Community Guidelines For Using Koo

Koo helps its users connect to others and enables meaningful engagement within the Koo community. To ensure this purpose is achieved, Koo requires users to follow these Community Guidelines along with the Terms of Use. 

Koo intends to foster a community feeling where all the users are part of a larger meeting place and allows the users to be able to have a safe space to express their views, ideas and thoughts. Koo has utmost regard for the users’ freedom of speech and expression as well as their right to privacy. In framing these Community Guidelines, care has been taken to abide by the letter and spirit of the law of the land, and our responsibility to the community in general.

During your time on the platform, we request you to treat your interactions with other users on Koo as though these were interactions in the real world. Before you post any content, think about how the people you are talking about might feel if you told them in-person what you are planning to post. The platform comprises many users like you, and we would want to make your journey on the platform, as comfortable for you, in terms of user engagement, participation and conversations. 

As a general rule, do not post any content about others that you would not like to be posted about you. Engaging online is no different from engaging with others in the real physical world.

The Community Guidelines listed below set out actions and conduct expected on Koo. Adhering to the following rules of the platform will help us maintain a community that encourages healthy discussions, enables the expression of diverse ideas and thoughts, safely. If you violate any one of these guidelines, appropriate action might be taken against you. This includes but is not limited to taking down the violative content and in the appropriate circumstances informing the authorities, and suspension or termination of your account.

1. Hate Speech and Discrimination    
Do not post hateful or discriminatory content on Koo.

Treat others on Koo with dignity, respect, and a sense of empathy. We encourage valid and well-intentioned expressions of healthy disagreement on the platform. 

We do not allow any content that is hateful, contains personal attacks and ad hominem speech.  Any form of discourteous, impolite, rude statements made to express disagreement that are intended to harm another user or induce them mental stress or suffering is prohibited.

You are not permitted to use hateful images or symbols in your profile image or profile header.  You must not alter your username, display name, or profile bio in a manner that it appears you are engaging in abusive behaviour or which could be reasonably construed as causing harassment to other user(s) or expressing hate towards a person or group. 

Examples of hateful or discriminatory speech include comments which encourage violence; are racially or ethnically objectionable; attempts to disparage anyone based on their nationality; sex/gender; sexual orientation; religious affiliation; political affiliation; any disability; or any disease they might be suffering from. 

Please note that this is not a complete list, and there could be other instances which could violate this guideline. 

Read more about the law on Hate Speech & Discrimination below:  

1. Promoting enmity:  Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 punishes people who promote or attempt to promote disharmony or hatred based on caste, place of birth, religion, race, region language etc. Any act or statement that disrupts the harmony between different religious groups, casts or communities or disturbs public tranquility is punishable. In other words, organising any exercise, movement, drill or activity to train participants to stir violence, induce fear or insecurity against any religious, racial, regional, language, caste or community is punishable with imprisonment. The term of this can be upto 3 years. 

2. Criminal Intimidation: Section 503 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 punishes a person who threatens to injure another person, their property or reputation. In other words, if one person intentionally insults and provokes another to disrupt public peace or commit any offence: the former is liable under this provision. If found liable, a person maybe imprisoned or fined as per Section 506 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. This imprisonment may be upto 2 years. 

If a person threatens to severely injure or kill another person, destroy their property by fire or impute unchastity to a woman: that person will be punished with criminal intimidation with an imprisonment sentence that extends to 7 years.

If a person anonymously threatens to injure another person, their property or reputation, they can be punished under Section 507 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

3. Outraging the modesty of women: When a person intends to insult the modesty of a woman. In other words, it is a punishable offense to intrude on a woman’s privacy by uttering any word, making any sound or gesture. This is punishable under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

4. Public Mischief: Any person who intentionally circulates and publishes any statement that causes fear or alarms any section of the public, because of which a person commits an offense against the state or against public tranquility is liable under Section 505(b) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. 

5. Defamation: Under Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, publication, in writing or by way of speech, of content in relation to any person, with the intention of or being aware of the likelihood that such content will harm their reputation, amounts to defamation and is punishable with imprisonment of up to two years and/or fine. Statements made with an intent to injure another person’s reputation, or statements prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony may be violative of this guideline and invite the aforementioned offences. Only a court of law can adjudicate if content is defamatory. 

