Bitly Acceptable Use Policy
This update to Bitly's Acceptable Use Policy only adds section headings for readability, fixes links to include trailing slashes, and removes the outdated effective date line. No rules, prohibitions, or enforcement terms were actually changed.
Cosmetic change: formatting, typos, or contact details.
| 1 | #### Effective Date: June 18, 2024 | |
− REMOVEDRemoved effective date line The 'Effective Date: June 18, 2024' line at the top of the document was deleted. | ||
| 2 | ||
| 3 | 1 | At Bitly, our aim is to be a catalyst for connections; to empower people, brands, and businesses of all sizes to engage their customers anywhere at scale. |
| 4 | 2 | |
| 5 | Bitly is committed to protecting and supporting the right to free expression. At the same time, we take the trust and safety of our platform and community of users seriously. Accordingly, any attempt to use the Bitly Services to distribute harmful, false or misleading content or otherwise manipulate the Bitly Services (as defined in the Bitly [Terms of Service](https://bitly.com/pages/terms-of-service)) for such purposes, is strictly prohibited. If we determine that you are using or have used the Bitly Services to engage in any form of misconduct, including violating this Policy, we may restrict your ability to use our platform, remove your content or suspend or terminate your account. Misconduct may also violate applicable laws and can lead to legal action and civil and criminal penalties. | |
| 3 | Bitly is committed to protecting and supporting the right to free expression. At the same time, we take the trust and safety of our platform and community of users seriously. Accordingly, any attempt to use the Bitly Services to distribute harmful, false or misleading content or otherwise manipulate the Bitly Services (as defined in the Bitly [Terms of Service](https://bitly.com/pages/terms-of-service/)) for such purposes, is strictly prohibited. If we determine that you are using or have used the Bitly Services to engage in any form of misconduct, including violating this Policy, we may restrict your ability to use our platform, remove your content or suspend or terminate your account. Misconduct may also violate applicable laws and can lead to legal action and civil and criminal penalties. | |
± CHANGEDUpdated link URLs with trailing slashes Links to the Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, DMCA policy, report-abuse page, and appeal page were updated to include trailing slashes (e.g. '/terms-of-service/' instead of '/terms-of-service'). The destinations are the same pages. | ||
| 6 | 4 | |
| 7 | By accessing or using the Bitly Services, you agree to abide by this Acceptable Use Policy as well as the Bitly [Terms of Service](https://bitly.com/pages/terms-of-service), Bitly [Privacy Policy](https://bitly.com/pages/privacy) and Bitly's [DMCA Copyright Policy](https://bitly.com/pages/dmca-copyright-policy) and to (collectively, the "Bitly Terms"), as may be modified from time to time. | |
| 5 | By accessing or using the Bitly Services, you agree to abide by this Acceptable Use Policy as well as the Bitly [Terms of Service](https://bitly.com/pages/terms-of-service/), Bitly [Privacy Policy](https://bitly.com/pages/privacy/) and Bitly's [DMCA Copyright Policy](https://bitly.com/pages/dmca-copyright-policy/) and to (collectively, the "Bitly Terms"), as may be modified from time to time. | |
| 8 | 6 | |
| 7 | #### Eligibility | |
+ ADDEDAdded section headings The document now has clear headings ('Eligibility', 'Never use the Bitly Services to distribute abusive, dangerous, or illegal content', 'Never engage in abusive, dangerous, or illegal behavior', 'Reporting abuse and violations', 'Enforcement against non-compliance') to organize existing content. No underlying rules changed. | ||
| 8 | ||
| 9 | 9 | You may only use the Bitly Services in compliance with the Bitly Terms. If we suspend or revoke your privileges to use the Bitly Services, you will not be eligible to access them again until further notice from us and any attempt to circumvent such access restrictions (e.g. by creating additional accounts or identities) are strictly prohibited and will result in the permanent disabling of such accounts and flagging them for future enforcement purposes. |
| 10 | 10 | |
| 11 | #### Never use the Bitly Services to distribute abusive, dangerous, or illegal content | |
| 12 | ||
| 11 | 13 | You are prohibited from using the Bitly Services to distribute or promote the following types of content (including but not limited to text, images, video and audio): |
| 12 | 14 | |
| 13 | 15 | - Content that attacks individuals or groups on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, national origin, immigration status, religion, sex or gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or medical condition, as well as any content promoting organizations with such views. |
| 14 | 16 | - Content that exploits children |
| 15 | 17 | - Misinformation, including but not limited to, medical or civic misinformation |
| 16 | 18 | - Content that threatens, encourages, or promotes violence or graphic imagery |
| 17 | 19 | - Sexually explicit or intimate content shared without the subject's consent |
| 18 | 20 | - Any content that glamorizes or promotes self-harm or endangers your safety or the safety of others |
| 19 | 21 | - Any content that promotes terrorism |
| 20 | 22 | - Any other content that is illegal |
| 21 | 23 | |
| 24 | #### Never engage in abusive, dangerous, or illegal behavior | |
| 25 | ||
| 22 | 26 | You are prohibited from using the Bitly Services to engage in the following types of behavior: |
| 23 | 27 | |
| 24 | 28 | - Distributing malware, viruses, badware, or other types of disruptive software |
| 25 | 29 | - Engaging in phishing, spoofing, hacking, or other attempts to fraudulently gain access to someone's information |
| 26 | 30 | - Sending bulk commercial emails or SMA (i.e. spam) |
| 27 | 31 | - Circumventing Bitly's systems to evade detection of abuse outlined in the Bitly Terms |
| 30 | 34 | - Threatening violence or harm to others |
| 31 | 35 | - Bullying, harassing, or coordinated online attacks targeting individuals or groups (i.e. brigading) |
| 32 | 36 | - Impersonating others or misrepresenting your affiliation with any people, organizations or other entities |
| 33 | 37 | - Facilitating illegal activity such as the sale of prohibited goods and/or services |
| 34 | 38 | - Infringing another person or entity's intellectual property |
| 35 | 39 | |
| 36 | We encourage anyone who suspects that someone is manipulating the Bitly Services or violating our Acceptable Use Policy in any way to [notify us](https://bitly.com/pages/trust/report-abuse). We investigate concerns thoroughly and take appropriate actions, up to and including terminating user accounts. | |
| 40 | #### Reporting abuse and violations | |
| 37 | 41 | |
| 38 | If you believe Bitly mistakenly flagged your activity as misconduct, you can [contact us](https://bitly.com/pages/trust/appeal-a-decision) and we will investigate your appeal. | |
| 42 | We encourage anyone who suspects that someone is manipulating the Bitly Services or violating our Acceptable Use Policy in any way to [notify us](https://bitly.com/pages/trust/report-abuse/). We investigate concerns thoroughly and take appropriate actions, up to and including terminating user accounts. | |
| 39 | 43 | |
| 44 | If you believe Bitly mistakenly flagged your activity as misconduct, you can [contact us](https://bitly.com/pages/trust/appeal-a-decision/) and we will investigate your appeal. | |
| 45 | ||
| 46 | #### Enforcement against non-compliance | |
| 47 | ||
| 40 | 48 | Bitly is committed to protecting the user experience and in doing so, our actions will reflect the spirit, not merely the letter, of this Acceptable Use Policy. Bitly reserves the right to suspend or terminate any account or pause or remove any content we deem to be negatively affecting the user experience or safety of our community, whether or not the behavior is explicitly prohibited by this Acceptable Use Policy. This Acceptable Use Policy does not comprehensively list every type of content that Bitly could restrict or block, nor every basis on which Bitly may restrict or block content. |