On this page
1. [1\. Acceptance of Terms](https://communities.news/terms#1-acceptance-of-terms)
2. [2\. Description of Service](https://communities.news/terms#2-description-of-service)
3. [3\. Account Requirements](https://communities.news/terms#3-account-requirements)
4. [4\. Content Ownership](https://communities.news/terms#4-content-ownership)
5. [5\. Subscriptions, Tips & Getting Paid](https://communities.news/terms#5-subscriptions-tips-getting-paid)
6. [6\. Acceptable Use](https://communities.news/terms#6-acceptable-use)
7. [7\. Community Review Process](https://communities.news/terms#7-community-review-process)
8. [8\. AI Disclaimer](https://communities.news/terms#8-ai-disclaimer)
9. [9\. Audio Content](https://communities.news/terms#9-audio-content)
10. [10\. Third-Party Integrations](https://communities.news/terms#10-third-party-integrations)
11. [11\. Disclaimers](https://communities.news/terms#11-disclaimers)
12. [12\. Limitation of Liability](https://communities.news/terms#12-limitation-of-liability)
13. [13\. Indemnification](https://communities.news/terms#13-indemnification)
14. [14\. Termination](https://communities.news/terms#14-termination)
15. [15\. Dispute Resolution](https://communities.news/terms#15-dispute-resolution)
16. [16\. Force Majeure](https://communities.news/terms#16-force-majeure)
17. [17\. Governing Law](https://communities.news/terms#17-governing-law)
18. [18\. Changes to Terms](https://communities.news/terms#18-changes-to-terms)
19. [19\. Voting Monitor](https://communities.news/terms#19-voting-monitor)
20. [20\. Contact](https://communities.news/terms#20-contact)

# Terms of Service

**Last updated:** November 8, 2026

## 1\. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using the Communities News platform or any newsroom built on it ("the Service"), operated by Communities News, Inc., an Alaska business corporation ("we", "us", "our"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

## 2\. Description of Service

Communities News is a platform for community-driven local journalism. Newsrooms run on the platform under their own community-specific domains (the first is Alaska News at [alaskanews.com](https://alaskanews.com)). Members can create accounts in any newsroom, write and review articles, upload photos, and publish content collaboratively. The platform uses AI to assist with drafting articles from government meeting transcripts, moderating photos, and generating text-to-speech audio. All AI-drafted content is clearly labeled and subject to community peer review.

These Terms of Service apply to your use of any newsroom on the Communities News platform, and to Voting Monitor at [votingmonitor.org](https://votingmonitor.org) as described in section 19.

## 3\. Account Requirements

- You must be at least 13 years old to use the Service
- You must provide a valid email address or sign in with Google or Facebook
- You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account
- You may not create accounts for the purpose of spamming or abuse
- One account per person. Duplicate accounts may be suspended

## 4\. Content Ownership

**Your Content:** You retain all rights to the articles, reviews, photos, and other content you create on the platform. By publishing content, you grant Communities News, Inc. a non-exclusive, worldwide license to display, distribute, and promote your content within the Service, including generating audio versions of published articles.

**AI-Generated Content:** Articles drafted by AI from public government meeting transcripts are owned by the community newsroom that commissioned them. Authors who edit and submit AI-drafted articles for review are credited as co-authors.

**Photos:** You retain ownership of photos you upload. By uploading to the community gallery, you grant a license for display on the platform, use as article cover images, and AI analysis for tagging and moderation. A photo or video you send for a specific story is covered by the [Photo and Video Contributor License](https://communities.news/contributor-license) instead.

**Community Record:** Published articles remain part of the community record. If you delete your account, your published articles may be retained with anonymized attribution to preserve the community archive.

## 5\. Subscriptions, Tips & Getting Paid

**Free to read:** Articles are free to read. A subscription adds the features described on each newsroom's subscribe page, such as searching every meeting transcript, and funds the newsroom.

**Subscriptions:** Billed monthly or yearly through Stripe. Cancel anytime from your account; your subscription stays active until the end of the period you paid for. Refunds are handled case by case; contact [support@communities.news](mailto:support@communities.news).

**Tips:** Anyone can tip a story between $5 and $500, with or without an account. We keep 20% of a tip and pay Stripe's fee from that share. The other 80% goes to the people who made the story: its human authors, and the human editors who edited it before the tip, as recorded when you tip. If no person made the story, the newsroom keeps the tip. Refunds are handled case by case.

