocating to engage in a sexual activity

• Claims about sexually transmitted diseases

• Female-gendered cursing terms when used in a derogatory way

• Content that praises, celebrates, or mocks their death

• For minors

• Comparisons to animals or insects that are culturally perceived as intellectually or physically inferior, or to an inanimate object ("cow", "monkey", "potato")

• Content manipulated to highlight, circle, or otherwise negatively draw attention to specific physical characteristics (nose, ear, etc.)

• Target private individuals or involuntary minor public figures with:

• Comparisons to animals or insects that are culturally perceived as intellectually or physically inferior, or to an inanimate object ("cow", "monkey", "potato")

• Content manipulated to highlight, circle, or otherwise negatively draw attention to specific physical characteristics (nose, ear, etc.)

• Attacks through negative physical descriptions

• Content that ranks individuals on physical appearance or personality

• Content sexualizing another adult

• Content that depicts others in the process of or straight after menstruating, urinating, vomiting, or defecating, where context further degrades the individual or contains an expression of disgust

• Physical bullying where the context further degrades the individual

• Content that praises, celebrates, or mocks their death

• In addition to the above, attacks through Pages or groups:

• Negative character or ability claims

• Self-referential bullying; only if the object targets more than one private individual

• Target private adults (who must self-report) or any private minors or involuntary minor public figures with:

• Targeted swearing

• Claims about romantic involvement, sexual orientation, or gender identity

• Coordination, advocation, or promotion of exclusion

• Negative character or ability claims, except in the context of criminal allegations against adults

• Expressions of contempt or disgust, except in the context of criminal allegations against adults

• Target private individuals who are minors with:

• Allegations about criminal or illegal behavior

• Target private individuals (who must self-report) with:

• Self-referential bullying

• Unwanted manipulated imagery

• Comparison to other public, fictional or private individuals based on physical appearance

• Claims about religious identity or blasphemy, except in at-risk countries where the Violence and Incitement Policy should be applied

• Comparisons to animals or insects that are not culturally perceived as intellectually or physically inferior ("tiger", "lion")

• Neutral or positive physical descriptions

• Non-negative character or ability claims

• Any bullying or harassment violation, when shared in an endearing context

 

c) Hate speech

Policy rationale

We do not allow hate speech on Unify the Lit because it creates an environment of intimidation and exclusion, and in some cases, may promote real-world violence.

We define hate speech as a direct attack on people based on what we call protected characteristics – race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, caste, sex, gender, gender identity, and serious disease or disability. We protect against attacks based on age when age is paired with another protected characteristic, and also provide certain protections for immigration status. We define "attack" as violent or dehumanizing speech, statements of inferiority, or calls for exclusion or segregation. We separate attacks into three tiers of severity, as described below.

We allow social commentary related to these topics. Also, we believe that people are more responsible when they share this kind of commentary using their authentic identity.

 

Do not post any degrading, insensitive, offending opinions, comments, statements to any race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, caste, sex, gender, gender identity, and serious disease or disability. 

We do allow criticism of immigration policies and arguments for restricting those policies.

Content that describes or negatively targets people with slurs, where slurs are defined as words commonly used as insulting labels for the above-listed characteristics.

 

d) Misrepresentation

Policy rationale

Authenticity is the cornerstone of our community. We believe that people are more accountable for their statements and actions when they use their authentic identities. That's why we require people to connect on Unify the Lit using the name that they go by in everyday life. Our Authenticity Policies are intended to create a safe environment where people can trust and hold one another accountable.

Do not:

e) Misrepresent your identity by

Using a name that does not abide by our name policies 

Providing a false date of birth

f) Misuse our products by

• Creating a profile for someone under thirteen years old

• Maintaining multiple accounts 

• Creating inauthentic profiles

• Sharing an account with any other person 

• Creating another Unify the Lit account after being banned from the site

• Creating or managing a Page, group, event, or profile because the previous Page, group, event, or profile was removed from the site

• Evading the registration requirements outlined in our Terms of Service

• Impersonate others by

• Using their images with the explicit aim to deceive people

• Creating a profile assuming the persona of or speaking for another person or entity

• Creating a Page assuming to be or speak for another person or entity for whom the user is not authorized to do so.

• Posting imagery that is likely to deceive the public as to the content's origin, if:

• The entity or an authorized representative objects to the content, and

• Can establish a risk of harm to members of the public.

 

g) Spam

Policy rationale

We work hard to limit the spread of spam because we do not want to allow content that is designed to deceive, or that attempts to mislead users to increase viewership. This content creates a negative user experience and detracts from people's ability to engage authentically in online communities. We also aim to prevent people from abusing our platform, products, or features to artificially increase viewership or distribute content en masse for commercial gain.

h) Cybersecurity

Policy rationale

We recognize that the safety of our users extends to the security of their personal information. Attempts to gather sensitive personal information by deceptive or invasive methods are harmful to the authentic, open, and safe atmosphere that we want to foster. Therefore, we do not allow attempts to gather sensitive user information through the abuse of our platform and products.

 

i) Inappropriate/ Inauthentic behavior

Policy rationale

In line with our commitment to authenticity, we don't allow people to misrepresent themselves on Unify the Lit, use fake accounts, artificially boost the popularity of content or engage in behaviors designed to enable other violations under our Community Standards. This policy is intended to create a space where people can trust the people and communities they interact with.

We further reserve the right to block any user on finding inappropriate or inauthentic behavior.

j) False information

Policy rationale

Reducing the spread of false information on Unify the Lit is a responsibility that we take seriously. We also recognize that this is a challenging and sensitive issue. We want to help people stay informed without stifling productive public discourse. There is also a fine line between false information and satire or opinion. Learn more about our work to reduce the spread of false information here.

We are constantly collaborating with academics and other organizations to help solve these challenging issues.

 

k) Intellectual property

Policy rationale

Unify the Lit takes intellectual property rights seriously and believes that they are important to promoting expression, creativity, and innovation in our community. However, before sharing content on Unify the Lit, please make sure that you have the right to do so. We ask that you respect other people's copyrights, trademarks, and other legal rights. We are committed to helping people and organizations promote and protect their intellectual property rights. Unify the Lit's Terms of Service do not allow people to post content that violates someone else's intellectual property rights, including copyright and trademark. 

Upon receipt of a report from a rights holder or an authorized representative, we will remove or restrict content that engages in:

l) User requests

We comply with:

• User requests for the removal of their account.

• Requests for removal of a deceased user's account from a verified immediate family member or executor

• Requests for removal of an incapacitated user's account from an authorized representative.