Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using My Local Press ("the Platform"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use the Platform.

2. Service Description

My Local Press is a community-driven platform that enables local content creation, sharing, and discovery. We provide tools for communities to share news, events, and stories within their geographic area. We are a platform facilitator — we connect journalists, publications, and other content creators with their communities and advertisers, but we do not control or guarantee the content published by users.

3. Age Requirement

You must be at least 13 years old to use My Local Press. By using the Platform, you represent that you meet this age requirement.

4. Account Registration

• Accurate information — You must provide accurate and complete information when creating an account
• Account security — You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials and for all activities that occur under your account
• One account — One person or entity may not maintain multiple accounts

5. Community Guidelines

My Local Press exists to strengthen local communities through shared stories and respectful dialogue. We believe in leaning into kindness and seeking to understand those with whom we disagree.

We ask you to:

• Approach differences with curiosity, not judgment
• Remember you're talking to your neighbors — people you might see at the grocery store
• Share your truth while respecting others' experiences
• Help us build bridges, not walls

We have zero tolerance for:

• Hate speech or discrimination based on identity
• Harassment, bullying, or targeted attacks
• Content that exploits or harms minors
• Threats of violence or intimidation
• Deliberately false information intended to cause harm
• Spam or malicious content

Disagreement is welcome; dehumanization is not. Challenging ideas is encouraged; attacking people is prohibited.

We reserve the right to suspend or remove any account at our sole discretion, with or without notice. We take this seriously and don't do it lightly — but we won't hesitate to act when our community's safety or integrity is at stake. See our Our Principles for more on what we stand for.

6. Content Ownership and Rights

You retain ownership of content you create and publish on My Local Press. By publishing, you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to display, distribute, and promote your content on the Platform.

• Your responsibility — You are responsible for the content you publish and represent that you have the right to share it
• Deletion — You may delete your content at any time
• Promotion — We may feature your content to promote local journalism

7. Payments and Revenue

My Local Press is a platform that facilitates transactions between journalists, publications, advertisers, and community supporters. We are not a guarantor of income or revenue.

• Direct support revenue — When an advertiser or supporter directs payment to a specific journalist or publication, the payment is processed through Stripe and routed directly to the journalist's or publication's connected account. My Local Press does not hold these funds. The current revenue split is 90% to the journalist or publication and 10% platform fee. This split is current operating policy and is subject to change with notice — it is not a contractual guarantee.
• Platform support — Revenue from advertising that supports My Local Press (rather than a specific journalist or publication) is used at My Local Press's sole discretion to fund journalism, commission coverage, and operate the platform.
• No employment relationship — Content creators, journalists, and publishers on My Local Press are independent users of the Platform. Nothing in these terms creates an employment, partnership, agency, or joint venture relationship between you and My Local Press.
• Taxes — You are responsible for any applicable taxes on your earnings and for complying with all applicable laws in your jurisdiction.
• Payment processing — Payments are processed through Stripe. Subscription fees are billed in advance on a recurring basis. Refunds are handled on a case-by-case basis.

For more details, see How Payments Work.

8. Location Services

My Local Press uses location to connect you with local content and communities.

• Permission required — Location access requires your permission
• Local content — We use location to show relevant local news
• Publishing location — Journalists can set a primary contributing location
• Privacy — Exact locations are never shared publicly
• Truthful representation — You agree to represent your location truthfully. Misrepresenting your location — such as claiming to be local to a community you have no genuine connection to — is a violation of these terms and may result in account suspension or termination, at our sole discretion

9. Privacy

Your use of the Platform is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which explains how we collect, use, and protect your information.

10. Termination

You may close your account at any time. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate any account at our sole discretion, with or without notice. Upon termination:

• Content removal — Your content may be removed from the Platform
• Payments — Outstanding payments will be processed per our payment terms
• Data retention — Some information may be retained as required by law

11. Disclaimers

The Platform is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranty of any kind. Any warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, and any other warranty, whether express or implied, is excluded and disclaimed to the greatest extent permitted by law.

We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, reliability, or availability of the Platform or any content published on it. We do not guarantee that any user will earn revenue through the Platform. These disclaimers also apply to our subsidiaries, affiliates, and third-party service providers.

12. Limitation of Liability

To the greatest extent permitted by law, My Local Press is not liable to you for any incidental, consequential, special, indirect, or punitive damages arising out of these terms or your use or attempted use of the Platform. This includes but is not limited to: lost profits, lost revenue, lost data, business interruption, or reputational harm.

To the greatest extent permitted by law, our total liability for damages is limited to the amount of platform fees we have retained from your transactions in the twelve months preceding the applicable claim.

We are specifically not liable for losses associated with unfulfilled advertising commitments, payment processing issues, content disputes between users, or platform downtime. For this section, "we" and "our" includes our subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, and third-party service providers.

13. Indemnification

You will indemnify and hold harmless My Local Press from all losses and liabilities, including legal fees, that arise from these terms or relate to your use of the Platform. This includes claims arising from content you publish, your interactions with other users, or your violation of any applicable law.

We reserve the right to exclusive control over the defense of a claim covered by this section. If we exercise this right, you will assist in our defense. Your obligation to indemnify also applies to our subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, and third-party service providers.

14. Dispute Resolution

We encourage you to contact us at hi@mylocalpress.com if you have a concern. We will try to resolve the matter informally.

If a dispute arises out of these terms or your use of the Platform, the dispute will be resolved in the federal or state courts located in New Mexico. Both parties consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the New Mexico courts for the purpose of resolving any such dispute. New Mexico law, excluding its conflict of law provisions, governs these terms, all other My Local Press policies, and any dispute that arises between you and My Local Press.

15. Class Action Waiver

To the fullest extent permitted by law, you agree that all claims against My Local Press can only be brought in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, consolidated, or other representative proceeding. You waive any right to participate in a class action lawsuit or class-wide arbitration against My Local Press.

16. Changes to Terms

We may update these terms from time to time. We'll post the updated terms on this page and update the effective date. Continued use of the platform after we publish updated terms constitutes acceptance of the changes.

17. Contact Us

If you have questions about these terms, please contact us at hi@mylocalpress.com or use our feedback form.