Chideout Terms of Service

Last Updated: October 31, 2026
Version: 1.2

Welcome to Chideout (“Chideout,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), a service operated by Jellyball LLC (“Company”). By accessing or using our website, mobile web experience, or related services (collectively, the “Service”), or by clicking “I Agree” during registration, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service (“Terms”).

IMPORTANT NOTICE: SECTION 11 OF THESE TERMS CONTAINS A BINDING ARBITRATION CLAUSE AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER THAT AFFECT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS.

1. Eligibility & Strict 18+ Age Gate

You must be at least eighteen (18) years of age to create an account, view content, post, participate in Fight Chats, or send/receive Rewards on Chideout. By creating an account, you represent and warrant that you are 18 years of age or older and have the legal capacity to enter into a binding contract. Your account also works on our all-ages game Jelly Ball (jellyball.io), which has its own Terms of Service. An account that belongs to anyone under 18 can never use Chideout, and we will immediately block Chideout access for any account we suspect belongs to a minor.

2. Account Authentication, Connected Accounts & Security

1. Primary Sign-In: You may authenticate using Google OAuth, Sign in with Apple, or SMS One-Time Passcode (OTP) via a valid mobile phone number.
2. Connected Accounts (“Chide It Out”): You may optionally link third-party social accounts (including Instagram and Snapchat) or verify your mobile phone number to discover mutual contacts or transition disputes into chats. You may only link accounts and phone numbers that you lawfully own and control.
3. One Person, One Account: You may not create multiple accounts to manipulate upvote/downvote scoring (p(U)), evade suspensions, or farm reputation points or Rewards (sybil attacks).

3. User Content, Defamation Liability & Section 230 Notice

1. Your Sole Responsibility: Under 47 U.S.C. § 230, Chideout is an interactive computer service and is not the publisher or speaker of User Content submitted by third parties. You are solely and 100% legally responsible for all posts, rants, comments, images, Fight Chat messages, and Truce terms (“User Content”) you submit.
2. Prohibited Content: You may not post, upload, or transmit any User Content that:
   • Doxxes any individual: Publishes non-public personal identifying information, including full legal names of private individuals, phone numbers, home or workplace street addresses, personal email addresses, government IDs, financial account numbers, or screenshots containing such information;
   • Evades the Redactor: Uses deliberate misspellings, leetspeak, spacing tricks, emojis, or uploaded images/screenshots to bypass our automated name-scrubbing and anti-doxxing filters;
   • Defames or Harasses: Makes knowingly false statements of fact calculated to harm the reputation, employment, or business of any person, or constitutes unlawful stalking, credible threats of violence, or extortion;
   • Spams or Manipulates the Service: Floods Chideout with repetitive, commercial or automated posts, comments, messages or links; creates or operates multiple or fake accounts to evade limits or bans or to manipulate votes; uses bots or scripts without our written permission; or attempts to get around our posting limits, rate limits or spam filters (for example by rotating IP addresses or using proxies). We apply automated limits (such as a daily number of posts, stricter limits for new accounts and temporary pauses) and may change them at any time;
   • Violates Law or IP: Contains Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII / “revenge porn”), or infringes any third party’s copyright or trademark.
3. Moderation Is Our Right, Not Our Duty: We may remove or restrict any User Content, and suspend or terminate any account, at any time and for any reason, including content we find objectionable whether or not it is unlawful. We are not obligated to monitor, review, or pre-screen User Content, and leaving something up does not mean we endorse it or that it complies with these Terms. The Redactor’s automated redactions (swapping names for aliases and blocking contact details) are safety measures only; they do not make Chideout the author of, or mean that we adopt, any User Content.
4. Reporting Content (Notice & Takedown): Users can report any post, comment, message, or chat with the in-app Report button. Anyone, including people without an account, can report content they believe is defamatory, harassing, doxxing, threatening, or otherwise unlawful by emailing [email protected] with a link to or description of the content and why it should be removed. We review reports promptly and may remove content, suspend accounts, and, where the law requires, report content to the authorities (including reporting apparent child sexual abuse material to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children). Copyright complaints follow Section 7.

