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Ekta

Terms of Service

Last updated: April 10, 2026

Welcome to Ekta. These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the Ekta platform ("Platform", "Service"), operated by Ekta ("we", "us", "our"). By creating an account or using the Platform, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, you may not use the Service.

1. About Ekta

Ekta is an epistemic infrastructure platform designed to promote accuracy and accountability in public discourse. The Platform combines a Public Square for short-form discussion with long-form journalism tools that include AI-assisted and human editorial review. Our goal is to foster informed, evidence-based conversation.

2. Account Creation and Eligibility

To use certain features of the Platform, you must create an account. You agree to:

  • Provide accurate and complete information during registration.
  • Maintain the security of your account credentials.
  • Be at least 16 years of age (or the minimum age required in your jurisdiction).
  • Accept responsibility for all activity that occurs under your account.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or that we reasonably believe are engaged in fraudulent or harmful activity.

3. Content Ownership and License

You retain ownership of the content you create and publish on the Platform ("User Content"). By posting User Content, you grant Ekta a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, display, reproduce, and distribute your content in connection with operating the Platform. This license ends when you delete your content or your account, except where your content has been shared by others or is retained as part of the public record.

You represent and warrant that you have the right to publish any content you submit and that your content does not infringe upon the intellectual property or other rights of any third party.

4. Content Standards

Ekta is built on a commitment to accuracy. When using the Platform, you agree to the following content standards:

  • Accuracy: You will make good-faith efforts to ensure the accuracy of factual claims in your content. Long-form articles must include verifiable sources.
  • No deliberate misinformation: You will not knowingly publish false or misleading information, fabricate sources, or misrepresent facts.
  • Civil discourse: You will engage respectfully. Personal attacks, harassment, hate speech, and threats are prohibited.
  • No spam or manipulation: You will not use automated systems to artificially inflate engagement, create fake accounts, or manipulate the reputation system.
  • Legal compliance: You will not post content that is illegal, defamatory, or that violates the rights of others.

We reserve the right to remove content that violates these standards and to take action against accounts that repeatedly breach them.

5. AI Review Process

Long-form articles submitted to the Platform undergo an automated AI review process before publication. This process includes:

  • Claim extraction: Identifying factual claims within your article for verification.
  • Fact verification: Assessing the accuracy of extracted claims against known information.
  • Bias detection: Analyzing content for potential bias indicators, including framing, language, and source diversity.

Articles that pass AI review are published automatically. Articles that are flagged for potential issues are escalated to human review. You may be asked to revise your article before it can be published. AI review results, including scores and identified claims, are visible to the article author and, for published articles, to readers.

The AI review process is a tool to support editorial quality. It is not infallible. We do not guarantee the accuracy of AI assessments, and human reviewers make all final editorial decisions on escalated content.

5.1 Human Review

Articles that are flagged during AI review may be escalated to human reviewers. Human reviewers are qualified individuals with relevant domain expertise who evaluate content through a blind review process -- they do not see the author's identity during review. Multiple reviewers may assess the same article, and their evaluations are aggregated using a weighted scoring system that accounts for reviewer expertise and track record. Human review decisions may result in approval, revision requests, or rejection of your article.

5.2 Breaking News

Verified contributors and independent contributors may publish articles immediately as "Developing Story" before AI verification is complete. Such articles are clearly labeled and must complete verification within 24 to 72 hours depending on the topic domain. If verification identifies issues, the article will be marked as "Verification Failed" and will remain visible with a prominent notice. Authors may revise and resubmit articles that fail verification.

6. Reputation System

Ekta maintains a reputation system that reflects each user's track record of publishing accurate, high-quality content. Your reputation score:

  • Increases when your articles are approved and published.
  • Decreases when your articles are rejected for accuracy or standards violations.
  • Influences the visibility of your contributions on the Platform.

Reputation scores are calculated by the Platform and are not subject to negotiation. Any attempt to manipulate the reputation system, including through coordinated activity or fake accounts, is a violation of these Terms.

