Blog Post Terms and conditions

This policy is a part of our Terms of Service. By posting, you agree to this policy and our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Threats of violence and incitement

We do not allow content or actions that directly or indirectly threaten, encourage, or incite violence against anyone.

Hateful content

We do not allow content that constitutes or promotes violence, harassment, or hatred toward people based on their race, ethnic origin, national origin, religion, caste, disability, disease, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

We do not allow posts or accounts that glorify, celebrate, downplay, or trivialize violence, suffering, abuse, or deaths of individuals or groups. This includes the use of scientific or pseudoscientific claims or misleading statistics to pathologize, dehumanize, or disempower others. We do not allow calls for intolerance, exclusion, or segregation based on protected characteristics, nor do we allow the glorification of groups that do any of the above.

We do not permit the use of hateful text, images, symbols, or other content in your username, profile, or bio.

Harassment

BongoDeshi exists to share and discuss ideas. We don’t tolerate harassment, which includes:

  • Bullying, threatening, mocking, or shaming another person, or posting material that is likely to encourage others to do so
  • Engaging in a sustained or targeted campaign of harassment directed at an individual or a group of individuals
  • Disparaging or attacking someone or a group of people through the use of derogatory language, racial slurs, or obscenities
  • Utilizing BongoDeshi features such as responses, private notes, mentions, follows, story requests, or writer requests in order to annoy or harass someone or to draw inorganic attention to your BongoDeshi content
  • Conducting reviews of businesses or products in an unnecessarily negative or abusive manner

Privacy and Reputation

We do not allow the following:

  • Without the explicit consent of all parties to the communication, posting images of, transcripts of, copies of, or links to private communications between private individuals. Redacting names or other identifying information does not negate the importance of securing permissions.
  • Doxing is a term that encompasses not only the use of private or obscure personal information but also the aggregation of the publicly available information in order to target, shame, blackmail, harass, intimidate, threaten, or endanger an individual or group of individuals.
  • Posting intimate or explicit images taken or posted without the subject’s express consent Containing sensitive or confidential information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, non-public phone numbers, physical addresses, email addresses, or other similar information

Restricted categories

We do not allow posts or accounts that engage in the following restricted categories of activity:

  • Promotion of content that is controversial, suspicious, or extreme. Facilitation of gambling or betting Facilitation of purchasing or selling social media interactions, including those that occur off-platform
  • Sexual services facilitation
  • Facilitation of infringements of copyright or other intellectual property
  • Facilitation or evidence of a violation of BongoDeshi’s or a third party’s terms of service (s)
  • Facilitation of unauthorized hacking (e.g., stealing credentials, compromising personal data)
  • We prohibit the use of pseudoscience, misinformation, and any other content that is detrimental to public health or safety.

Related conduct

We prohibit content and accounts from engaging in on-platform, off-platform, or cross-platform campaigns of targeting, harassment, hate speech, violence, or disinformation. We may consider actions taken off-platform when evaluating a BongoDeshi account and may restrict access to or availability of that account.

Graphic content

We do not allow the posting of pornographic images or videos, linking to them, or otherwise promoting them. Erotic writing and non-graphic erotic images are permitted.

We do not allow gratuitously graphic or disturbing media, regardless of the subject matter.

Exploitation of minors

We do not permit the posting, linking to, or promoting of pornographic images or videos. We do allow erotic writing and erotic images that are not graphic in nature.

Promotion and glorification of self-harm

We prohibit content and activities that encourage, promote, or glorify self-harm, including cutting, eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia, and suicide. If you come across users who are contemplating or threatening self-harm, please contact us via the form or email address provided below.

Spam or Site Misuse

We do not allow spam or misuse of BongoDeshi. All spam or misuse will be immediately removed from BongoDeshi without notification. Examples of spam or misuse include:

  • Posting content with the primary goal of increasing traffic to or the search rankings of an external website, product, or service
  • Scraping and repurposing content from other sources with the primary goal of generating revenue or achieving other personal goals
  • Duplicate content, whether it comes from a single account or multiple accounts
  • Stories in which portions of the text have been excised in order to link to the remainder of the article on a different website
  • Performing an abnormally high volume of interactions, particularly through automated means. This includes mass or ad hoc interactions, such as account following (follow spam), clapping, underlining, or scribbling
  • Using responses or other interactions repeatedly as a form of promotion or marketing
  • Participating in bounty campaigns or brigades with the intent of inflating the rankings of posts, accounts, businesses, or products artificially
  • Utilize or repurpose content templates across multiple posts and accounts with minor modifications.

When we refer to “content” in relation to any of these behaviors, we mean not only posts but also any other feature that allows you to add your own text or media. We use the term “interactions” to refer to any feature that enables one user to communicate with another person or post.

