Beehiiv’s strange Terms of Use
Rusty Foster of Today in Tabs writing about his move from Substack to Beehiiv:
If you want more than the basics, evaluate Ghost and Beehiiv and see what appeals to you. I think they’re both good and they have different pluses and minuses.
If you don’t like overbearing Terms of Use run away screaming from Beehiiv. This is the “Content Standards” section of Beehiiv’s Terms of Use page which I will share here (emphasis mine):
The following content standards (the “Content Standards”) apply to any and all content published to beehiiv (including without limitation, content published on a Boosts campaign). Content must in their entirety comply with all applicable federal, state, local, and international laws and regulations. Without limiting the foregoing, content must not:
- Contain any material that is defamatory, obscene, indecent, abusive, offensive, harassing, violent, hateful, inflammatory, or otherwise objectionable, or that could reasonably incite violence based on protected classes (e.g., incite credible threats of physical harm to people based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability or medical condition).
- Promote harmful or illegal activities, including material that advocates, threatens, or shows you causing harm to yourself, other people, or animals.
- Publish any material that was written or created by someone else and claim it as your own.
- Promote sexually explicit or pornographic material, including without limitation, (i) porn or sexually exploitative content, or (ii) depictions of nudity for artistic, journalistic, or related purposes,
- Infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other intellectual property or other rights of any other person.
- Violate the legal rights (including the rights of publicity and privacy) of others or contain any material that could give rise to any civil or criminal liability under applicable laws or regulations or that otherwise may be in conflict with these Terms of Use, any applicable Publisher Agreement and/or our Privacy Policy.
- Be likely to deceive any person.
- Promote any illegal activity, or advocate, promote, or assist any unlawful act.
- Cause annoyance, inconvenience, or needless anxiety or be likely to upset, embarrass, alarm, or annoy any other person.
- Impersonate any person, brand, organization or entity, or misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, brand, organization or entity.
- Give the impression that they emanate from or are endorsed by us or any other person or entity, if this is not the case.
- Publish or post, threaten to publish or post, or incentivize others to publish or post, other people’s private information (such as a personal phone number or home address) without their express authorization and permission.