Community Guidelines

These Community Guidelines are the plain-language summary of what is and what is not allowed on ChefSphere. They are the user-facing counterpart to our Acceptable Use Policy, our Digital Services Act Notice, our DMCA / Copyright Notice Policy, and the content clauses inside Terms of Service, Ebooks Content Policy, and Tools Marketplace Terms. Where these Guidelines simplify what another document says, the other document controls.

They apply wherever ChefSphere OÜ lets you post, upload, comment, message, review, list, or stream: the ChefSphere website, the iOS and Android apps, the Ebook Marketplace, the Tools Marketplace, community posts and comments, swipe stories, meal-plan shares, reviews, the AI Chef input surfaces, direct messages, and live chats.

1. The five rules

1. Be honest. Don't impersonate other people, don't forge affiliation with brands, and don't misrepresent listings, reviews, or sponsorships. Trader / private seller status must be declared truthfully under Art. 6a(1)(b) of Directive 2011/83/EU (CRD); AI-generated content must be marked where required by Art. 50 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act) — see AI Disclosure.
2. Be safe. Don't post content that threatens, endangers, or harms children or adults; don't share dangerous challenges, self-harm instructions, or content glorifying violence. If a meet-up for a tool handover is dangerous or uncomfortable, cancel it and report.
3. Be legal. Don't post content that is illegal under EU or national law — including child sexual abuse material, terrorist content under Regulation (EU) 2021/784 (removed within one hour of a removal order), non-consensual intimate imagery, hate speech targeted at protected characteristics, incitement to violence, fraud, and goods that cannot be lawfully sold (see § 2 below).
4. Be respectful. Don't harass individuals, pile on, doxx, or engage in coordinated brigading. Debate ideas, not people.
5. Be original or attributed. Don't copy other people's recipes, photos, videos, or text without permission. Cite your sources. Respect licences on content you re-use.

2. What is never allowed

The following content is removed on sight and may trigger account suspension under Art. 23 DSA, termination under the Terms, and/or a report to law-enforcement under Art. 18 DSA:

• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) — reported immediately to the competent authority and to the EU Centre under the Regulation for CSAM prevention when it applies.
• Terrorist content subject to Regulation (EU) 2021/784 — one-hour removal on removal orders.
• Non-consensual intimate imagery, sexual extortion, and content that sexualises minors.
• Hate speech targeting protected characteristics (ethnicity, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity), incitement to discrimination or violence.
• Violent threats against identifiable persons, groups, or public officials.
• Doxxing — publishing somebody's home address, identity document, phone number, or other personal data without their consent. See Privacy Policy.
• Dangerous or regulated goods listed for sale or rental: firearms and components, ammunition, explosives, knives regulated by national law, controlled substances, prescription medicines, live animals, human remains, counterfeit goods, products without CE conformity where CE is required, food items requiring EU food-safety registration we do not hold. See Tools Marketplace Terms and GPSR (Reg. (EU) 2023/988).
• Copyright-infringing content — see DMCA / Copyright Notice Policy.
• Spam, scams, and phishing — mass-posted identical content, affiliate-link stuffing, fake reviews, fake listings, pyramid schemes, cryptocurrency rug-pulls, identity theft.
• Malware — including files that exploit the Service to distribute payloads.
• Deceptive synthetic content (deepfakes) that impersonates a real person without consent, particularly in sexual, political, or financial contexts. AI-generated images must be marked per AI Disclosure § 8.

3. What is allowed with conditions

Some content is allowed only when it is marked, justified, or age-gated:

• Alcohol, tobacco, and adult cooking topics — allowed in editorial and educational context for users who have marked themselves as adults; not promoted to minors. No sale of alcohol or tobacco via the marketplaces.
• Raw meat, offal, foraging, and home-canning content — allowed with food-safety context. Content that encourages unsafe handling (no refrigeration, incorrect canning temperatures, dangerous foraging without identification guidance) is removed or restricted.
• Weight, nutrition, and eating-disorder topics — allowed when presented factually; content that promotes eating disorders, glorifies extreme weight loss, or targets minors with weight-loss product promotion is removed.
• Medical and allergen claims — not allowed as medical advice. Allergen information in recipes is strongly encouraged; false allergen labelling on marketplace listings is a trader-misrepresentation violation under UCPD Dir. 2005/29/EC.
• Sponsored content and affiliate links — allowed when clearly disclosed in the post itself (not only in a profile bio) in line with UCPD Art. 7(2) and the ICPEN principles.
• AI-assisted content — allowed and encouraged; must be labelled where it materially differs from the real-world object it depicts, per Art. 50 AI Act.
• Political content — allowed in a civic-discussion tone; coordinated political micro-targeting, paid political advertising, and manipulated audiovisual content of politicians are not.

4. Children, minors, and parental controls

The minimum age to create a free account is 13. In the EU, users below 16 need verifiable parental consent (GDPR Art. 8). The marketplaces are restricted to 16+. In-person tool handovers are restricted to 18+ on both sides. See Children & Age Policy for the full age matrix and parental-consent flow.

5. Reporting content and notice-and-action

Anyone can report content under Art. 16 DSA:

• In-app: the Report control on every post, comment, listing, review, and profile. Reports submitted this way are bound to your session for Art. 22 trusted-flagger prioritisation and Art. 23 anti-misuse counting.
• Public structured form: POST /api/v1/compliance/takedown-notices (DSA Art. 16 + DSM Art. 17 + DMCA §512(c)(3)(A) payload; sworn-truth and authorised-to-act booleans are required).
• Email: [email protected] for DSA/AUP, [email protected] for DMCA, [email protected] for trusted-flagger submissions.

We send an electronic acknowledgement on every notice where contact details are provided and a reasoned decision per Art. 17 DSA. You can appeal any decision for free for six months via the internal complaint-handling system (Art. 20 DSA) and refer unresolved disputes to a certified out-of-court body (Art. 21 DSA). See DSA Notice § 5–8 for details.

6. Enforcement

If content violates these Guidelines we may: (i) label it, (ii) reduce its visibility, (iii) remove it, (iv) disable the feature the content was posted through, (v) suspend or terminate the account. Restrictions come with a Statement of Reasons under Art. 17 DSA, including the legal or Terms basis, the automated-means flag, and the internal-complaint deadline. Frequent manifest violations or manifestly unfounded reports trigger Art. 23 DSA proportional suspension.

7. How these Guidelines change

We refresh these Guidelines when the law changes (notably GDPR, DSA, DSM, AI Act, GPSR, UCPD), when our Service surfaces change, or when we observe new abuse patterns. Material changes are announced in-app and/or by email at least 15 days in advance; changes that are unfavourable to users' pre-existing rights get 30 days and a right to terminate under CRD / Terms § 14.

8. Contact

• Community / AUP: [email protected]
• DSA point of contact: [email protected]
• DMCA / Copyright: [email protected]
• Privacy / DPO: [email protected]
• Legal: [email protected]