Copyright and trademark infringement

Respect other people’s copyrights and trademarks. As stated in our Terms of Service, users must have permission to post content on BongoDeshi. Additionally, we have specific anti-plagiarism policies that apply to all BongoDeshi accounts. Users who violate our copyright policies are ineligible to appeal or restore their rights.

As described in our Terms of Service, Copyright and DMCA Policy, and Trademark Policy, we respond to notices of the alleged infringement.

Deceptive conduct

We do not allow deceptive conduct on BongoDeshi. This includes:

  • Posting content or posing as a person or organization in a way that is likely to deceive others. While parody and satire are acceptable, make it clear what you’re doing. Our Username Policy includes provisions for parody accounts.
  • Utilizing BongoDeshi for the purpose of phishing or fraud. Use tags, links, titles, and other metadata sparingly. In your posts, do not include links to or embed malicious or harmful code or software.
  • Avoid deception to increase revenue or traffic.
  • If you received complementary goods or services, or anything else of value in connection with the subject of a post, you must disclose it.

Ads, Promotions, and Marketing

  • Advertisements and sponsorships from third parties are not permitted. While you may promote your own business through BongoDeshi posts, publications, or letters, you may not advertise or promote third-party products, services, or brands. This includes images used to indicate brand sponsorship in a post or letter or as part of the name or logo of a publication.
  • Images that serve as third-party advertisements are not permitted. It is not permitted to include inline images or embeds that link to and act as banner advertisements for third-party brands.
  • Affiliate links must be disclosed. Affiliate links, such as those to Amazon using your code or to any other site where you will earn a commission or receive something of value, are permitted in posts. However, you must disclose in the post that it contains affiliate links. If you have been compensated, received goods or services, or anything else of value in exchange for writing a post, you must still disclose this fact in writing within the post (as per FTC Rules and Guides).
  • Content that promotes multi-level or affiliate marketing is not permitted.

Embedded Content and Collection of Personal Information

To protect our users’ data privacy and security, embedded content must adhere to the following requirements. An “embed” can be a hyperlink, a form, a request for information, or any other type of content.

Embeds that collect data directly from BongoDeshi from fields, comments, or other on-site methods are not permitted. This includes embeds that allow users to submit email addresses, credit card information, and other personally identifiable information. If you wish to collect information from your readers, the following requirements must be met:

  • If you link to a form hosted by a third party from a BongoDeshi post, that form must make it clear to users that they have exited the BongoDeshi network and that any information they disclose is subject to the third-Terms parties of Use and Privacy Policy.
  • If the link takes users to your own platform to subscribe to your newsletter, blog, or other content you create, you must disclose that the link will take the user offsite from BongoDeshi in your BongoDeshi content immediately adjacent to the link.
  • If your content contains a form that sends user information to you or a third party, you must disclose immediately next to or within the form that the form will send the user’s information to an offsite third-party outside of BongoDeshi that is bound by that offsite third-Terms parties of Use and Privacy Policy, or directly to you offsite outside of BongoDeshi.

Cryptocurrency Accounts, Posts, and Publications

Posts and accounts devoted to cryptocurrencies that do not meet the following criteria may be considered spam and, depending on the context, may be suspended. BongoDeshi expressly disclaims any endorsement or verification of any coin, token, or similar announcement.

To prevent fraud and abuse, you must:

  • In your user account bio, include a link to your active project domain.
  • Maintain an active email account for your verified BongoDeshi account using an email address from that domain.
  • Connect at least one social media account (Facebook or Twitter) with a consistent brand to your BongoDeshi account. Additionally, that social media account should prominently link to the same domain as the one listed in your BongoDeshi user bio.
  • Include a prominent about page on your project website with up-to-date contact information.

You may not:

  • Utilize an anonymous email address that is unrelated to the domain of your project (e.g., Gmail, protonmail, mail.ru, etc.)
  • Promote or participate in bounty campaigns, pump-and-dump schemes, review reward schemes, or other forms of brigading or inauthentic activity.
  • Substitute shortened URLs for long URLs in your posts
  • Interactions that are paid, automated, in bulk, or are not genuine

BongoDeshi relies on a variety of user behaviors — such as follows and claps — to determine which content to highlight and how well the site works for all users. We do not tolerate artificial behaviors that skew this system and thereby degrade or distort the experiences of other users.

This includes:

  • Purchasing, selling, or trading accounts or account interactions — including views, reads, follows, claps, highlights, responses, or other traffic
  • Using services, apps, or arrangements that increase the number of views, reads, follows, claps, highlights, responses, or other interactions on your BongoDeshi account or content