Terms of Service

1. Platform Status & Role

BrandedFacts is a platform for hosting, organizing, and displaying user-generated content (UGC) related to brands and products. BrandedFacts does not create, author, or endorse facts or claims submitted by users.

BrandedFacts provides infrastructure for:

• Proposing brand-related facts
• Community discussion and voting
• Evidence review and moderation
• Transparent audit logging

All facts, claims, and supporting materials represent the views and submissions of users, not BrandedFacts.

2. Content Ownership & License

You retain ownership of any original content you submit, including fact text, photos, and evidence.

By submitting content, you grant BrandedFacts a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable license to host, display, reproduce, modify for clarity or formatting, and distribute your content as part of the BrandedFacts service.

This license survives account termination.

3. Contributor Warranties

By submitting content, you represent and warrant that:

• Your submission is truthful to the best of your knowledge
• Any factual claims are based on verifiable evidence or reasonable belief
• Your content does not violate any law, regulation, or third-party rights
• Your content is not knowingly false, misleading, or defamatory

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless BrandedFacts from any claims arising from your submissions.

4. Fact Status & Community Outcomes

Facts on BrandedFacts may carry one or more of the following statuses:

• Pending Review
• Open for Voting
• Community Verified (validated by community consensus)
• Community Rejected (rejected by community consensus)
• Under Evidence Review
• Archived (Outdated)
• Under Legal Review
• Removed (Policy)

Community outcomes reflect collective user input and do not constitute legal or factual determinations by BrandedFacts.

5. Community Rejection vs Removal

A fact being Community Rejected does not automatically result in removal.

Rejected facts may remain visible for transparency, education, and accountability unless they violate policy or law.

Rejection indicates disagreement - not deletion.

6. Content Removal & Legal Review

BrandedFacts may remove content only under limited circumstances, including:

Policy Violations

Content may be removed if it:

• Contains hate speech, harassment, or abuse
• Promotes violence or illegal activity
• Discloses personal or confidential information
• Infringes intellectual property rights
• Is demonstrably false and defamatory

Legal Risk

Content may be temporarily or permanently removed if:

• BrandedFacts receives a credible legal complaint or notice
• The content presents material legal risk
• Continued publication could violate applicable law

In such cases, content may be placed Under Legal Review pending investigation.

7. Legal Threats & Reputation Disputes

BrandedFacts does not remove content solely because it is reputation-damaging.

Reputation concerns alone are insufficient grounds for removal.

However, where a fact:

• Is alleged to be defamatory
• Is accompanied by legal threats or formal notices

BrandedFacts may:

• Temporarily restrict access to the content
• Place the content under Legal Review
• Request evidence from all parties

Pending resolution.

8. Brand Participation & Paid Actions

Brands and verified representatives may request:

• Evidence review
• Corrections or clarifications
• Publication of official statements

Payment does not guarantee:

• Removal of facts
• Suppression of rejected claims
• Validation or downgrading of facts
• Alteration of audit history

BrandedFacts does not sell truth outcomes. It sells verification work and transparency.

9. Audit & Transparency

Significant actions, including corrections, rejections, removals, and legal reviews, may be logged in BrandedFacts' public audit history, except where restricted by law.

10. Limitation of Liability

BrandedFacts is not liable for reputational harm, business losses, or indirect or consequential damages. To the maximum extent permitted by law, BrandedFacts' total liability is limited to the amount you paid to BrandedFacts (if any) in the preceding 12 months.

11. Account Termination

BrandedFacts reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts and restrict participation for violations of these Terms, the Acceptable Use Policy, or applicable law.

12. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of South Africa, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.

Except where prohibited by applicable law, any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the use of the BrandedFacts platform shall be resolved through binding arbitration in Johannesburg, South Africa.

13. Changes to These Terms

BrandedFacts may update these Terms from time to time. Continued use of the platform constitutes acceptance of updated Terms.