7. Subscriptions and Payments

Ekta offers a paid subscription plan ("Ekta Active") at EUR 10 per month, processed through Stripe. By subscribing, you agree to the following:

  • Auto-renewal: Your subscription renews automatically at the end of each billing period. You will be charged the then-current subscription price unless you cancel before the renewal date.
  • Cancellation: You may cancel your subscription at any time through Account Settings. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period. You will retain access to paid features until that date. No partial refunds are provided for unused time within a billing period.
  • Free tier: Users without an active subscription may read up to 5 articles per month and create up to 50 posts per month.
  • Price changes: We will provide at least 30 days' advance notice by email before any subscription price changes take effect.
  • Failed payments: If a payment fails, we will attempt to process the charge again. If payment cannot be collected after reasonable attempts, your subscription will be downgraded to the free tier.
  • Payment processor: All payment processing is handled by Stripe. By subscribing, you also agree to Stripe's Terms of Service.

8. Creator Monetization

Ekta operates a creator revenue-sharing program. Eligible authors may earn a share of subscription revenue based on reader engagement with their published articles. By participating in the monetization program, you agree to the following:

  • Eligibility: Participation requires meeting minimum reputation score thresholds, article counts, and account age requirements that vary by author tier.
  • Revenue sharing: Fifty percent (50%) of subscription revenue is allocated to the creator pool, distributed based on qualified reading engagement and author reputation.
  • Payouts: Payouts are calculated monthly, reviewed by platform administrators, and processed via Stripe Connect. You must complete Stripe Connect onboarding to receive payouts.
  • Corrections impact: Corrections issued against your articles may reduce your payout for the affected period.
  • Tax responsibility: You are solely responsible for reporting and paying any taxes due on earnings received through the monetization program.
  • Intellectual property: You retain full ownership of your content. By participating in monetization, you grant Ekta the non-exclusive license described in section 3 (Content Ownership and License), limited to operating the Platform.
  • Program changes: We reserve the right to modify or discontinue the monetization program with at least 30 days' notice. Any earned and approved payouts will still be processed.
  • Stripe Connect: Creator payouts are processed through Stripe Connect. By participating, you agree to the Stripe Connected Account Agreement.

9. Direct Messaging

The Platform provides direct messaging between users. By using this feature, you acknowledge and agree to the following:

  • Direct messages are encrypted at rest using AES-256-GCM encryption. However, messages are not end-to-end encrypted -- the Platform can access message content for abuse investigation and legal compliance.
  • Messages are automatically deleted after 30 days.
  • Blocked users cannot send you messages.
  • Message content may be reviewed by platform administrators if a message is reported for policy violations.
  • All content standards (section 4) apply to direct messages.

10. Prohibited Conduct

In addition to the content standards above, you agree not to:

  • Reverse-engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract the source code of the Platform.
  • Use the Platform to distribute malware or engage in phishing.
  • Interfere with or disrupt the integrity or performance of the Platform.
  • Access the Platform through automated means (bots, scrapers) without written permission.
  • Impersonate another person or entity.
  • Circumvent any access controls or rate limits.

11. GDPR and Data Rights

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with applicable data protection laws, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

  • Right of access: You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
  • Right to rectification: You may request correction of inaccurate data.
  • Right to erasure: You may request deletion of your account and associated personal data. We will remove your personally identifiable information, though anonymized content contributions may be retained.
  • Right to data portability: You may request your data in a machine-readable format.
  • Right to object: You may object to certain processing of your data.

To exercise these rights, contact us at privacy@ekta.digital. We will respond within 30 days as required by applicable law. For more information, see our Privacy Policy.

12. Termination

You may close your account at any time through your account settings or by contacting us. We may suspend or terminate your account if you violate these Terms, engage in conduct harmful to other users or the Platform, or if we are required to do so by law.

Upon termination, your right to use the Platform ceases immediately. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination (including content licenses for previously shared content, limitation of liability, and dispute resolution) will remain in effect.

13. Disclaimers

The Platform is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. We do not warrant that the Platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or completely secure. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy of any User Content, including content that has passed AI or human review.

14. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Ekta and its officers, directors, employees, and agents shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including loss of profits, data, or goodwill, arising out of or related to your use of or inability to use the Platform.

Our total aggregate liability for any claims arising from or related to these Terms or the Platform shall not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you have paid to Ekta in the twelve months preceding the claim, or (b) 100 EUR.

15. Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Sweden, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. Any disputes arising from these Terms shall be resolved in the courts of Stockholm, Sweden.

16. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you through the Platform or by email at least 30 days before the changes take effect. Your continued use of the Platform after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

17. Contact

If you have questions about these Terms, please contact us at legal@ekta.digital.