I take the Terms of Service for web sites seriously. Since I just created a Hive community, I decided that this would be a good time to reread the ToS to make sure my community was in compliance. I decide to read the ToS for Hive and the ToS for SteemIt to see how the sites were diverging after the hard fork.
Well folks. It appears that the folks at SteemIt Inc. are going insane. They left the date of the ToS as June 15, 2020, but have added new rules preventing class action law suits. Fortunately, the Way Back Machine has old copies of the ToS (Note, you have to go into "view source" mode to read the old ToS).
Before I jump into the main article, I want to note that Terms of Service pages must have a Record of Revision section.
SteemIt added rules against Class Action Lawsuits and forced arbitration. I don't think that these terms will stave off the class action lawsuit related to their seizure of funds.
I wanted to look at SteemIt ToS section 14.1.7 which reads:
14.1.7. [You Will Not] Use our services to promote third-party platforms or to promote each other without our written permission.
My guess is that they don't want people on SteemIt promoting HIVE. However, their ToS is overly broad. Users are not allowed to "promote" any "platform."
All web sites are platforms. All links are promotions for platforms. This stupid section means that people are not allowed to have links from their SteemIt blogs to other web sites.
The ToS also says that people cannot promote each other.
How bizarre is that?
Quite frankly, I think the whole purpose of social media is that social media provides a platform where people can promote the different things that they are doing. A social media site the forbids people from promoting their activities or other people has no reason to exist.
So, not only do I believe that this new section of the SteemIt ToS is boneheaded. I think it is the exact opposite of what people should be doing on social media.
If you have a podcast then you should promote your podcast on social media. If you have a store; promote your store on social media. If you have an online gaming system; promote your online games on social media.
If you want to promote other people on social media; then promote other people on social media.
The addition of section 14.1.7 shows a negative trend in social media. Social media sites start out claiming to be be forums of open discourse. The people who control the site invariably try to use their platform to control others.
Fortunately, Hive did not add this section to its ToS.
Am I wrong on my assessment of social media? I think this paragraph is one of the most boneheaded rule I have ever seen in a ToS.