2. Religiously Offensive Content

Be respectful of the religious beliefs of others.

You must always be respectful of the religious faith and beliefs of others. Regardless of whether they share the same views or beliefs as you. You must not publish anything which is hurtful to the sentiments of others or insults their religion or customs and/or causes communal discord. Any actions where gods or religious deities, prophets, figureheads, reincarnations and leaders are abused or where symbols or emblems of a religion are morphed or destroyed or desecrated with a view to hurt sentiments or cause disharmony may amount to religiously offensive content.

Please note that this is not a complete list, and there could be other instances which could violate this guideline. 

Read more about the law on Religiously Offensive content here:

1. Insult To Religions: Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 punishes a person who intentionally hurt the religious feelings of others by injuring or defiling a place of worship.  In other words, a deliberate and malicious act through words that intend to outrage religious feelings of any class, by insulting its religion or religious beliefs is punishable. 

2. Promoting Enmity:  Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 punishes people who promote or attempt to promote disharmony or hatred based on caste, place of birth, religion, race, region language etc. Any act or statement that disrupts the harmony between different religious groups, casts or communities or disturbs public tranquility is punishable. In other words, organising any exercise, movement, drill or activity to train participants to stir violence, induce fear or insecurity against any religious, racial, regional, language, caste or community is punishable with imprisonment. The term of this can be upto 3 years. 

3. Deliberate Intent To hurt Religious Feelings: Under Section 298 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, a deliberate intent to hurt any person’s religious feelings by uttering any word, sound in the hearing of that person or gesture in the sight of that person is punishable with an imprisonment, fine or both.  

3. Terrorism and Extremism

Do not post content that supports, encourages or glorifies terrorism. 

At Koo, we do not permit content that encourages terrorism and extremism. If you are found engaging in such activities, we might take action against you. In addition, we may bring your behaviour to the notice of the concerned authorities. 

You must not support or promote any dangerous activities on Koo. In particular, do not use Koo to incite terrorism, secession, acts of violence against person or property or which threatens the unity, integrity, defence, security or sovereignty of India, friendly relations with foreign nations, or insults another nation 

You must not post any content that promotes or encourages users to take actions on behalf of a terrorist organisations. Do not upload, share or post content that disseminates information on behalf of such organisations.

You must not garner support or approval to commit violent acts during lawful protests or create violence-inducing terror and conspiracy networks on the platform. It is important for you to know that your statements could instill fear, incite violence and lead to public mischief. In effect, your part will constitute an offence under the Indian Penal Code, 1860. 

You must not post content produced by terrorist outfits, criminal organizations, and cannot make references to prominent terrorists, criminal figures, or provide content glorifying acts committed by such personalities, and encourage others to carry out, participate in similar acts of violence. 

If you post content related to terrorism, criminal syndicates, violent activities for educational discussions, then ensure that this context is conveyed to the viewers. In other words, ensure that you explicitly state the context in which you are publishing such content. 

As a citizen you cannot make seditious statements, which would involve making statements to incite hatred, contempt, or general disaffection towards the government. Under the sedition laws, you may be imprisoned, as well as be subject to fines. Do not use the platform to strike terror in the minds of the general populace of the country. 

Read more about the law on Terrorism and Extremism below: 

1. Imputations, Assertions Prejudicial to National Integration: As Section 153B Indian Penal Code, 1860, publishing any assertion or claim that threatens the national integrity is punishable with a imprisonment that may extend to 3 years or a fine or both. This is a congnizable non-bailable offence. 

2. Sedition: As per Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, if any person by words or otherwise causes hatred, contempt or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the government established by law, they are liable to be punished. 

3. Punishment for Conspiracy: As per Section 18, of the Unlawful Activities(Prevention) Act, 1967, any person who conspires or attempts to commit, advocates, abets, advises, incites or knowingly facilitates the commission of, a terrorist act or any act preparatory to the commission of a terrorist act, will be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than five years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.

