Terms of Service
Last updated: October 6, 2026
1. Agreement
By accessing or using VIYU, you agree to these Terms and Conditions.
2. Strict 18+ Eligibility & Age Requirement
You must be at least 18 years of age (or the legal age of majority in your jurisdiction) to use VIYU. By creating an account, you explicitly confirm, warrant, and represent that you are at least 18 years old. Minors under the age of 18 are strictly prohibited from creating an account, accessing, or using VIYU. Any accounts found to be operated by individuals under 18 will be permanently and immediately terminated.
3. Accounts
You agree to:
- Provide accurate and truthful information (including your correct age)
- Keep login credentials secure
- Be fully responsible for all activity that occurs under your account
4. Acceptable Use
You may not:
- Post illegal, harmful, or exploitative content
- Harass, threaten, or bully others
- Share sexually explicit or non-consensual media
- Impersonate others or falsify identity data
- Use bots, scripts, automated web scrapers, or automation tools
- Post AI-generated content, or deploy automated AI agents on VIYU
5. Verification & Badge Rules
VIYU offers optional identity verification via Stripe Identity, which confirms identity and adult status to the extent supported by its service. Unverified members can still post, but posting freely, including full Café access and posting in the News (journalism) room, requires verification. All badge types confirm identity only and do not verify professional licenses, academic credentials, or expertise. The badge color is determined by the user's self-selected role.
- Yellow Badge: Identity verified via Stripe Identity (General adult role)
- Green Badge: Identity verified via Stripe Identity (Student role)
- Blue Badge: Identity verified via Stripe Identity (Professional role)
User Responsibility for Claims
Role selections (General, Student, Professional) are self-declared by users. Users are fully responsible for the accuracy of any claims made on their profile or posts. Badge possession does not imply professional expertise, academic enrollment, or credentials.
7. No Professional Advice
VIYU does not provide medical, legal, financial, or professional advice. Users must independently verify important information.
8. Moderation & AI Disclosure
VIYU uses technology, including AI-assisted tools, and human review to help enforce these Terms. VIYU may review and remove content or restrict accounts that violate our policies, but cannot guarantee that every violation will be detected or removed immediately.
- Automated tools help identify possible policy violations for review
- VIYU does not use your personal information or posts to train external AI models
- Moderation decisions can be appealed by contacting support@theviyu.com
- Strike system: 1st = warning + content removed, 2nd = permanent account removal
- Severe violations (including use by a minor, CSAM, violent threats, or malicious bot deployment) result in permanent removal on the first offense
Inactive, Automated, and Inauthentic Accounts
VIYU uses security signals to help protect the platform from prohibited bots and automation. These signals may flag an account for review, but a flag alone does not establish that an account is a bot or has violated these Terms. Inactivity alone is not treated as suspicious or as a sign of automation.
Flagged accounts are generally reviewed before they are restricted or removed. VIYU may take immediate action where there is a serious security, safety, or legal concern.
An account that remains inactive for a prolonged period, as determined by VIYU, may become eligible for removal under VIYU's inactivity policy. Accounts are not deleted automatically based on inactivity.
9. Limitation of Liability
VIYU is provided "as is." We are not liable for disputes between users or third-party actions.
10. Governing Law & Jurisdiction
These Terms are governed exclusively by the laws of California, USA, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any disputes arising from VIYU's services are subject to California jurisdiction and state law.
11. Payments, Subscriptions, Cancellation, and Refunds
Payments for subscriptions, store items, verification, and other paid features are processed by Stripe. VIYU does not store your full card details.
All fees, including subscription fees, store purchases, and verification fees, are generally earned upon payment and are non-refundable, except as described below or where required by law.
Cancellation
You may cancel your subscription at any time in your account settings to stop future charges. Upon cancellation, your access will continue until the end of your current billing period, but no pro-rated refunds will be issued for unused time.
Exceptions
VIYU reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to issue refunds or credits in exceptional circumstances such as technical errors or documented hardship. Any such one-time refund does not waive VIYU's right to deny future refunds. For purchases made via third-party app stores, refund requests must be directed to the respective store's support.
Account Termination and Verification Fees
VIYU reserves the right to terminate accounts that violate our community standards or security protocols. In the event of account termination due to a breach of these Terms, no refunds will be issued for any remaining subscription period or license fees.
The verification fee is a one-time payment for the specific service of identity authentication. This service is considered fully provided once verification is completed. If an account is permanently removed for prohibited conduct, including attempting to bypass the 18+ age requirement, verification fees and any remaining subscription balance are non-refundable, except where required by law.
Chargeback Prohibition:
If you have a concern about a charge, please contact support@theviyu.com so we can try to resolve it. VIYU may take lawful measures to address fraudulent payment activity, including restricting access to purchased features.
Purchase Records
When you make a purchase, VIYU records your acceptance of these payment terms along with related transaction details, such as the time of purchase, IP address, and device information. These records are retained as long as reasonably necessary for business, legal, and dispute-resolution purposes.
13. Sensitive Content & News Responsibility
By using VIYU, you acknowledge that you may encounter graphic real-world news content in designated News spaces. We protect our adult community through responsible design:
- All sensitive content is blurred by default in feeds and requires an intentional action ("Tap to View") to display.
- Verified users who post sensitive content must provide proper context and take full responsibility for accuracy.
- Unverified or restricted accounts cannot post in News rooms, ensuring all sensitive content is tied to accountable, verified adult identities.
- VIYU reserves the right to remove sensitive content that lacks context, appears gratuitous, or violates the 'Human Signal' standard of truth and accountability.
Cooperation with Law Enforcement
VIYU may preserve or disclose information when required or permitted by law, including in response to valid legal process, to report child sexual abuse material as required by law, or where we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to prevent imminent harm to a person.
Account Review & Approval
Every new account is manually reviewed before approval. VIYU reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to decline, reject, or refuse approval of any account or profile — including profile photos and profile information — that does not meet our registration and community guidelines. Declined applicants are welcome to register again with updated profile information.
Future Lab Challenges
VIYU may periodically host community challenges through Future Lab. Each challenge may include its own eligibility requirements, submission criteria, deadlines, selection process, and rewards.
Eligible submissions will be reviewed according to the criteria provided for that challenge. VIYU aims to evaluate submissions fairly and consistently and may use moderators, reviewers, community feedback, or other disclosed evaluation methods depending on the challenge.
Participation does not guarantee selection or a reward. Attempts to manipulate voting, submit fraudulent entries, use bots, plagiarize another person's work, or otherwise interfere with the integrity of a challenge may result in disqualification.
Any applicable rewards, restrictions, and additional conditions will be disclosed before participation.
User-Generated Content
VIYU provides a platform for adult users to share their own content. Users are solely responsible for the content they post and for ensuring it complies with our Community Guidelines and Terms of Service. The views and opinions expressed by users are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of VIYU.
VIYU reserves the right to review, remove, restrict, or take appropriate action regarding any content that violates our policies or applicable laws.