Acceptable Use Policy

This Acceptable Use Policy (the "AUP") applies to anyone who uses ChefSphere, everywhere user-generated content lives: the community feed, community recipes, community prices, comments and ratings, profile bio and photo, messages to other users, Couples / Family / Friends groups, Chef Lives streams and chats, ebook submissions, tool listings, and every other place where you can post, upload, stream, or send content ("User Content"). This AUP is part of the Terms of Service.

ChefSphere is a food-first community. We want it to feel like the best dinner table you've ever been invited to — curious, welcoming, sharp about craft, and zero tolerance for harm. The rules below exist to make that possible.

1. What you may post

You may post User Content that is:

• Yours, or that you are clearly authorised to post (for example a recipe you wrote, a photo you took, a review of a tool you actually used).
• Accurate — especially prices, allergen warnings, recipe ingredients, and tool descriptions. Other users rely on this information to plan meals, to shop, and to transact with real money.
• Respectful — it treats other users, moderators, and the general public with basic decency, even when you disagree.
• Lawful in the country you post from and in the countries where you can reasonably expect it to be viewed.

2. What you must not post or do

The following are prohibited. Any single violation can result in content removal and account action; severe or repeated violations will result in permanent suspension.

Illegal content

• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) — prohibited absolutely. We report it to law enforcement and to competent EU hotlines as required by law.
• Content promoting, facilitating, or glorifying terrorism, violent extremism, human trafficking, illegal drug markets, or the sale of weapons.
• Content that infringes copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property — see the Copyright & DMCA Policy.
• Content that violates food-safety, product-safety, or consumer-protection law.

Harassment, hate, and safety

• Threats of violence, stalking, doxxing (publishing someone's private identifying information without consent), or coordinated harassment.
• Hate speech: content that attacks or dehumanises a person or group on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, or serious disease.
• Graphic violence or gore that is not strictly necessary to the food context (for example, a documentary-style butchery lesson can qualify in context; torture footage does not).
• Promotion of self-harm, eating disorders, or suicide. Content that discusses recovery in a supportive way is allowed with appropriate care.

Deceptive behaviour

• Impersonating another person, business, or public authority.
• Fake reviews, coordinated upvote / downvote rings, or any incentivised rating that hides a material conflict of interest.
• Inventing prices, "bought same" claims, or store / brand affiliations you do not have.
• Spam: bulk posts, repetitive self-promotion, unsolicited affiliate or referral links outside channels we provide.
• AI-generated content passed off as your own original work without disclosure — be honest in your ingredients.

Sexually explicit content

• Pornographic or sexually explicit content is not allowed. Tasteful, clothed portrayals in a food or lifestyle context are fine; sexualisation of minors is absolutely prohibited.
• Nudity shown in genuine cultural or educational context may be allowed with an age gate at our discretion.

Privacy of others

• Do not publish someone else's personal data (home address, phone, government ID, financial details, medical details) without their informed consent, even if you find it elsewhere online.
• Do not post recordings of conversations, live streams, or private messages made without the knowledge and consent of the participants where such recording is unlawful.

Platform abuse

• Do not attempt to circumvent quotas, rate limits, payment controls, or age gates.
• Do not use scrapers, bots, or automated scripts on the Service outside documented APIs.
• Do not attempt to exploit security vulnerabilities except through responsible disclosure at [email protected].
• Do not sell, rent, or transfer your account to anyone else.

3. Live streams and real-time chat

Chef Lives sessions are public by default. Hosts are responsible for the conduct of the stream. Viewers are responsible for their own chat messages and reactions. Do not show minors in a way that could be considered exploitative, do not stream from a location where filming is not permitted, do not stream copyrighted broadcasts, and do not use live streams to solicit private contact in ways that violate this AUP. Live-moderation tools (ban, mute, remove message, end session) are available to hosts and to ChefSphere trust-and-safety personnel.

4. Selling and transacting (Ebook and Tools marketplaces)

If you sell an ebook, list a tool, or fulfil a rental, you must comply with the relevant Marketplace Addendum in addition to this AUP. In particular you must: describe what you are selling accurately; honour the stated price and availability; ship on time or mark the item as unavailable; respond to buyer questions promptly; and comply with consumer law in your jurisdiction and the buyer's jurisdiction. Fraudulent listings, chargeback fraud, and counterfeit items are grounds for immediate termination and may result in legal action.

5. How we moderate

• Pre-publication checks. We use automated text and image classifiers (industry-standard machine-learning tools) to screen uploads for the most severe prohibited content. A classifier signal can block or limit the reach of a post, and will always be reviewable by a human on request.
• Reactive review. Users can report content or an account from every post, profile, chat message, live stream, listing, or review. Reports are triaged by our trust-and-safety team. Urgent reports (imminent threats, CSAM) are prioritised.
• Human review. Decisions that remove content, suspend an account, or restrict monetisation can be reviewed by a human at your request. Contact [email protected] with the reference ID from your notice.
• Transparency. When we take action on your content or account, we give you a statement of reasons where required by the EU Digital Services Act, and an avenue to challenge the decision internally. For EU users this is also described in the EU Digital Services Act Notice.

6. Consequences

Depending on severity and history, we may:

1. Reduce distribution of a post (for example remove it from featured or public feeds);
2. Remove the post entirely;
3. Temporarily suspend a feature (posting, messaging, live streaming, selling);
4. Restrict or close your account;
5. Withhold payouts to sellers for pending investigations;
6. Report the incident to law enforcement where required by law.

Repeat infringers — for example copyright repeat offenders under the US DMCA and EU CDSM, and users sanctioned multiple times for the same category of violation — are subject to account termination.

7. Appeals and out-of-court dispute settlement

You can appeal any moderation decision by replying to the notice we sent you or writing to [email protected] with your reference ID. We aim to review appeals within 10 business days. EU users also have the right to refer the matter to an out-of-court dispute settlement body certified under Art. 21 of the Digital Services Act. Details are in the EU DSA Notice.

8. Reporting illegal content (EU DSA notice-and-action)

Anyone can report illegal content to [email protected]. A notice should include: the URL or unique identifier of the content; a clear explanation of why you believe the content is illegal, including the legal basis; your name and a contact email (anonymous notices are accepted for CSAM and a few other categories but slow our ability to reply); and a good-faith statement. We process notices in line with Art. 16 of the Digital Services Act.

9. Changes to this AUP

We update this AUP when patterns of abuse or applicable law require it. Material changes are announced in-app or by email at least 30 days before they take effect, unless a shorter period is required by law or by an immediate safety risk.

10. Contact

• Trust & safety / content reports: [email protected]
• Copyright / DMCA: [email protected]
• Legal: [email protected]