Terms of Service
Effective: 2026-06-25 · Last updated: 2026-07-06
1. Acceptance
By using Debategle you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the service.
2. Eligibility (18+ only)
Debategle is for adults only. You must be at least 18 years old to create an account or use the service. By registering you represent that you are 18 or older and that the date of birth you provide is accurate. Falsifying your age is a material breach of these Terms. We suspend and remove accounts that we reasonably believe belong to minors. To report a suspected underage user, use the in-debate report button or the contact page.
3. Account responsibility
You are responsible for activity under your account. Keep your sign-in credentials confidential. Notify us immediately if you suspect unauthorized access.
4. Community rules and moderation
You must follow our Community Rules and Code of Conduct, available at /rules. Debates may include live video and voice. Debate text, voice captions, and periodically sampled video frames are automatically analyzed by AI moderation systems to enforce these Terms; sampled frames are processed transiently and are not stored. Violations may result in warnings, ended video sessions, escalating temporary bans, suspension pending review, or permanent bans. See the Content Moderation Policy at /legal/moderation-policy. Donations do not exempt you from rule enforcement and are not refunded for rule-violation bans.
5. Acceptable use
You may not: harass other users, post unlawful content, attempt to disrupt the service, scrape data, reverse-engineer the API, impersonate others, evade bans by creating new accounts, or use automated tools to participate in debates.
6. User-generated content
You retain ownership of what you write. You grant Debategle a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to display, process, store, and (in anonymized form) analyze your debate content as necessary to operate and improve the service.
7. AI judging disclaimer
The AI judge is best-effort. Outcomes may be inaccurate or unfair. We provide an appeals process but make no guarantee of correctness. AI-generated annotations during a debate are informational only and do not affect scoring.
8. Service availability
Debategle is provided “as is” and “as available” without warranties of any kind. We may suspend, modify, or discontinue the service at any time, with or without notice.
9. Donations
Donations via Ko-fi or other channels are voluntary and non-refundable. They do not entitle you to additional features, priority support beyond what is documented, or exemption from these Terms.
10. Monetization and advertising
Debategle is free to use. To cover hosting and AI costs, the service is supported by voluntary donations and may display advertisements. Ads do not change matchmaking, AI judging, or moderation outcomes. We do not sell your personal information. Advertising and analytics cookies are off by default and only set after you opt in via the cookie banner. See the Privacy Policy at /privacy for details.
11. Termination
We may suspend or terminate accounts for Terms violations. You may delete your account at any time from Profile Settings. Surviving provisions include Sections 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, and 14.
12. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent allowed by law, Debategle and its operators are not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the service. Our total liability is limited to the amount you have paid us in the past 12 months (which may be zero).
13. Changes
We may update these Terms. Material changes will be announced with at least 30 days’ notice via in-app notice and the “Last updated” date above. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance.
14. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, United States, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.
15. Copyright and DMCA
We respond to copyright notices that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. A takedown notice must identify the copyrighted work, identify the allegedly infringing material and where it appears on Debategle, include your contact information, a good-faith statement that the use is unauthorized, a statement under penalty of perjury that the notice is accurate and that you are the owner or authorized to act for the owner, and your signature. Submit notices via the contact page with the subject 'DMCA notice'. If your content is removed, you may file a counter-notice with the same contact route containing the elements required by 17 U.S.C. Section 512(g)(3); if the claimant does not notify us within 10 business days that they have filed a court action, we may restore the material between 10 and 14 business days after receiving your counter-notice. Accounts that repeatedly infringe copyright are terminated. Formal designated-agent registration with the U.S. Copyright Office is pending counsel review; until complete, the Section 512 safe harbor may not be available to us.
16. Contact
Questions about these Terms: legal@debategle.com.