4. Banned Organisations: A listed banned organisations declared as terrorist organisations by the Government of India as per the First Schedule of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 are available at the website of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

4. Self-harm and Suicide

At Koo, mental health and well-being of our users matters. We understand that issues related to mental health and well-being need awareness. That is why we support our users, who wish to relate their experiences, which may relate to self-harm, suicidal thoughts, depression, or any other mental health concerns. 

While we support people who intend to relate their stories, we do not want users to promote suicide, self-harm or content that poses risk to other users of Koo. In the event where you believe that a user is at risk, we request that you get in touch with local emergency services available in your area.

If you are depressed, have thoughts of self-harm or suicide, we want you to know that you are not alone in this struggle, and we encourage you to reach out to organisations adept at providing the necessary support. Please see the information relating to helplines published by the Government of India’s Mental Health Rehabilitation Helpline can be reached at 1800-599-0019. You may also connect with many other organisations in your local areas.

Read more about the law on mental health, self-harm and suicide below: 

1. Abetment of Suicide: As per Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, if a person assisted another in committing suicide, that person is liable to be punished. In the form of furnishing a fine or being imprisoned upto 10 years. 

2. Mental Illness: As per Section 2(s) of The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, a person is diagnosed with a mental illness when they suffer from a substantial disorder of thinking, mood, perception, orientation or memory that grossly impairs judgment, behaviour, capacity to recognize reality or ability to meet the ordinary demands of life, mental conditions associated with the abuse of alcohol and drugs, but does not include mental retardation which is a  condition  of  arrested  or  incomplete  development  of  mind  of  a  person,  specially characterised by sub normality of intelligence.

3. Right to Access Mental Healthcare: As per Section 18(1) of The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, every person shall have a right to access mental healthcare and treatment from mental health services run or funded by the appropriate Government.

5. Violent Content

Do not post content that threatens, depicts or glorifies violence, or encourages acts of violence.

Koo does not permit its users to post content with references to mass murder, violent events or specific means of violence. Glorification of violence in any manner including but not limited to celebrating events that caused physical harm or hurt the sentiments of any person or group is not permitted. You must refrain from posting content that depicts torture, injury, mental suffering, death, bodily harm, abduction, kidnapping or other forms of violent content.

You must not use Koo to make any direct or indirect threats of physical harm against another person. This includes any threat relating to theft, vandalism, wrongful confinement, bodily, mental or financial harm. If you believe someone is in imminent danger, you should get in touch with the local law enforcement agency and report the situation at the earliest.

Koo does not permit its users to post content which involves references to mass murder, violent events, or specific means of violence. Do not post content that incites acts of violence against a group of people, minors or animal abuse. Content that hosts imagery of corpses, severed limbs, gory depiction of aftermaths of any natural disasters, medical procedures, which may shock or disgust viewers is not permitted.

You must also refrain from posting content relating to suicide or self-harm. Including content that is construed as promoting or suggesting this course of action. 

Please note that this is not a complete list, and there could be other instances which could violate this guideline. 

Read more on the law on Violent Content here:

1. Punishment For Publishing or Transmitting Obscene Material:  As per Section 67 of the Information and Technology Act, 2000, a person may be punished if they are found publishing, transmitting any material that appeals to prurient and corrupt persons. Such an act is punishable with a fine and an imprisonment that may extend to 5 years. 

2. Criminal Intimidation: Section 503 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 punishes a person who threatens to injure another person, their property or reputation. In other words, if one person intentionally insults and provokes another to disrupt public peace or commit any offence: the former is liable under this provision. If found liable, a person maybe imprisoned or fined as per Section 506 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. This imprisonment may be upto 2 years. 

If a person threatens to severely injure or kill another person, destroy their property by fire or impute unchastity to a woman: that person will be punished with criminal intimidation with an imprisonment sentence that extends to 7 years.

If a person anonymously threatens to injure another person, their property or reputation, they can be punished under Section 507 of the Indian Penal Code,1860.

3. Punishment for Publishing or Transmitting Obscene Material:  As per Section 67 of the Information and Technology Act, 2000, a person may be punished if they are found publishing, transmitting any material that appeals to prurient and corrupt persons. Such an act is punishable with a fine and an imprisonment that may extend to 5 years. 

4. Public Mischief: Any person who intentionally circulates and publishes any statement that causes fear or alarms any section of the public, because of which a person commits an offense against the state or against public tranquility is liable under Section 505(b) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

6. Graphic, Obscene and Sexual Content

Do not post graphic, obscene and/or sexual content on Koo.

Koo does not tolerate content that is obscene, pornographic, sexually graphic or could be seen as inappropriate to some users. We adopt a zero-tolerance approach to content that is harmful to children and depicts children sexually. Do not post content that contains revenge porn or is harmful to children. Any user found posting such content will be reported to the authorities immediately.

You are not permitted to upload, circulate or distribute content that is pornographic, pedophilic, contains explicit depictions of deceased persons, violent sexual acts including content depicting rape, and imagery that is excessively gory. Do not post any content relating to bestiality, non-consensual sexual acts or incest.

Please note that this is not a complete list, and there could be other instances which could violate this guideline.

Read more on the law on Graphic, Obscene and Sexual Content

1. Punishment for Publishing or Transmitting Obscene Material:  As per Section 67 of the Information and Technology Act, 2000, a person may be punished if they are found publishing, transmitting any material that appeals to prurient and corrupt persons. Such an act is punishable with a fine and an imprisonment that may extend to 5 years. 

2. Punishment for publishing or transmitting sexually explicit material: As per Section 67A of the Information and Technology Act, 2000, a person may be punished if they are found publishing, transmitting any material that contains sexually explicit acts and conducts. Such punishment may extend to five years with fine that may extend to 10 lakhs.

3. Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene content: As per Section 67B of the Information and Technology Act, 2000, a person can be punished for publishing or transmitting material depicting children in sexually explicit acts in electronic forms. 

1. This includes creating text, digital images, collecting, downloading, advertising, promoting exchanges or distributing material in any electronic form depicting children in obscene or indecent or sexually explicit manner.

2. Cultivating, enticing, or inducing children to online relationship with one or more children for sexually explicit acts in a manner that offends any reasonable adult is punishable. 

3. If a person is found to have records of the above content in any electronic form, they may be imprisoned for a term of 5 years, if a first time offender. 

4. Due Diligence by a social media intermediary: As per Rule 3(b) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, If a complaint is made against any content that shows such  individual  in  full  or  partial  nudity  or  shows  or  depicts  such individual in any sexual act or conduct. The social media intermediary will disable access to such content within 24 hrs. 

7. Sexual Harassment and non-consensual nudity

Do not post any content or engage in any activity that might be construed as being sexual harassment to other users.

Koo adopts a strict approach to sexual harassment on the platform, including, but not limited to, sexually explicit remarks, or innuendoes directed at any specific person or persons, or the sharing of sexual (or sexually suggestive) information or media in relation to a person without their consent or any content which may be invasive of a person's bodily privacy. 

We have a zero-tolerance policy against any explicit images or videos that appear to be taken without the consent of another person, or people.
You must not make statements of a sexual nature, intended to be insulting, harassing, or degrading based on gender, or which make any other person feel uncomfortable. Koo must not be used to harass anyone by circulating pornographic content intimate images etc. to them. 

Please note that this is not a complete list, and there could be other instances which could violate this guideline. 

Read the law on Sexual Harassment and Non-Consensual Nudity below: 

Prevention of Sexual Harassment: As per Section 3 of The Sexual Harassment of Women At Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition And Redressal) Act, 2013, women will not be subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace. 

Outraging the modesty of women: When a person intends to insult the modesty of a woman. In other words, it is a punishable offense to intrude on a woman’s privacy by uttering any word, making any sound or gesture. This is punishable under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

8. Cyberbullying

Be kind to others. Don’t be a bully. 

Content that threatens others is not allowed on Koo.

Koo does not allow users to engage in bullying or harassment on the platform. This includes sharing defamatory or libellous content or sending threatening messages or insults to another Koo user. 

You must not post content that contains personal attacks, abusive language, slangs or expletives in any languages; do not direct other users to engage in such language. Do not use abusive language, slang, or expletives in any language and do not direct it at other users. You must not engage in name calling, malicious insults with racial undertones or make comments on anyone’s attributes, including their physical attributes. 

You must not violate another user’s privacy by posting information and images of them without their consent. 

There is a difference between healthy discussion, debate and disagreement and engaging in direct personal attacks on another person. We encourage you to indulge in healthy discussions, debates and disagreements, by way of expression of your thoughts, ideas, in a conversational manner; but we do not want you to confront people while engaging in tones of discord, aggressive statements, and malicious attacks. 

Please note that this is not a complete list, and there could be other instances which could violate this guideline. 

9. Invasion of Privacy

Respect space and privacy of others.

Koo expects users to respect privacy of others. You must not publish, share, or encourage the publication of any personal information of another person that invades their privacy. 

You must not capture, share, publish images of a person’s private area without their explicit consent. 

It is a punishable offence for anyone to capture, share, publish images pertaining to the private area of any person without their express consent. This would mean images relating to a person’s naked or undergarment clad genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female breast/s.

A person’s right to privacy is an inherent and fundamental right and is inclusive of their right to be left alone and the preservation of their personal intimacies. The right is meant to protect the autonomy of a person and is not severed from the individual by their mere presence on a public platform like ours. 

Please note that this is not a complete list, and there could be other instances which could violate this guideline. 

Read more about the law on Privacy below: 

1. Fundamental Right: The Right to Privacy is an intrinsic part of the Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. 

2. Punishment of Violating Privacy: As per Section 66E of the Information and Technology Act, 2000, any person who intentionally captures, publishes or transmits the image of a private area of any person without their consent, violates the other’s right to privacy. This is punishable with imprisonment that may extend to three years or with a fine.

3. Penalty for Breach of Confidentiality and Privacy: As per Section 72 of the Information and Technology Act, 2000, any person who secures access to any electronic record, book, register, correspondence, information, document or other material without the consent of the person concerned discloses such electronic record, book, register, correspondence, information, document or other material to any other person is liable to be punished. The punishment may be imprisonment or fine.

10. Illegal Activities

Much like in the real world, do not break the law when you use Koo.

Koo strives to ensure that its users are safe. As such, Koo does not permit any unlawful behaviour or illegal activities. Do not post content that improperly uses emblems and names recognized by The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950. This includes the Indian National Flag, The Indian Prime Minister, The Government of India, United Nations Organisation, World Health Organisation etc. The complete list of names and emblems is available here. 

You must not post content that is illegal or encourages other users to participate in any illegal activity. This includes buying or selling of narcotics, illegal or prescription drugs, alcohol, tobacco products, psychotropic substances or any other category of items that are not permitted to be traded between private individuals. 

You must not upload, circulate, share or act on any content that sells or appears to sell narcotics or prescription drugs. Purchasing prescription drugs must be strictly done based on legal advice, valid prescription from a registered medical practitioner, and not through the platform 

You must not use the platform to offer access to lotteries, gambling, and real money games or encourage money laundering, prostitution, human or child trafficking, organised violence or any other criminal activity. You must not post content that threatens public order or incites other users to commit an offence or prevents investigation of any offence.

You must not advertise tobacco, alcohol and other products that violate the Code for Self-Regulation of Advertising Content in India. 

Please note that this is not a complete list, and there could be other instances which could violate this guideline. 

1. Prohibition of Improper use of Certain Emblems and Names: As per Section 3 of The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950, people are prohibited from using any trademark, design, name or emblem specified in Schedule to this Act.  

2. Access to Prescription Drugs: Rule 65 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, lays down the conditions of licenses. This includes the fact that drugs specified in certain Schedules must be supplied with a valid license or prescription. 

3. Prohibition of Advertisement of Certain Drugs and Magic for the Treatment of Certain Diseases and Disorders: As per Section 3 and Section 5 of The Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, a person must publish any advertisement that certain drugs or magic remedies cures any condition stipulated in Section 3 of the Act.  

4. No Advertisements of liquor and Tobacco: As per Section 5 of The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003, a person who produces, supplies and distributes cigarettes or tobacco products cannot advertise these products, directly or indirectly. 

