theATL.social Policies

Guidelines and policies for a safe, inclusive, and engaging community

Policy Overview Privacy Policy Terms of Service Content Guidelines Federation Guidelines

Terms of Service

Effective Date: 21 April 2025

Introduction

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of theATL.social (“Platform”), operated by Civic Forge Solutions LLC (“Company”). By accessing or using the Platform, you agree to be bound by these Terms. Please read them carefully.

1. Definitions and Scope

1.1 Services

“Services” refers to all services, features, applications, and content hosted on or provided through the Company’s resources, including but not limited to the social media platform, APIs, federation services, and any additional services that may be added in the future.

1.2 Federation and Data Transmission

The Services operate within a federated network architecture, where user content and data may be transmitted to and from other servers and services outside of the Company’s direct control. By using the Services, you acknowledge and agree that once your data leaves our servers through federation, the Company cannot control and bears no responsibility for how that data may be used, stored, or displayed by third parties. This includes, but is not limited to, how your content may appear on other instances within the federation, how it may be stored or cached by other servers, or how it may be used by third-party services that access the federated network.

The Platform operates under the jurisdiction of the State of Georgia, United States of America, and is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

2.1 Communications Decency Act

The Platform operates under the Communications Decency Act. (47 U.S.C. § 230). Accordingly, we are not liable for the content posted by our users. We do, however, actively moderate our services and reserve the right to remove content that we determine to be in violation of our terms of service.

3. User Accounts and Responsibilities

3.1 Account Security

Users are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their account credentials and all activities conducted through their account. Users must promptly notify the Company of any unauthorized account access or security breaches. Any attempt to circumvent the Platform’s security measures, including but not limited to unauthorized access, penetration testing without explicit permission, or exploitation of system vulnerabilities, is strictly prohibited and may result in immediate account termination and potential legal action.

Users must comply with all applicable laws and regulations while using the Platform. Any discussion or promotion of illegal activities is strictly prohibited.

3.3 Resource Usage and Automation

The Platform welcomes automated accounts, bots, and scripts that enhance the user experience and contribute positively to the community. Users may create and operate multiple accounts, including automated ones, and may utilize scripts, software, or other automated methods to interact with the Platform. Commercial, non-profit, and organizational accounts are permitted and encouraged to participate in the Platform’s community.

However, users must respect and adhere to the Platform’s rate limiting and resource conservation measures. Any attempt to circumvent these restrictions, including but not limited to distributed access patterns designed to evade rate limits, is strictly prohibited. Free-tier users must not attempt to circumvent restrictions to access resources or capabilities reserved for paid users.

Paid users receive higher resource limits and additional capabilities as specified in their service tier. The specific limits and capabilities for each tier are documented in the Platform’s technical documentation.

The Company has a legal obligation to comply with valid and binding demands for information from authorized government entities, including but not limited to law enforcement agencies, regulatory bodies, and judiciary authorities. These demands may take various forms including subpoenas, court orders, warrants, national security letters, or other lawful requests for user information, account data, or platform content.

4.2 User Notification

When the Company receives a legal demand for user information, we will make reasonable efforts to notify affected users promptly, providing details about the requesting agency and nature of the request. However, notification may be delayed or withheld if we are legally prohibited from disclosing the demand’s existence through a binding confidentiality order, if immediate notification would impede an active investigation, or if notification poses a risk to public safety.

4.3 Transparency Commitment

The Company maintains a commitment to transparency regarding government and legal demands. We will:

  • Publish regular transparency reports detailing the volume, types, and sources of legal demands received
  • Disclose the general categories of information provided in response to such demands
  • Document instances where user notification was prohibited or delayed
  • Maintain public records of government requests except where legally prohibited
  • Report on the outcomes of challenges to overbroad or inappropriate requests

4.4 Response Process

In processing legal demands, the Company will:

  • Verify the authenticity and jurisdiction of the requesting authority
  • Review each demand for legal validity, scope, and compliance with applicable laws
  • Challenge demands that appear unlawful, overbroad, or in violation of user rights
  • Provide only the specific information explicitly required by the demand
  • Maintain detailed records of all requests and our responses
  • Require compensation for costs incurred in responding to requests where permitted by law

4.5 Data Preservation

When served with a valid preservation request from law enforcement, the Company will preserve relevant account records in accordance with applicable law. Preservation requests may be extended or renewed by the requesting agency as permitted by law.

