The framework above leans on two pillars of U.S. law:

  1. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which generally shields a platform from liability for third-party content it hosts, and specifically protects good-faith moderation decisions (the “Good Samaritan” clause) — which is why Section 3 (editorial discretion) and Section 9 (notice-and-takedown) matter as much as the disclaimer language itself. Courts have repeatedly held that platforms don’t lose this protection merely by editing content for clarity or civility, so long as they don’t materially alter its meaning.
  2. Standard UGC contract mechanics — representations/warranties, license grant, and indemnification (Sections 4, 5, 7) — which shift responsibility for a submission’s accuracy and legality onto the person who wrote it, not the Site that hosted it.

Two things worth flagging directly, since they affect how much weight to put on this document.

,:

  • Section 230 is currently under real legislative pressure. A bipartisan Senate bill introduced in December 2025 (the “Sunset Section 230 Act”) would repeal the law entirely, effective January 1, 2027 — which is within Occupy2026’s operating horizon. State-level rulings in 2026 (e.g., a Massachusetts high court decision against Meta) have also started carving narrow exceptions where a platform’s own design or editorial choices — not just hosted content — create exposure. None of this changes the recommended structure today, but it’s a reason to build the Site with a living terms document rather than a “set it and forget it” one, and to keep an eye on federal action through 2026–27.
  • This is not a substitute for review by counsel. I’ve built this from current, publicly available legal-practice guidance, but I’m not a lawyer and this isn’t legal advice. Given Josh Douglass already owns the legal/trust mechanics for the project, the cleanest path is for him (or outside counsel) to confirm jurisdiction, finalize Section 11, and sign off before this goes live — particularly the indemnification and limitation-of-liability language, which is the part most likely to need tailoring to whatever entity structure (trust, PMA, or nonprofit) ends up contributing to the Site.

 

PART I: PUBLIC NOTICE

(Short-form — for the site footer, submission page, and any print/press materials)

PUBLIC NOTICE

Occupy2026.org is an open publishing platform available to members of the public, private organizations, NGOs, and charitable organizations to share stories, testimony, and proposed solutions to America’s current problems. The site exists to give activists, organizers, and everyday citizens a place to document what isn’t working and to put forward constructive answers — in the spirit of the First Amendment.

Views expressed by contributors are their own. Occupy2026.org, its founders, organizers, and affiliated individuals do not endorse, verify, or assume responsibility for any opinion, claim, or statement made by a contributor, and publication of a submission does not constitute agreement with its content.

This is not a platform for hate speech, harassment, political propaganda, misinformation, or disinformation. Occupy2026.org’s editors reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to decline, edit, or remove any submission they determine to be offensive, dishonest, defamatory, intended to incite violence, or otherwise contrary to the public good — without prior notice and without liability to the contributor.

By submitting content, a contributor agrees to the full Submission & Publication Agreement below, including its representations, license grant, and indemnification terms.

PART II: SUBMISSION & PUBLICATION AGREEMENT

(Full terms — linked from the notice above, required acceptance at point of submission)

  1. Purpose of the Platform

Occupy2026.org (“the Site,” “we,” “us”) exists to document America’s current problems and to publish solutions-oriented contributions from members of the public, private individuals, NGOs, nonprofits, and charitable organizations (“Contributors”). The Site is a user-generated-content platform, not a newsroom generating its own reporting on contributors’ behalf, and does not independently investigate or verify the factual claims within submissions unless expressly stated otherwise.

  1. What This Is Not

The Site is not a platform for:

  • Hate speech or content that demeans, threatens, or incites violence against any individual or group based on race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status;
  • Political propaganda produced or coordinated on behalf of a candidate, party, or PAC;
  • Knowing misinformation or disinformation, including fabricated events, doctored media, or impersonation;
  • Content that is defamatory, harassing, or that discloses another person’s private information without consent (“doxxing”);
  • Content that violates any applicable law.
  1. Editorial Discretion

Acceptance of a submission is not a right. Occupy2026.org’s editors retain sole and final discretion to accept, reject, edit for length or clarity, unpublish, or permanently remove any submission — before or after publication — including for reasons not listed above, if the editors determine in good faith that the content is inconsistent with the Site’s mission or poses legal, reputational, or safety risk. Removal decisions are not subject to appeal, though editors may offer one at their discretion.