4. The AI Redactor (“AS-IS” Assistive Tool Disclaimer)

1. No Guarantee of Anonymity or Redaction: Chideout provides an automated pre-publication filter (the “Redactor”), which combines rules with an artificial-intelligence model and is designed to assist in detecting and replacing recognizable names and contact details with pseudonymous placeholders. THE GATEKEEPER IS AN AUTOMATED ASSISTIVE TOOL PROVIDED STRICTLY “AS-IS” AND “AS-AVAILABLE.” WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE GATEKEEPER WILL DETECT ALL NAMES, NICKNAMES, SCREENSHOT TEXT, OR IDENTIFYING DETAILS.
2. Mandatory User Duty (customNames): Automated filters cannot recognize every uncommon name, workplace title, or contextual clue (e.g., describing a specific coworker at a small company). You are required to manually enter uncommon names, nicknames, and identifying nouns into the composer’s custom redaction tag input before posting, and to visually inspect the live preview before submitting.
3. Assumption of Risk: You acknowledge that third parties may still infer your identity or the subject of your post from writing style, timing, or situational context. Chideout bears zero liability if your identity or the identity of any person mentioned in your post is deduced or exposed.

5. Feed Mechanics: The Hideout, Burner, The Graveyard & Fight Chats

1. License to Chideout: By submitting User Content, you grant Chideout a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, store, redact, reproduce, display, and distribute your User Content across the Service.
2. The Graveyard (h/graveyard): Posts in the Hideout that receive enough downvotes to reach our algorithmic community threshold (p(U), which scales with the number of active users) are automatically buried in the Graveyard (h/graveyard). Buried posts remain publicly viewable in the Graveyard unless deleted by the original author via our self-delete tool or removed by moderation.
3. Burner (24-Hour Expiry): Posts submitted to the Burner feed are configured to expire from public view after 24 hours, after which a copy is kept only in our encrypted safety log for up to ninety (90) days as described in our Privacy Policy. However, expiration from the public feed does not prevent other users from capturing screenshots while the post is live, nor does it override our obligation to preserve server backups in response to abuse reports or valid law enforcement requests.
4. Fight Chats, Forks (handleFork) & Identity Reveal (handleReveal):
   • Permanence, Unsend & No Kicking: Fight Chats are designed as permanent dispute logs. Messages cannot be edited. You may unsend (permanently remove) your own messages, which removes them for every participant; a copy is kept only in our encrypted safety log as described in our Privacy Policy. No participant can remove another participant from a room; people leave on their own.
   • Chat Forking: Any participant may fork a Fight Chat (handleFork), which creates a newly branched chat room that shows the original room’s message history up to the moment of the fork (without copying it) and includes only the participants the person forking chooses. New messages in the fork stay in the fork. If a message is unsent in the original room, it also disappears from its forks. The people left out keep the original room but cannot see the fork.
   • Voluntary Reveal: In public or anonymous Fight Chats, your identity remains masked unless you voluntarily trigger the Reveal action (handleReveal), which shows your display name, @username and profile photo to everyone who can view that chat. You may go anonymous again in that chat at any time, but anyone who already saw your identity may remember or record it, and we cannot undo that.
   • Public Communities: The person who starts a public Fight Chat decides whether anyone may join it or only people added by a member. Anyone may read a public Fight Chat and vote on it, which moves it up or down the community list.

