These Terms of Service ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you and TVB Network (Pty) Ltd ("TVB Network", "we", "us", or "our"), governing your access to and use of Alt Media ("Alt", "the Platform"), accessible at alt.tvbnet.co.za, alt.localhost, or via native client applications.
Alt Media is a next-generation Social OS combining micro-publishing, rich media feeds, community-driven moderation, and direct creator monetization. By creating an account, browsing feeds, publishing posts, or interacting with creators, you confirm your acceptance of these Terms and our Privacy Policy.
02 User Identity, Handles & Account Architecture
Your profile and interactions on Alt Media are governed by our centralized identity infrastructure:
Permanent Worldwide Unique Account ID: Each registered member is allocated a 16-digit hexadecimal/timestamped identifier (format: altYYYYMMDDHHMMSSNN). In strict compliance with our privacy directives, your AccountID is an internal cryptographic routing key and is never displayed publicly, used as a handle fallback, or exposed in API feed payloads.
Public User Handles: You choose a unique public handle (e.g. @handle) and display name. Handles must not infringe on registered trademarks, impersonate other living persons, or violate public decency laws.
Single Row Account State: Profile records are consolidated on a single row in Google Cloud BigQuery datastores, eliminating decentralized profile dispersion.
03 User-Generated Content & Intellectual Property Rights
You retain full ownership of all original text, photographs, audio tracks, videos, and graphics you upload, publish, or transmit through Alt Media ("Your Content"):
Non-Exclusive Licence to Alt: By publishing Your Content to public feeds or channels, you grant TVB Network a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, sublicensable licence to host, store, cache, transcode, display, and distribute Your Content solely for the purpose of operating, improving, and promoting Alt Media.
Moral Rights & Attribution: TVB Network respects creator moral rights. Attribution to your handle will accompany your public publications across the ecosystem.
Creator Representations: You warrant that you own or have obtained all necessary copyright permissions, mechanical sync licences, model releases, and statutory authorizations for all elements contained within Your Content.
04 Films and Publications Act No. 11 of 2019 Compliance
Alt Media complies strictly with the Films and Publications Act No. 65 of 1996 as amended by the Films and Publications Amendment Act No. 11 of 2019 ("the FPB Act"):
Self-Classification Guidelines: Creators distributing video, cinematic, or serialized narrative media must adhere to Film and Publication Board (FPB) classification guidelines, including mandatory content warning advisories (e.g., [16], [18], [V] Violence, [L] Language, [S] Sexual Content).
Strict Prohibition on Revenge Porn & Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery: The distribution of intimate images or videos of any person without their express prior written consent is strictly illegal under Section 18F of the FPB Act and Section 16 of the Cybercrimes Act. Accounts violating this clause will be permanently terminated with immediate referral to law enforcement.
Child Exploitation Zero Tolerance: Any distribution, depiction, facilitation, or access to Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) or Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (CSAE) is subject to immediate irreversible account termination, evidence preservation, and mandatory statutory reporting to the FPB and SAPS.
05 Cybercrimes Act No. 19 of 2020 & Online Safety
Pursuant to the Cybercrimes Act No. 19 of 2020, users are legally prohibited from:
Sending data messages intended to incite damage to property or harm to persons (Section 14).
Transmitting threatening data messages or engaging in malicious cyber-bullying and extortion (Section 15).
Unlawfully intercepting private communications, distributing malicious software, or executing DDoS attacks against Alt Media infrastructure (Sections 2–8).
06 Community Standards & Prohibited Speech
Freedom of expression on Alt Media is protected within the constitutional limits defined by Section 16(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. The following content is strictly prohibited:
Hate Speech: Propaganda for war, incitement of imminent violence, or advocacy of hatred based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or religion that constitutes incitement to cause harm.
Fraud & Financial Exploitation: Pyramid schemes, advance-fee scams, unverified crypto yield promotions, impersonation of financial institutions, or fraudulent competitions.
Doxxing: Publishing another individual's non-public private telephone number, residential address, identity number, or financial credentials without consent.
07 Feed Algorithm & Jury Moderation System
Alt Media utilizes an algorithmic discovery feed and a decentralized community moderation model:
Organic Engagement Scoring: Feed algorithms prioritize authentic engagement, topic relevance, and verified creator signals while penalizing engagement-farming and bot activity.
The Jury System: Flagged content may be submitted to an anonymous, distributed peer-review panel ("Jury") of established community members to evaluate compliance against published Community Standards.
Transparency: Automated safety classifiers and human review actions are logged to immutable administrative audit trails.
Eligible creators may monetize their content via direct community tipping, subscriber badges, and premium paywalled posts:
Payment Gateway: All financial transactions are processed securely through our verified South African payment partner, Paystack (PCI-DSS Level 1 certified).
Platform Fee: Alt Media deducts a transparent platform processing commission (not exceeding 15% net) to cover hosting, streaming CDN bandwidth, and transaction gateway overheads.
SARS Tax Responsibility: Creators are independent contractors responsible for declaring and paying South African Income Tax, provisional tax, and VAT (where applicable) to the South African Revenue Service (SARS) on all earnings.
Payout Minimum: Creator balances are settled to verified South African bank accounts upon reaching the minimum payout threshold of R 200.00 ZAR.
09 Copyright & Notice-and-Takedown Procedure
Pursuant to Section 77 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act No. 25 of 2002 (ECTA), copyright holders who believe their intellectual property has been infringed on Alt Media may submit a formal Notice of Infringement to our designated Designated Agent at legal@tvbnet.co.za containing:
Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed.
URL link or explicit post ID where the alleged infringing material is located.
Statement of good faith belief that the use is unauthorized.
Digital signature and South African contact coordinates of the copyright owner or authorized representative.
10 Suspension, Termination & Appeals
TVB Network reserves the right to issue warnings, restrict feed reach, suspend, or permanently terminate accounts found in material violation of these Terms.
Users whose accounts are suspended may submit a written appeal within fourteen (14) calendar days to appeals@tvbnet.co.za detailing mitigating circumstances and evidence for reconsideration by our Trust & Safety Panel.
11 Disclaimers & Limitation of Liability
Alt Media is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. TVB Network does not pre-screen all user content and disclaims all liability for defamatory, offensive, or unlawful content posted by third parties, subject to statutory obligations under ECTA Section 75.
To the maximum extent permitted by South African law, TVB Network's total aggregate liability for claims relating to Alt Media shall not exceed the total fees paid by you to the Platform in the preceding twelve (12) months or R 1,000.00 ZAR, whichever is greater.
12 Governing Law & Legal Forum
These Terms of Service are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa.
Any dispute arising out of or related to these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Local Division, Johannesburg.