Acceptable Use Policy

1. Purpose & Scope

This Acceptable Use Policy ("Policy") governs all access to and interaction with Rhizent Technologies services, including the PlantSpace application and related community forums.

Our objective is to maintain a constructive, respectful, and safe community for plant lovers and growers. Compliance with this Policy is a mandatory condition of using our Services.

2. Prohibited Content Categories

Pursuant to Rule 3(1)(b) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, users shall not host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, or update any information that:

• Belongs to another person and to which the user does not have any right.
• Is obscene, pornographic, pedophilic, invasive of another's bodily privacy, or encouraging gambling or money laundering.
• Is harmful, harassing, blasphemous, defamatory, hateful, or racially or ethnically objectionable.
• Infringes any patent, trademark, copyright, or other proprietary rights.
• Deceives or misleads the addressee about the origin of the message or knowingly communicates any misinformation or patently false information.
• Impersonates another person or presents digitally altered non-consensual deepfakes or intimate imagery.
• Threatens the unity, integrity, defense, security, or sovereignty of India, friendly relations with foreign states, or public order.

3. Strict Zero Tolerance for Child Sexual Exploitation (CSAM)

Rhizent Technologies enforces an absolute, non-negotiable zero-tolerance policy regarding Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), grooming, sexual exploitation, or any endangerment of minors.

Mandatory Statutory Reporting: Any detected or reported CSAM will be removed immediately. In compliance with the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 and the Information Technology Rules, 2021:

• The offending account will be permanently terminated without notice.
• All associated audit metadata and digital evidence will be immediately preserved and forwarded to statutory law enforcement authorities, including the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in), local police / Special Juvenile Police Units (SJPU), and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

4. Prohibited Technical & System Abuse

Users shall not engage in actions that compromise platform integrity or security:

• Automated Scraping: Deploying scrapers, spiders, or headless crawlers to harvest public Sprouts, Vines, user profiles, or forum data.
• Spam & Commercial Solicitation: Bulk messaging, commercial fertilizer/chemical spam, or artificial follower generation.
• Cryptographic Exploitation: Attempting to compromise, downgrade, or intercept encrypted Whisperings protocols.
• Infrastructure Attacks: Denial-of-service (DDoS) attempts, API flooding, or vulnerability scanning without written authorization.

5. Enforcement & Takedown Procedure

When a violation is detected or reported:

1. Immediate Review: Public content reported for violating this Policy is reviewed promptly by human moderation.
2. Expedited Removal: Unlawful content, impersonation, or intimate imagery reported under Rule 3(2)(b) is disabled within 24 hours.
3. Account Sanctions: Violating accounts face progressive enforcement ranging from warning strikes to temporary posting bans and permanent device/account bans.

6. How to Report Violations

Users can report abusive content directly within the PlantSpace mobile application using the in-feed report button.

Formal complaints and legal notices should be addressed to our Grievance Officer: