Terms of Service

Welcome to Change Liberia. By accessing or using changelib.org (the “Platform”) you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service (“Terms”). Please read them carefully. If you do not agree to all of these Terms, do not use the Platform.

Change Liberia is a civic petition platform that enables Liberians to create, sign, and share petitions addressed to public officials, institutions, and organisations operating in or affecting Liberia.

1. Eligibility

• You must be at least 13 years old to use Change Liberia.
• By creating an account you represent that you are at least 13 and that all information you provide is accurate and truthful.
• Verified Liberian status (the blue badge) is available only to individuals who can confirm Liberian citizenship or lawful residency. Providing false documentation to obtain verification is a violation of these Terms and may be reported to authorities.

2. Your Account

• You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and for all activity that occurs under your account.
• Notify us immediately at legal@changelib.org if you suspect unauthorised access.
• You may not share your account or allow others to use it.
• We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms.

3. Petitions and Content

a) What you may petition for

Petitions must be directed at a legitimate civic, social, environmental, or governmental concern relating to Liberia or affecting Liberians. Examples include road infrastructure, education access, healthcare, environmental protection, and government accountability.

b) Prohibited content

You may not create or sign petitions that:

• Incite violence, hatred, or discrimination based on ethnicity, religion, gender, political opinion, or disability.
• Contain false, defamatory, or misleading information about any person or organisation.
• Promote or facilitate illegal activity under Liberian law.
• Infringe the intellectual property rights of others.
• Constitute harassment, stalking, or threats directed at any individual.
• Advocate for the overthrow of a constitutionally established government.
• Solicit money outside the Platform’s official donation feature.
• Contain sexually explicit material.
• Are designed to manipulate signature counts through bots, fake accounts, or coordinated inauthentic behaviour.

c) Moderation

Change Liberia moderators review all petitions before publication. We may reject, remove, or suspend petitions that violate these Terms or our community guidelines at any time without prior notice. We will notify the petition creator by email with the reason where possible.

4. Your Content — Licence to Us

By submitting a petition, comment, or other content to Change Liberia, you grant us a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to host, reproduce, display, and distribute that content for the purpose of operating the Platform — including delivering petitions to their intended recipients and publishing media coverage.

You retain ownership of your content. You represent that you have the right to grant this licence and that your content does not violate any third-party rights.

5. Signatures

• Each person may sign a petition once. Duplicate signatures are automatically removed.
• Signing a petition is a civic expression of support. Change Liberia does not guarantee that any petition will result in a government response or policy change.
• You may sign as “Anonymous” if you prefer your name not to be publicly displayed. Your account will still be associated with the signature in our database for integrity purposes.

6. Donations

• Donations support the operation of the Change Liberia platform, not individual petitions.
• Payments are processed by Stripe. Change Liberia does not store your card details.
• Donations are generally non-refundable. Contact us at legal@changelib.org within 14 days if you believe a charge was made in error.
• Change Liberia is not a registered charity. Donations are not tax-deductible.

7. Prohibited Conduct

When using Change Liberia you agree not to:

• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the Platform or any connected system.
• Scrape, crawl, or data-mine the Platform without written permission.
• Use automated tools to create accounts, sign petitions, or simulate human activity.
• Interfere with the Platform’s infrastructure, including denial-of-service attacks.
• Impersonate any person, organisation, or government body.
• Use the Platform to send unsolicited commercial communications (spam).

8. Intellectual Property

The Change Liberia name, logo, and original software are owned by Change Liberia and protected by applicable intellectual property laws. You may not reproduce or distribute our branding without written permission. User-submitted petition content remains the intellectual property of the creator.

9. Disclaimers

Change Liberia is provided “as is” without warranties of any kind. We do not guarantee that:

• The Platform will be available at all times or free from errors.
• Any petition will be read, acknowledged, or acted upon by its intended recipient.
• Information on the Platform is accurate, complete, or up to date.

10. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable Liberian law, Change Liberia and its operators shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the Platform or any content posted on it, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Our total liability to you for any claim shall not exceed the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim, or USD 10, whichever is greater.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Change Liberia, its operators, moderators, and affiliates from any claim, damages, or expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your use of the Platform, your content, or your violation of these Terms.

12. Termination

We may suspend or permanently terminate your access to Change Liberia at any time for violations of these Terms, without prior notice. You may close your account at any time via your account settings. Sections 4, 9, 10, 11, and 13 survive termination.

13. Governing Law & Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Liberia. Any dispute arising from these Terms or your use of the Platform shall first be addressed by contacting us at legal@changelib.org and attempting to resolve the matter informally within 30 days. If unresolved, disputes shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of Montserrado County, Liberia.

14. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by email or via a notice on the Platform at least 14 days before the change takes effect. Continued use of the Platform after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the revised Terms, you may close your account before the effective date.

15. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Reach us at: