Community Guidelines

1. Purpose of these Guidelines

Akuba is a marketplace directory for discovering African products and sellers in Canada.

The goal of these Guidelines is to help keep Akuba useful, respectful, accurate, safe, and trustworthy.

Akuba is not a checkout platform and does not handle payments, orders, delivery, refunds, returns, or internal buyer-seller messaging. Still, the content displayed on Akuba should be honest, lawful, respectful, and appropriate for the marketplace.

2. Be honest and accurate

Do not post false, misleading, deceptive, or incomplete information.

This applies to:

• seller profiles;
• seller applications;
• contact methods;
• product listings;
• product titles;
• product descriptions;
• prices;
• availability;
• product origin;
• seller location;
• images;
• reviews;
• reports;
• account information.

Examples of prohibited misleading content include:

• fake seller identities;
• inaccurate product availability;
• bait-and-switch pricing;
• false product origin claims;
• fake business names;
• copied product images presented as your own;
• claims that a product is authentic, certified, homemade, imported, local, safe, compliant, or approved when that is not true;
• reviews that do not reflect a real experience or honest opinion.

3. Respect others

You may not post or send content through Akuba that is abusive, harassing, threatening, hateful, discriminatory, degrading, or intended to harm others.

Prohibited content includes:

• harassment or bullying;
• threats of violence;
• hate or discrimination based on protected or personal characteristics;
• personal attacks;
• intimidation;
• targeted abuse;
• content encouraging harm;
• demeaning or hostile language directed at individuals or groups.

Akuba may remove content or restrict accounts that violate this rule.

4. No scams, fraud, spam, or manipulation

You may not use Akuba for scams, fraud, spam, deception, or manipulation.

This includes:

• fake listings;
• fake reviews;
• fake reports;
• phishing;
• malware;
• impersonation;
• suspicious external links;
• review manipulation;
• rating manipulation;
• repeated irrelevant content;
• attempts to artificially influence visibility, search, favorites, reports, reviews, or marketplace trust;
• attempts to mislead buyers or sellers for financial gain.

5. No prohibited, illegal, unsafe, or inappropriate content

You may not post content, listings, images, links, or profile information that is illegal, unsafe, exploitative, sexually explicit, graphic, or inappropriate for Akuba.

Prohibited content includes:

• illegal products or services;
• counterfeit or fake goods;
• stolen goods;
• dangerous or illegal content;
• adult or graphic content;
• hateful or discriminatory content;
• content that promotes harassment or threats;
• content that exposes private personal information;
• content that violates intellectual property rights;
• content that encourages illegal activity;
• spam or deceptive commercial content.

Akuba may remove any content that we believe is inappropriate for the platform.

6. Product listing rules

Product listings should be clear, accurate, lawful, and useful to buyers.

Sellers should:

• use accurate titles;
• write honest descriptions;
• choose appropriate categories;
• use product images they own or have permission to use;
• keep pricing current;
• keep availability current;
• accurately identify product origin where provided;
• avoid exaggerated, unsupported, or deceptive claims;
• remove or hide listings that are no longer appropriate or available.

Product listings must not:

• mislead buyers;
• use unrelated images;
• copy another seller's content without permission;
• list prohibited, illegal, counterfeit, stolen, or unsafe products;
• contain hate, harassment, threats, adult content, spam, scams, or malware;
• send buyers to deceptive or unsafe external links.

7. Seller profile rules

Seller profiles should accurately represent the seller or business.

Seller profiles must not:

• impersonate another person or business;
• use a business name, logo, or branding without permission;
• misrepresent location, identity, experience, products, or affiliations;
• contain abusive, hateful, illegal, adult, spammy, misleading, or fraudulent content;
• link to scams, malware, phishing, or unsafe websites.

Approved seller profiles may be public, including seller contact methods. Sellers should not submit contact details they do not want displayed publicly.

8. Review rules

Reviews help buyers understand seller experiences.

Reviews must be honest, relevant, and based on a genuine experience or interaction.

You may not submit reviews that are:

• fake;
• misleading;
• abusive;
• defamatory;
• threatening;
• hateful;
• discriminatory;
• spammy;
• irrelevant;
• copied from someone else;
• created to manipulate ratings;
• submitted in exchange for improper compensation;
• intended to harass or punish a seller unfairly.

