Terms of Service

1. Who We Are

Legit ba 'to? is an AI-powered fact-checking service operated by Lesmon Saluta and Mark Macaraeg, individuals based in Quezon City, Philippines (the “Operators”, “we”, “us”, or “our”). The service is accessible via our website and through Instagram Direct Message and Facebook Messenger.

2. Acceptance of Terms

By using any part of the service (including the website, the URL fact-checker, or the Instagram/Messenger bot), you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to these Terms of Service, as well as our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated herein by reference.

These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you and the Operators under the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000 (Republic Act No. 8792), which recognizes electronic contracts as valid and enforceable under Philippine law.

3. Eligibility

You must be at least thirteen (13) years old to use this service, consistent with the minimum age requirements of Instagram and Facebook Messenger. If you are between 13 and 17 years of age, you represent that a parent or legal guardian has reviewed and consented to these Terms and the processing of your personal data on your behalf, as required by the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173).

By using the service, you represent and warrant that you meet the applicable age requirements and that your use of the service does not violate any applicable law or regulation.

4. Description of Service

Legit ba 'to? provides AI-assisted fact-checking for news articles, online claims, social media posts, and other content submitted by users. The service:

• Retrieves and analyzes publicly available information from the web to assess the veracity of submitted claims;
• Assigns a verdict (e.g., “True”, “False”, “Misleading”, “Unverifiable”) based on AI analysis;
• Provides supporting reasoning, source references, and context.

The service is provided free of charge and is intended for informational and educational purposes only.

5. AI Limitations and Important Disclaimer

Legit ba 'to? uses artificial intelligence to analyze information. AI systems are inherently probabilistic and subject to limitations in accuracy, completeness, and contextual understanding. By using the service, you expressly acknowledge and agree to the following:

• Verdicts are not definitive. AI-generated fact-checks represent an informed assessment based on publicly available information at the time of analysis. They are not authoritative rulings of truth or falsity.
• The AI can be wrong. Our AI may produce inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated results. It may misinterpret satire, miss cultural context, rely on sources that have since been corrected, or fail to find relevant evidence.
• This is not professional advice. Nothing produced by this service constitutes legal, medical, financial, journalistic, or any other form of professional advice. Do not make important decisions based solely on AI-generated verdicts.
• Always verify independently. We strongly encourage you to consult primary sources, accredited journalists, and qualified professionals when matters of significant consequence are involved.
• Results may reflect training data biases. The underlying AI model may reflect biases present in its training data. We do not warrant that the service is free from bias.

Legit ba 'to? is a tool to assist your critical thinking, not to replace it.

6. Acceptable Use

You agree to use the service only for lawful purposes and in a manner consistent with these Terms. You must not:

• Submit content that is illegal, defamatory, obscene, threatening, or that violates the rights of any third party;
• Attempt to deliberately manipulate or deceive the AI into producing false verdicts for malicious purposes;
• Use the service to harass, threaten, or intimidate any individual or group;
• Distribute, republish, or misrepresent AI-generated verdicts as official or authoritative fact-checks without appropriate qualification;
• Use automated bots, scrapers, or scripts to flood the service beyond normal use patterns, or attempt to circumvent rate limits;
• Attempt to reverse-engineer, probe, or exploit the service's systems, APIs, or infrastructure;
• Submit content in violation of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (RA 10175), the Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act (RA 9995), or any other applicable Philippine law.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate access for any user who violates these acceptable use provisions, without prior notice.

7. User Content

When you submit content (URLs, text, or images) to the service, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable (solely to our third-party service providers described in our Privacy Policy) license to process and analyze that content solely for the purpose of delivering fact-checking results to you.

You represent and warrant that you have the right to submit the content you provide, and that doing so does not infringe any copyright, trademark, privacy right, or other intellectual property right of any third party.

You retain all ownership rights to the content you submit. We do not claim ownership over your submissions.

8. Intellectual Property

All content, design, code, branding, and materials comprising the Legit ba 'to? service (including the name, logo, website layout, and AI-generated analysis framework) are owned by or licensed to the Operators and are protected under the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (RA 8293).

You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, modify, create derivative works from, or commercially exploit any part of the service without our prior written consent.

9. Third-Party Services and Links

The service relies on third-party providers for AI analysis, web search, content extraction, cloud hosting, and messaging delivery. See our Privacy Policy for details. We are not responsible for the availability, accuracy, or policies of these third-party services.

Fact-check results may include links to external websites. We do not endorse and are not responsible for the content of any third-party websites linked in our results.

10. Disclaimer of Warranties

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

We do not warrant that the service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free from viruses or other harmful components. We do not warrant that fact-check results will be accurate, complete, current, or reliable.

11. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE PHILIPPINE LAW, THE OPERATORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF OR RELIANCE ON THE SERVICE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO:

• Loss arising from reliance on an inaccurate or incomplete fact-check verdict;
• Reputational harm resulting from sharing or acting upon AI-generated results;
• Loss of data, business opportunities, or profits;
• Service interruptions, downtime, or technical failures.

IN ANY EVENT, OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED ONE THOUSAND PHILIPPINE PESOS (PHP 1,000.00).

In jurisdictions that do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or limitation of liability, our liability shall be limited to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. Nothing in these Terms limits liability for fraud, willful misconduct, or gross negligence as defined under Philippine law, including the Civil Code of the Philippines.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Operators from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in connection with:

• Your use or misuse of the service;
• Your violation of these Terms;
• Your violation of any applicable law or the rights of any third party;
• Any content you submit to the service that infringes the rights of another person.

13. Suspension and Termination

We reserve the right to restrict, suspend, or terminate your access to the service at any time and without prior notice if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms, applicable law, or the rights of third parties.

You may stop using the service at any time. To request deletion of your data, contact us at lesmon@bscalelabs.com or markmcrg9@gmail.com.

14. Governing Law

These Terms of Service shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the service shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the appropriate courts of Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. The parties agree to submit to personal jurisdiction in those courts.

15. Dispute Resolution

Before initiating formal legal proceedings, we encourage you to contact us directly at lesmon@bscalelabs.com or markmcrg9@gmail.com to attempt an amicable resolution. We will make reasonable efforts to resolve disputes within thirty (30) days of receiving notice.

For complaints regarding privacy and data protection specifically, you may also file a complaint with the National Privacy Commission as described in our Privacy Policy.

16. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, that provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, or severed if modification is not possible, without affecting the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.

17. Waiver

The failure of the Operators to enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. Any waiver of any provision of these Terms shall be effective only if in writing and signed by the Operators.

18. Force Majeure

We shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performing our obligations under these Terms where such failure or delay results from circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to natural disasters, acts of government, internet or telecommunications failures, third-party service outages, power failures, or cyberattacks.

19. Entire Agreement

These Terms of Service, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and the Operators with respect to the service, and supersede all prior agreements, understandings, and representations relating to the same subject matter.

20. Changes to These Terms

We may revise these Terms at any time. When we do, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. Material changes will be communicated where reasonably practicable. For changes that materially affect your rights or the scope of personal data processing, we will seek your express consent where required by applicable law. For all other changes, your continued use of the service after they are posted constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.

21. Contact Us

For any questions or concerns regarding these Terms of Service, please contact:

• Names: Lesmon Saluta and Mark Macaraeg
• Email: lesmon@bscalelabs.com / markmcrg9@gmail.com
• Instagram: @legitbatoph
• Location: Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines