Terms of service

The service

Debately runs live debates between two sides. The server holds the clock and decides whose microphone is on, and each side sees the same record of what happened. Taking part in a debate is free. Starting one may be paid for, or hosted free when we approve a request. Debately’s features may change or stop.

Paying for a debate

Our order process is conducted by our online reseller Paddle.com. Paddle.com is the Merchant of Record for all our orders. Paddle provides all customer service inquiries and handles returns. The price is shown before you pay, and tax is added at checkout where it applies. A payment is for one debate, and there is no subscription.

If your debate has not started, you can ask for a full refund within 14 days of paying: write to privacy@debately.live, or reply to Paddle’s receipt. If a paid debate cannot take place because of a fault on our side, we refund it in full. Once a debate has started, its payment is not refundable, except where the law says otherwise.

Asking for a free debate

You can ask us to host a debate for free. We decide each request at our discretion, and we may approve one with or without streaming to outside channels. We tell you our answer by email and in the app.

Your account

You need an account to take part, and Clerk provides it. You must be 18 or older. You are responsible for what happens under your account: tell us at privacy@debately.live if you think someone else is using it.

Taking part in a debate

When you join a debate, the other participants see and hear you live. Agree to a debate only with people you are willing to show your camera and voice to.

Every debate is recorded, video and sound, from the moment it starts. You are told before you say ready, and saying ready agrees to it. Only the two sides and the debate’s organiser can watch or download the recording, and we delete it 90 days after the debate ends. If you download a recording, you are responsible for what you do with it, including having the other side’s permission before you publish it.

A side that turns on streaming sends the debate to its own YouTube or Twitch channel, where it is public. Both sides see whether the other is streaming before the debate goes live. If you stream, you are responsible for following that platform’s terms, and you must have the right to broadcast everyone who appears.

What you may not do

Don’t use Debately to:

• break the law, or encourage someone else to;
• harass, threaten or impersonate anyone;
• share content you don’t have the right to share;
• share sexual content involving minors, or content that incites violence;
• interfere with the service, probe it for weaknesses without our permission, or get around its limits;
• sign up automatically, or use someone else’s invite link without their permission.

We may remove content, end a debate or close an account that breaks these rules.

Your content

What you say and show in a debate remains yours. You give us permission to host it, transmit it and show it to the debate’s participants, as far as running the service needs. That includes recording it and keeping the recording for 90 days, and streaming it when a side turns streaming on. The permission ends when your content is deleted, except for copies other participants already have.

Availability

We work to keep Debately running, but we don’t promise that it will always be available or free of errors. Debates can be interrupted by connection problems on any side.

Ending

You can stop using Debately and delete your account at any time; the privacy policy explains what happens to your data. We may suspend or end your access if you break these terms. If we shut Debately down, we will give at least 30 days’ notice where we can.

Disclaimers and liability

Debately is provided “as is”, without warranties of any kind, as far as the law allows. We are not responsible for what participants say in a debate. As far as the law allows, we are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, and our total liability to you is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before your claim, or AED 100 if that is more.

Changes

If we change these terms, we update the date at the top. If the change is significant, we also say so on the site. If you keep using Debately after a change, you accept the new terms.

Law and contact

These terms are governed by the laws of the United Arab Emirates as applied in the Emirate of Dubai, and the courts of Dubai settle any dispute. Nothing in them takes away rights you have under consumer protection law that cannot be waived. Questions go to privacy@debately.live.