6. “Cred” Reputation vs. Cash Rewards & Stripe Connect

1. “Cred” Has Zero Cash Value: “Cred” points are virtual reputation metrics calculated from community engagement: upvotes and downvotes on your posts and on public chats you start, and Rewards you receive. Cred is not money, legal tender, virtual currency, or financial instruments. They cannot be redeemed for cash, sold, transferred, or exchanged outside the Service. We may modify, reset, or discontinue the Cred scoring formula at any time without liability.
2. Cash Rewards & The 50/50 Revenue Split:
   • Users may purchase optional cash Rewards ($1.00 to $10.00 USD) on eligible posts authored by other users. You may never purchase a Reward on your own post.
   • All Reward purchases are final and non-refundable to the buyer, except when reversed by Chideout during the moderation hold period.
   • Subject to these Terms, Chideout retains a 50% Platform Fee, and the eligible post author is credited a conditional 50% Creator Share (REWARD_SHARE = 0.5).
3. 7-Day Moderation & Escrow Hold (REWARD_HOLD_MS):
   • Every Creator Share is subject to a mandatory seven (7) calendar day holding period (status = 'holding') from the timestamp of purchase before becoming eligible for payout (status = 'available').
   • Forfeiture & Reversal: If, during the 7-day holding period, (a) the post is removed by moderators for violating these Terms (including doxxing or defamation), (b) you delete the post yourself, (c) the buyer initiates a payment dispute/chargeback, or (d) we detect self-rewarding or fraud, the transaction will be voided/refunded (status = 'refunded') and you forfeit 100% of the Creator Share for that transaction.
4. Stripe Connect Express & Tax Compliance:
   • Chideout does not act as a bank, escrow agent, or money transmitter. All Creator Share payouts are processed exclusively through Stripe Connect (Express Accounts).
   • To withdraw available earnings, you must complete Stripe Connect onboarding, pass Stripe’s identity verification (KYC) and sanctions screening, and agree to the Stripe Connected Account Agreement.
   • 90-Day Onboarding Deadline: If you accumulate available Creator Share balances but fail to complete Stripe Connect onboarding within ninety (90) days of the funds becoming available, your conditional right to receive those funds expires and the balance is forfeited to the platform.
   • Taxes & Chargeback Offsets: You are solely responsible for all federal, state, and local taxes on your earnings (Stripe will issue IRS Form 1099-K or 1099-NEC where required by law). If a Reward is charged back after the 7-day hold window, we reserve the right to offset the disputed amount and any Stripe dispute fees against your future pending or available balances.

7. Copyright Infringement (DMCA Takedown Policy)

In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512), Chideout responds expeditiously to valid notices of copyright infringement. If you believe your copyrighted work has been posted on Chideout without authorization, please send a written notice to our Designated Copyright Agent containing:

1. A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or person authorized to act on their behalf;
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed;
3. Identification of the material on Chideout (including the specific post URL or ID) and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate it;
4. Your contact information (name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address);
5. A statement that you have a good-faith belief that use of the material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
6. A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

Counter-Notice: If your content was removed because of a copyright notice and you believe that was a mistake or that you had the right to post it, you may send our Designated Agent a counter-notice that includes your signature, identification of the removed material and where it appeared, a statement under penalty of perjury that you believe it was removed by mistake or misidentification, your name, address and phone number, and your consent to the jurisdiction of the federal court for your district (or, if you are outside the US, any district where Chideout may be found). We may restore the material 10 to 14 business days after receiving a valid counter-notice unless the complaining party tells us it has filed a lawsuit.

Repeat Infringers: We will, in appropriate circumstances, terminate the accounts of users who repeatedly infringe copyrights.

DMCA Designated Agent:

8. Disclaimers of Warranties

THE SERVICE AND ALL CONTENT, FUNCTIONS, AND AI REDACTOR FILTERS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR GUARANTEED ANONYMITY.

9. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL JELLYBALL LLC, ITS OFFICERS, MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF REPUTATION, EMPLOYMENT, DATA, OR PROFITS, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE OR ANY USER CONTENT POSTED BY THIRD PARTIES. OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF THESE TERMS SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF ONE HUNDRED US DOLLARS ($100.00) OR THE AMOUNT OF CREATOR SHARE PAYOUTS ACTUALLY PAID TO YOU BY JELLYBALL LLC IN THE SIX (6) MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM.

10. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Jellyball LLC and its affiliates, officers, and employees from and against any and all claims, subpoenas, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your User Content (including any allegation of defamation, invasion of privacy, doxxing, or copyright infringement); (b) your violation of these Terms; or (c) your bypass or misuse of the Redactor filter.

11. Governing Law, Binding Arbitration & Class Action Waiver

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Maryland, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be resolved exclusively by final and binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, except that either party may bring qualifying claims in small claims court. YOU AND JELLYBALL LLC AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING.

12. Changes to These Terms, Termination & Contact

1. Changes: We may update these Terms. When we make a change, we will update the version number and date above and ask you to review and accept the new Terms before you continue using the Service. If you do not agree, you may stop using the Service and delete your account.
2. Termination: You may delete your account at any time from Account Settings. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms, and block Chideout access for accounts we believe belong to a person under 18.
3. Trademarks: Chideout™, the Chideout mask logo, “Chide anonymously” and “Chide it out” are trademarks of Jellyball LLC. You may not use them in a way that suggests we sponsor or endorse you without our written permission.
4. Contact: Questions about these Terms can be sent to [email protected].