**Getting paid:** Tip shares, and payments for photos and videos used in a story under the [Photo and Video Contributor License](https://communities.news/contributor-license), are paid out by hand, at least $10 at a time. A tip share can be paid 14 days after the tip. We may ask for tax information, such as a W-9, before paying you. If a tip is refunded or disputed after we have paid you, we do not ask for the money back. Amounts not yet paid out are forfeited if you delete your account.

**Advertising:** Communities News newsrooms currently show no advertising. If we introduce it, it will never take the form of sponsored articles or paid editorial placement, and we will update these Terms before it begins.

## 6\. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

- Publish content that is defamatory, fraudulent, or deliberately misleading
- Upload photos that are obscene, illegal, or violate others' rights
- Impersonate other individuals or organizations
- Use the platform to harass, threaten, or intimidate others
- Tip your own work, pay with a card that is not yours, or send photos or videos you did not take
- Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service or other accounts
- Scrape, crawl, or otherwise extract data in bulk without permission
- Circumvent rate limits, security measures, or access controls
- Use the Service for any illegal purpose

## 7\. Community Review Process

Articles submitted for publication go through a peer review process. Each community sets its own approval threshold. Reviewers are expected to evaluate content in good faith for accuracy, relevance, and quality.

Uploaded photos are automatically screened by AI for content moderation. Photos flagged by AI may be held for manual review by platform administrators.

We reserve the right to remove content that violates these Terms, regardless of its review status.

## 8\. AI Disclaimer

AI-assisted features are provided as tools to aid content creation, including article drafting, text-to-speech audio, photo analysis, and content classification. AI-generated content may contain errors, omissions, or inaccuracies. All AI-assisted articles are clearly labeled and pass an automated review before they can publish. Human editorial review varies by story and by newsroom: some articles are held for an editor before they publish, and others are reviewed after they go live. An article credits an editor by name only when a full review has taken place.

We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Community reviewers and authors are responsible for verifying facts before approving publication.

## 9\. Audio Content

Published articles may be converted to audio using text-to-speech technology. Audio versions are derivative works of the published article. Authors with content role access can set their preferred TTS voice in their profile settings.

Standard audio (OpenAI TTS) is available to all users. Premium audio (ElevenLabs) is available to active subscribers.

## 10\. Third-Party Integrations

The Service integrates with third-party providers for AI processing, payments, hosting, and authentication. We are not responsible for the availability or practices of third-party services. See our [Privacy Policy](https://communities.news/privacy) for a full list of providers.

## 11\. Disclaimers

The Service is provided "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" without warranties of any kind, express or implied. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure.

## 12\. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Communities News, Inc. shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the Service, including but not limited to loss of revenue, data, or business opportunities.

## 13\. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Communities News, Inc. from any claims, damages, or expenses arising from your use of the Service, your content, or your violation of these Terms.

## 14\. Termination

You may delete your account at any time. Deleting it ends any paid subscription immediately, without a refund. We may suspend or terminate your account if you violate these Terms or engage in conduct that is harmful to other users or the platform.

Upon termination, your right to use the Service ceases immediately. Published articles may be retained as part of the community record per Section 4\. Tip shares and photo or video payments not yet paid out are forfeited upon account deletion.

## 15\. Dispute Resolution

Any disputes arising from these Terms shall first be addressed through good faith negotiation for a period of 30 days. If unresolved, disputes shall be settled by binding arbitration in Anchorage, Alaska.

You agree to resolve disputes on an individual basis and waive any right to participate in a class action lawsuit or class-wide arbitration.

## 16\. Force Majeure

We shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performance due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to natural disasters, acts of government, power outages, or internet disruptions.

## 17\. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Alaska, without regard to conflict of law principles.

## 18\. Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

## 19\. Voting Monitor

Voting Monitor (votingmonitor.org) is operated by Communities News, Inc. and measures how consumer AI products answer voter-style questions. It has no accounts, subscriptions, tips or community review, so sections 3, 5 and 7 do not apply to it, and the rest of these Terms apply where relevant.

**Data license:** Voting Monitor's data is published under the [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). You may use it freely with attribution.

**How findings are made:** Findings are written and checked by AI models, with no human review before they are published. They are measurements of what AI products said, not forecasts and not voting advice.

**Corrections:** To report an error, follow the steps on the [corrections page](https://votingmonitor.org/corrections/).

## 20\. Contact

Communities News, Inc. Anchorage, Alaska

- General: [hello@communities.news](mailto:hello@communities.news)
- Support: [support@communities.news](mailto:support@communities.news)
- Security: [security@communities.news](mailto:security@communities.news)
- Privacy: [privacy@communities.news](mailto:privacy@communities.news)
- Legal: [legal@communities.news](mailto:legal@communities.news)