Terms of service

Last Updated: Tue, June 23, 2026

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of our websites (www.DEFIANCE.org and www.DEFIANCE.news), services, and any related interactions that include a link to these Terms (collectively, referred to herein as the “Services”). The Services are provided by DEFIANCE.org (“Defiance,” “we,” “us” or “our”).

Please carefully read and understand these Terms. They contain an Arbitration Agreement, Jury and Class Action Waiver and Limitations of Liability, and other provisions that affect your legal rights. 

Please also review our Privacy Policy which describes how we collect, use, and disclose your personal information. By accepting these Terms, you also understand and agree that these Terms will govern any disputes arising out of or related to our Privacy Policy. 

1.Acceptance of Terms

By accessing, browsing or otherwise using the Services you acknowledge that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you are using the Services on behalf of an organization, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind that organization to these Terms, and references to “you” shall include that organization. 

We may update these Terms from time to time. Your continued use of the Services after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the Terms at any time, please discontinue your use of the Services.

2.Eligibility

The Services are designed for users age 18 and older. By using the Services, you represent and warrant that you are at least 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from individuals under 18. If you are under the age of 18, you may not access or use the Services. If you believe that a minor has accessed or used the Services, please contact us at support@defiance.org. 

These Terms apply to users of our Services as well as anyone who makes a contribution or donation to Defiance (“Members”) (collectively, “Users”).

3.Permitted and Prohibited Uses

Permitted Uses. You agree that you will use the Services only for lawful purposes and in accordance with all applicable laws, rules, regulations, and these Terms. 

Prohibited Uses. The following is a non-exhaustive list of prohibited uses of the Services.

You agree that you will not perform, facilitate, or engage in any of the following or related prohibited uses:

  • Impersonate or attempt to impersonate any person or entity, including Defiance, or its employees, representatives, or its affiliates, or any User.

  • Falsely state or misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person or entity.

  • Use or attempt to use the Services to engage in unauthorized advertising or promotional activities, including but not limited to spam, junk mail, chain mail, or similar materials.

  • Engage in any conduct that restricts or inhibits any person's use or enjoyment of the Services, or which, as determined in our sole discretion, is fraudulent or may harm us or the users of the Services or expose us or others to liability of any kind.

  • Use or attempt to use the Services in any manner that could disable, overburden, damage, or impair the Services or interfere with another party's use of the Services.

  • Use or attempt to use any automated mechanism, such as a robot, spider, scrape, or similar automated technology, process, or means to access or use the Services for any purpose, including monitoring or copying any of the material on the Services.

  • Use or attempt to use any manual process or means to monitor or copy any material on the Services or for any other unauthorized purpose.

  • Use or attempt to use any device, software, means, or routine that interferes with the proper functioning of the Services, including but not limited to viruses, Trojan horses, worms, logic bombs, or other such materials.

  • Circumvent, disable, or otherwise interfere with any security features of the Services.

  • Reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to discover the source code, underlying algorithms, or architecture of the Services.

  • Attempt to gain unauthorized access to, interfere with, damage, or disrupt any parts of the Services, the servers on which the Services are stored, or any server, computer, database, or other system connected to the Services.

  • Attempt to attack or attack the Services via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack.

  • Otherwise attempt to interfere with the proper functioning of the Services.

  • Make unauthorized use of any of Defiance’s trademarks, service marks, or other protected intellectual property.

  • Use the Services in any way that violates any applicable federal, state, or local laws, rules, or regulations.

  • Submit content that contains unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, obscene, or otherwise objectionable content.

  • Use the Services or any User information to harass, intimidate, stalk, threaten, abuse or otherwise harm any person or entity. 

  • Any other activities that, in our sole judgment, may be objectionable, abusive, or contrary to these Terms.

We reserve the right to terminate your license and permission to use our Services, and block or prevent your access to and use of our Services without notice and in our sole discretion.

4.Intellectual Property

Our IP. The Services, including all software, text, graphics, logos, icons, images, audio, video, data compilations, and the overall design, selection, and arrangement thereof, are the exclusive property of Defiance or its licensors and are protected by United States and international intellectual property laws. Nothing in these Terms grants you any right, title, or interest in the Services, except for the limited right to use the Services in accordance with these Terms. 

User-Submitted Content. You retain ownership of any original content you submit to the Services (“User-Submitted Content”). By submitting User-Submitted Content, you grant Defiance a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable and transferable license to use, reproduce, process, and display your User-Submitted Content for the purposes of providing and improving the Services.

If you expressly provide any ideas, comments, or suggestions for improvements (“Feedback”), we may use such Feedback without restriction or compensation to you. By providing Feedback, you grant Defiance an irrevocable, perpetual, royalty-free license to use and incorporate such Feedback into the Services.

5.Disclaimers

YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, ITS CONTENT, AND ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE SERVICES, ITS CONTENT, AND ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.

WE DO NOT MAKE ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION WITH RESPECT TO THE COMPLETENESS, SECURITY, RELIABILITY, QUALITY, ACCURACY, OR AVAILABILITY OF THE SERVICES. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, WE DO NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES, ITS CONTENT, OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICES WILL BE ACCURATE, RELIABLE, ERROR-FREE, OR UNINTERRUPTED, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, THAT THE SERVICES OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS, OR THAT THE SERVICES OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICES WILL OTHERWISE MEET YOUR NEEDS OR EXPECTATIONS.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PROVIDED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

6.Availability, Errors and Inaccuracies

WE ASSUME NO LIABILITY FOR THE AVAILABILITY, ERRORS, OR INACCURACIES OF THE INFORMATION, PRODUCTS, OR SERVICES PROVIDED ON THE SERVICES. WE MAY EXPERIENCE DELAYS IN UPDATING INFORMATION ON THE SERVICES AND IN OUR CONTENT ON OUR OR OTHER WEBSITES. THE INFORMATION, PRODUCTS, AND SERVICES FOUND ON THE SERVICES MAY CONTAIN ERRORS OR INACCURACIES OR MAY NOT BE COMPLETE OR CURRENT. PRODUCTS OR SERVICES MAY BE INCORRECTLY DESCRIBED OR UNAVAILABLE. WE EXPRESSLY RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CORRECT ANY ERRORS ON THE SERVICES.

7.Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL DEFIANCE, ITS AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, SERVICE PROVIDERS OR LICENSORS (“Defiance Parties”)BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF, RELATING TO, OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH YOUR ACCESS TO, DISPLAY OF OR USE OF THE SERVICES OR WITH THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO ACCESS, DISPLAY, OR USE THE SERVICES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO YOUR RELIANCE UPON OPINIONS OR INFORMATION APPEARING ON THE SERVICES; ANY USER-SUBMITTED CONTENT, ANY COMPUTER VIRUSES, INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, LINKED WEBSITES OPERATED BY THIRD PARTIES, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICES, LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, WHETHER BASED ON A THEORY OF NEGLIGENCE, CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, CONSUMER PROTECTION STATUTES OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF DEFIANCE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES OR LIABILITY. IN SUCH JURISDICTIONS, OUR LIABILITY SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE GREATEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. 

8.Indemnification 

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Defiance Parties from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to: (1) your use of or access to the Services; (2) your violation of these Terms; (3) your violation of any applicable law or regulations; (4) your User-Submitted Content, Feedback or any other content or information you submit through the Services; or (5) your gross negligence or willful misconduct.

This indemnification obligation shall survive the termination of these Terms and your use of the Services. 

9.Links to Third-Party Websites

The Services may contain hyperlinks to websites operated by third parties and not by us. We provide such hyperlinks for your reference only. We do not control such websites and are in no way responsible for their contents or the privacy or other practices of such websites. Our inclusion of hyperlinks to such websites does not imply any endorsement of the material on such websites or any association with their operators.

10.Termination

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your access to the Services, in whole or in part, at any time and for any reason, in our sole discretion, including but not limited to: 

  • Violation of these Terms or any applicable law;

  • Engaging in any prohibited activity described in these Terms;

  • Conduct that we determine, in our sole discretion, is harmful to Defiance, other Users, or the public; or 

  • Failure to comply with our Privacy Policy.

Upon termination, your rights to access and use the Services will immediately cease. We may, but are not obligated to provide you with notice prior to termination. Sections of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination shall survive, including but not limited to the Intellectual Property, Disclaimers, Limitation of Liability, Indemnification, Governing Law, and Dispute Resolution sections. 

11.Dispute Resolution

Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Services ("Dispute") shall first be resolved through good-faith negotiation between the parties. 

Binding Arbitration. If a Dispute cannot be resolved through negotiation within thirty (30) days, either party may submit the Dispute to binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") under its Consumer Arbitration Rules then in effect. You agree that the arbitration shall be conducted by a single arbitrator selected in accordance with AAA rules.

Arbitration shall take place in Fairfax County, Virginia, unless applicable law requires a different venue. The arbitrator shall apply Virginia substantive law consistent with the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. The arbitrator shall have no authority to award punitive or exemplary damages, except to the extent such limitation is prohibited by applicable law, and the arbitrator shall not vary or ignore the terms of these Terms and shall be bound by applicable law. The arbitrator's decision and award shall be final and binding, and judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

CLASS ACTION AND JURY TRIAL WAIVER. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, YOU AND DEFIANCE EACH AGREE THAT ANY DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEEDINGS WILL BE CONDUCTED ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT IN A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION. YOU EXPRESSLY WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE AS A CLASS MEMBER OR CLASS REPRESENTATIVE IN ANY CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT, CLASS-WIDE ARBITRATION, OR ANY CONSOLIDATED OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. IF FOR ANY REASON A CLAIM PROCEEDS IN COURT RATHER THAN IN ARBITRATION, YOU AND DEFIANCE EACH KNOWINGLY AND VOLUNTARILY WAIVE THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL. 

Limitation of Time to File Claims. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ANY CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM YOU MAY HAVE ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICES MUST BE COMMENCED WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES; OTHERWISE, SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM IS PERMANENTLY BARRED. This limitation applies regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, except where prohibited by applicable law.

Confidentiality of Arbitration. The parties agree that any arbitration proceedings, including any filings, evidence, testimony, and the arbitrator’s decision and award, shall be kept confidential and shall not be disclosed to any third party, except as may be required by law, to enforce the arbitrator’s decision, or as otherwise agreed by the parties in writing.

Injunctive Relief. Notwithstanding the foregoing, either party may seek injunctive or other equitable relief in any court of competent jurisdiction to prevent the actual or threatened infringement, misappropriation, or violation of intellectual property rights, confidentiality obligations, or any unauthorized use of the Services. You agree that Defiance shall be entitled to seek such relief without the posting of a bond or other security and without proof of actual damages.

Severability of Arbitration Provisions. If any provision of this Dispute Resolution section is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect. If the class action waiver is found to be unenforceable as to a particular claim or request for relief, then that claim or request for relief shall be severed and proceed in a court of competent jurisdiction in Fairfax County, Virginia, while the remaining claims shall proceed in arbitration.

Further, notwithstanding any other language in this dispute resolution provision, neither you nor Defiance shall be precluded from seeking remedies in small claims court for disputes or claims within the scope of its jurisdiction.

12.Governing Law

These Terms will be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, U.S.A., without regard to its conflict of law principles. You irrevocably agree to submit to the exclusive personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Fairfax County, Virginia for any action or proceeding arising out of or relating to these Terms that is not subject to arbitration. You waive any objection based on forum non conveniens or improper venue with respect to any such action or proceeding in such courts.

13.Changes to Terms

We may revise these Terms at any time by posting the updated Terms on our website. We will notify you of any material changes by updating the “Last Updated” date at the top of these Terms and, where appropriate, by providing additional notice (such as a statement on our homepage or an email notification). Your continued use of the Services after any changes to these Terms constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you must stop using the Services.

We encourage you to review these Terms periodically to stay informed of any updates.

14.Contact Us

If you have any questions about our Terms, please contact us at support@defiance.org.