4.6 International Requests

For legal demands originating from jurisdictions outside the United States, the Company requires requests to be made through established international legal frameworks, such as Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs) or other appropriate diplomatic channels. We will evaluate international requests based on U.S. law, international obligations, and human rights standards.

5. Platform Operations

5.1 Content Management and Appeals

The Company maintains no responsibility for user-generated content except for official accounts. We implement monitoring to remove content that violates Platform guidelines or applicable laws and reserve the right to moderate content and suspend accounts at our sole discretion. Users may appeal moderation decisions by submitting a formal appeal within 30 days of the action. Appeals must include the specific action being contested, relevant context, and supporting documentation. The Company will review appeals within a reasonable timeframe and communicate decisions through official channels. Appeal decisions are final and binding.

5.2 Technical Operations

The Company implements reasonable security measures but makes no guarantees regarding uninterrupted service. We reserve the right to conduct maintenance or updates that may affect availability.

6. Intellectual Property Rights

6.1 User Content and DMCA

The Company makes no assertions regarding the ownership of user-generated content. Users retain their existing rights to content they post on the Services, while granting the Company a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use, display, and distribute such content within the Services’ operations.

The Company responds to notices of alleged copyright infringement in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). If you believe that your copyrighted work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide our designated copyright agent with the information specified by 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3). The Company reserves the right to remove content alleged to be infringing and to terminate accounts of repeat infringers without notice.

6.2 Company Property

The Company asserts and maintains its copyright and trademark rights over all marketing materials, names, likenesses, logos, and branded content. Any redistribution, reproduction, or impersonation of Company materials or identity without prior written approval is strictly prohibited. The Company acknowledges its use of open-source software and makes its source code freely available under the respective licenses of the original source code, where applicable.

7. Limitation of Liability

7.1 Disclaimer of Warranties

The Platform is provided “as is” and “as available” without any warranties of any kind, whether express or implied. The Company disclaims all warranties, including but not limited to merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

7.2 Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Company shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits or revenues, whether incurred directly or indirectly, or any loss of data, use, goodwill, or other intangible losses resulting from your access to or use of or inability to access or use the Platform.

7.3 No Fault Provision

The Company assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors, mistakes, or inaccuracies of content; personal injury or property damage resulting from access to or use of the Platform; unauthorized access to or use of our servers or personal information; or any interruption or cessation of transmission to or from the Platform.

8. Age Requirements and Geographic Restrictions

8.1 Age Requirements

The Platform is strictly limited to users who are 18 years of age or older. Any individual under the age of 18 is expressly prohibited from creating an account or using the Platform. The Company maintains a zero-tolerance policy regarding age misrepresentation. Any account found to be created or operated by an individual under 18 years of age will be terminated immediately, without notice or recourse.

8.2 Geographic Restrictions

While the Platform’s content may be accessible internationally, account creation and active participation are intended solely for individuals physically located within the United States of America and its territories. Users attempting to create accounts from outside the United States may be subject to additional verification requirements at the Company’s discretion. The Company reserves the right to implement geographic restrictions, additional verification processes, or terminate accounts that do not comply with these geographic requirements.

8.3 Account Usage and Spam Prevention

The Company defines spam as any content or behavior that constitutes unsolicited, repeated, or unwanted communications, interactions, or promotional material that detracts from the user experience. This includes but is not limited to mass-produced commercial advertising, repetitive posting of substantially similar content, aggressive following or unfollowing patterns designed to gain attention, and coordinated inauthentic behavior intended to artificially amplify content.

While the Platform welcomes commercial, non-profit, and organizational participation, such engagement must be conducted in a manner that respects the community and does not constitute spam. The creation of accounts for legitimate automated purposes, including bots and scripts that provide value to the community, is permitted provided they operate within the Platform’s resource usage guidelines.

The Platform may contain links to third-party websites, advertisers, services, or other events or activities that are not owned or controlled by the Company. The Company does not endorse or assume any responsibility for any such third-party sites, information, materials, products, or services. If you access any third-party website, service, or content from the Platform, you do so at your own risk and agree that the Company will have no liability arising from your use of or access to any third-party website, service, or content.

10. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Company and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including without limitation reasonable attorney fees and costs, arising out of or in any way connected with your access to or use of the Platform, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any third-party right, including without limitation any intellectual property right, publicity, confidentiality, property, or privacy right.

11. Automated Content Screening

theATL.social is a federated social media platform. This means that content from theATL.social may be received by other instances via the federation protocol. theATL.social also allows users to upload images and videos to the platform.

While we maintain proprietary moderation tools, we also rely on third-party vendors to assist us in the detection and removal of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) from Company resources.

11.1 CSAM Screening

The Company uses a third-party vendor, Cloudflare, to screen all images and videos received by theATL.social via federation or uploaded by users for the presence of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). If a match is found, the image or video is blocked and both theATL.social and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) are notified.

Upon notification, the Company has a legal obligation to review the report and assess if the report is valid. If the report is valid, under Section 4, the Company will take action to remove the content and inform law enforcement of the facts and circumstances of the report.

The NCMEC may also independently review the report and take actions, including but not limited to contacting law enforcement, if the report is valid.

12. Service Relationship and Termination

12.1 Account Standing

The Company is committed to maintaining positive relationships with our users and views account termination as a last resort. We will make reasonable efforts to work with users to resolve issues through warnings, temporary suspensions, and the appeals process before considering account termination.

12.2 Account Termination

12.2.1 Immediate Termination

The Company will immediately terminate accounts without prior notice or appeal in cases involving:

  • Content that is blatantly illegal under applicable laws
  • Exploitative content, including but not limited to child sexual abuse material (CSAM), extreme violence, or gore
  • Content that makes credible threats or encourages violence in a manner that poses an immediate and serious risk of harm to specific individuals, groups, or classes of people
  • Activities that pose an immediate and severe threat to the Services’ security or integrity

12.2.2 Standard Termination Process

For all other violations of these Terms, the Company will utilize its appeals process whenever feasible, providing users with:

  • Notice of the violation
  • Opportunity to remedy the violation where applicable
  • Access to the appeals process
  • Reasonable time to export their data, except in cases involving illegal content

12.3 Third-Party Services and Integration

The Services integrate with various third-party services including, but not limited to:

  • The Bluesky social network and protocol
  • Email service providers
  • Other federated social networks and protocols
  • Content delivery networks
  • Authentication providers

The Company may modify, add, or remove third-party service integrations at any time. Users acknowledge that their use of these integrated services is subject to each service’s respective terms and privacy policies. Where the terms of third-party services conflict with these Terms, the more restrictive terms shall apply.

13. Force Majeure

The Company shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performing its obligations under these Terms where such failure or delay results from any cause beyond the Company’s reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of God, war, civil unrest, acts of terrorism, fire, explosion, flood, epidemic, strikes or other labor disputes, governmental actions, power failures, network or hosting failures, or failures of third-party service providers.

14. Export Control and International Use

The Platform’s services may be subject to United States export control laws. Users agree to comply with all applicable export and import laws and regulations. Users represent that they are not located in a country that is subject to a U.S. Government embargo or that has been designated by the U.S. Government as a “terrorist supporting” country, and are not listed on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.

15. Third-Party Service Integration

These Terms govern all services provided directly by the Company. Where the Platform’s services intersect or integrate with third-party service providers (such as but not limited to Bluesky), the terms of service of such providers shall take precedence over these Terms where their requirements are more stringent. Users engaging with integrated services are responsible for complying with all applicable third-party terms of service.

16. Assignment

These Terms, and any rights and licenses granted hereunder, may not be transferred or assigned by you but may be assigned by the Company without restriction or notification.

17. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that these Terms shall otherwise remain in full force and effect and enforceable.

17. Entire Agreement

These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and the Company regarding the use of the Platform, superseding any prior agreements between you and the Company relating to your use of the Platform.

18. Dispute Resolution

18.1 Governing Law

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Georgia and the United States of America.

18.2 Arbitration Agreement

All disputes arising from these Terms or Platform use shall be resolved through binding arbitration conducted under the American Arbitration Association rules.

19. Modifications to Terms

The Company reserves the right to modify these Terms at any time. Users will be notified of significant changes through the Platform. Continued use of the Platform following any modifications constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

Contact Information

For inquiries regarding these Terms or Platform operations, please contact [contact information].

Last Updated: 1 March 2025