Sellers may not review their own seller profile.

A buyer may leave only one review per seller profile.

Reviews are seller-level. A review may mention a product for context, but the review is about the seller.

9. Review image rules

Review images must be relevant and appropriate.

You may not upload review images that:

• you do not have the right to use;
• contain private personal information;
• are unrelated to the review;
• are misleading;
• are abusive, hateful, sexually explicit, graphic, illegal, or unsafe;
• violate another person's rights;
• are intended to harass, shame, threaten, or expose someone.

Akuba may remove review images at its discretion.

10. Reporting content

Authenticated users may be able to report products, sellers, or seller reviews.

Reports should be submitted in good faith.

Appropriate reasons for reporting may include:

• misleading or inaccurate content;
• prohibited or inappropriate content;
• scam or fraud concerns;
• counterfeit or fake goods;
• spam;
• offensive or abusive content;
• harassment or threats;
• hate or discrimination;
• adult or graphic content;
• dangerous or illegal content;
• privacy or personal information concerns;
• intellectual property concerns;
• wrong category;
• pricing or availability issues;
• seller contact or behavior issues;
• other policy concerns.

Do not abuse the reporting system.

You may not submit false, malicious, retaliatory, spammy, or bad-faith reports.

11. What happens after a report

A report does not automatically remove content or suspend a seller.

Akuba may review the report and decide what action, if any, is appropriate.

Possible outcomes include:

• no action;
• report dismissed;
• report marked resolved;
• content hidden or removed;
• seller contacted for clarification;
• seller profile suspended or removed;
• review hidden or removed;
• other action Akuba considers appropriate.

Akuba is not required to provide detailed explanations about moderation decisions.

12. Privacy and personal information

Do not post another person's private personal information without permission.

This includes:

• personal phone numbers;
• personal email addresses;
• home addresses;
• identification documents;
• financial information;
• private messages;
• private social media content;
• sensitive personal information;
• images of people in private contexts without appropriate permission.

Sellers should only provide contact information they are comfortable displaying publicly as seller contact methods.

13. Intellectual property

Respect intellectual property rights.

Do not upload or post content that infringes another person's or business's rights, including:

• copyrighted photos;
• copied product descriptions;
• logos used without permission;
• trademarks used misleadingly;
• copied branding;
• stolen designs;
• content taken from other websites without permission.

If you believe content on Akuba violates your rights, contact us at:

info@akuba.ca

14. External links and contact methods

Seller profiles and listings may include external contact methods or links.

External links and contact methods must not:

• lead to scams, phishing, malware, or deceptive pages;
• impersonate another person or business;
• contain illegal, hateful, abusive, sexually explicit, graphic, or unsafe content;
• mislead buyers;
• violate third-party rights.

Akuba does not control external websites, apps, messaging services, social media pages, or communications outside Akuba.

15. Moderation

Akuba may moderate content and accounts at its discretion.

This may include:

• hiding content;
• removing content;
• editing technical formatting;
• rejecting seller applications;
• suspending seller profiles;
• restricting accounts;
• removing reviews;
• disabling listings;
• changing featured placement;
• taking other action to protect Akuba, users, sellers, or marketplace integrity.

Akuba may consider context, severity, user history, legal risk, safety risk, platform quality, and other factors.

We may take action even if a specific behavior is not listed in these Guidelines.

16. Repeat violations

Repeated violations may lead to stronger action, including account restriction, seller suspension, content removal, or permanent removal from Akuba.

Severe violations may lead to immediate action without prior warning.

17. Good-faith marketplace participation

Use Akuba in good faith.

For buyers, this means:

• contacting sellers respectfully;
• leaving honest reviews;
• using reports responsibly;
• understanding that purchases happen outside Akuba.

For sellers, this means:

• keeping listings accurate;
• communicating honestly;
• respecting buyers;
• keeping contact methods current;
• complying with applicable laws;
• accepting that Akuba may moderate content for quality, trust, and safety.

18. Changes to these Guidelines

We may update these Community Guidelines from time to time.

When we make changes, we will update the "Last updated" date above. If changes are material, we may provide additional notice where appropriate.

Your continued use of Akuba after updated Guidelines become effective means you accept the updated Guidelines.

19. Contact

For questions, concerns, or reports, contact:

info@akuba.ca