  1. Contributor Representations & Warranties

By submitting content, each Contributor represents and warrants that:

  1. They are the original author of the submission, or have full legal authority to submit and license it (e.g., on behalf of an NGO or charity);
  2. The submission does not infringe any third party’s copyright, trademark, publicity, or privacy rights;
  3. The submission is not, to the best of their knowledge, false, defamatory, or misleading;
  4. They are solely responsible for the accuracy and legality of their own statements, including any factual claims about named individuals or organizations;
  5. They have the right to submit any quotes, images, or third-party material included in the piece, or that such material is properly licensed or falls under fair use.

This section is the backbone of the Site’s liability protection — it establishes that responsibility for content originates with the Contributor, not the Site.

  1. License Granted to Occupy2026.org

Contributors retain ownership of their work. By submitting, a Contributor grants Occupy2026.org a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual license to publish, display, distribute, excerpt, and promote the submission on the Site and its associated social and press channels, with attribution to the Contributor. Contributors may request removal at any time; the Site will act on such requests promptly but is not obligated to remove content already republished by third parties or archived.

  1. No Endorsement /Disclaimerof Views

Publication of a submission is not an endorsement of its content, accuracy, or conclusions by Occupy2026.org, its founders, staff, volunteers, or any affiliated organization. Each published piece should carry a standing footer:

“The views expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Occupy2026.org.”

  1. Indemnification

Each Contributor agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Occupy2026.org and its founders, organizers, officers, volunteers, and affiliated entities from any claim, damage, liability, cost, or expense (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to: (a) the Contributor’s submission; (b) the Contributor’s breach of the representations in Section 4; or (c) the Contributor’s violation of any law or third-party right. This is standard language shifting legal exposure for a submission’s content back to the person or organization who made it — it does not require a Contributor to indemnify the Site for the Site’s own editorial conduct (e.g., wrongful removal, defamatory edits).

  1. Limitation of Liability; No Warranty

The Site and its content are provided “as is.” To the maximum extent permitted by law, Occupy2026.org disclaims all warranties regarding submitted content and is not liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from a Contributor’s or reader’s use of the Site, including damages arising from reliance on any published submission.

  1. Notice-and-Takedown (Copyright & Defamation Complaints)

Occupy2026.org will maintain a designated contact (e.g., legal@occupy2026.org) for copyright complaints under the DMCA and for good-faith complaints alleging defamation, harassment, or privacy violations. Upon receiving a facially valid complaint, editors will review the flagged content promptly and, where warranted, remove or restrict it pending review. Maintaining this process is itself part of what preserves the Site’s legal footing as a passive host rather than a publisher of the underlying claims (see note on Section 230 below).

  1. Featured Individuals & Organizations

Where a submission names, profiles, or “features” a private individual or organization who is not the Contributor:

  • That party may request a right of reply, correction, or — where the Site’s editors agree the concern is legitimate — removal;
  • Featured private individuals (as opposed to public figures or organizations) may request that identifying details be limited or anonymized where disclosure could expose them to harassment or physical risk;
  • Occupy2026.org does not independently fact-check third-party claims about featured parties before publication but will act on substantiated complaints per Section 9.

(Note: “provide security for people/organizations being featured” can mean either legal protection or physical safety. The language above covers legal exposure. If physical security for individuals appearing at public events, e.g., the Zuccotti Park anniversary gathering, is also intended, that’s a separate, non-legal operational matter worth flagging to Josh and Kyle for the event planning track.)

  1. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

[To be completed once the Site’s operating entity/trust structure is finalized — this should match whatever legal entity Josh sets up (e.g., the holding trust) and its state of formation.]

  1. Amendments

Occupy2026.org may update these terms as the Site evolves; continued use after a posted update constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.