Any advertising in relation to such products, tobacco, alcohol will also be in violation of the regulations of Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), to ensure that advertisements are not offensive to generally accepted standards of public decency and are not used for the promotion of products, which are regarded as hazardous to society or to individuals. 

11. Identity Theft and Impersonation

Identity theft is serious. Don’t impersonate any other person.
Koo account that pose as another person, brand or organisation in a confusing or deceptive manner is liable to be permanently suspended. Identity theft includes your usage of another person’s electronic signature, password or any other unique identification feature in a dishonest manner. As your association with the platform is based on the representations made by you, we reserve the right to terminate your account based on such false representations made by you. 

You must not impersonate or pose as another person, brand, or organization to deceive or mislead users about the origin of the content. Thus, you are encouraged to voluntarily verify yourself and ensure that all the details provided in your profile are accurate and do not, in any manner, constitute misrepresentation.

Please note that this is not a complete list, and there could be other instances which could violate this guideline. 

Read more about the law on Identity Theft and Impersonation: 

1. Punishment for Identity Theft: As per Section 66C of the Information and Technology Act, 2000, if a person fraudulently or dishonestly uses electronic signatures, passwords  or  any  other  unique  identification  feature  of any other person: they may be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years and shall also be liable for a fine.

2. Punishment for Cheating by Impersonation: As per Section 66D of the Information and Technology Act, 2000, any person who cheats by impersonating for any communication or computer resource will be punished. The punishment may be an imprisonment, fine or both. 

12. Misinformation and Fake news

Be truthful and verify information.

Koo strives to encourage healthy discussions, foster creativity of thought and enable exchange of views and opinions. To achieve this, do not knowingly share false, misleading or unverified information. You must not share morphed or manipulated images, videos or any media (including deepfakes) that is false. Sharing false or misleading information has the potential to defame a third party. That is why, use your discretion to share comments and other information that are authentic and accurate. You must, to the extent possible, ensure that content that you post on Koo is authentic and from a reliable and verifiable source.

Koo does not condone content that may affect citizen-centric processes. However, any content that may interfere with the results of political elections will not be permitted. 

Please note that this is not a complete list, and there could be other instances which could violate this guideline. 

13. Spamming, Scamming and Phishing

 
Do not use Koo to spam or scam others.

Do not use this platform to manipulate others or negatively affect their experience on the platform. Do not message other users in bulk from multiple accounts to amplify content or disrupt conversations. This platform must not be used to control prices or publish information intended to manipulate other users for your own financial gain. 

You must not try to deceive others whether on this platform or not, by sharing patently false and untrue information, luring other persons to share sensitive information or requiring them to engage in any other activities with the intention of misleading or harassing users for financial gain or causing them any other harm.

You must not pose as someone else and induce people to share their personal information with you. Do not deprive others of money, property, inheritance by fraudulent schemes. You must not intend to deprive others of money, property, inheritance by fraudulent schemes. 

Do not send people unsolicited communications.

Please note that this is not a complete list, and there could be other instances which could violate this guideline. 

14. Intellectual Property Infringement

Do not violate the Intellectual Property Rights of others.

Koo believes that Intellectual Property Rights facilitates innovation, creation and expression. In any language, you own all the content and information you post on Koo. This means that you control how it is shared. Before posting on Koo, ensure that it does not belong to another person and that you have the right to do so. 

You must not upload any content that uses a brand or a logo owned by another person without their explicit permission. Uploading content with a brand or logo similar to another trademarked to confuse other users is not permitted. 

Do not upload any literary, musical, dramatic or choreographic work without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. Distributing copyrighted sound recordings without explicit permission will violate the rights of a copyright holder. 

Please note that this is not a complete list, and there could be other instances which could violate this guideline.

For more Information on Trademark & Copyright Law read below:  

1. Copyrights: As per Section 13 of The Copyright Act, 1957, a person owns copyrights of: original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works. In other words, paintings, drawings, photographs, computer programs, sound recordings, films and similar creative expressions are entitled to copyright protection. 

2. Rights of Copyright Holders: To hold a copyright means to posses the exclusive right to do the following: 

1. To reproduce the work; 

2. To issue copies of the work to the public;

3. To perform the work in public;

4. To communicate the work to the public;

5. To make cinematograph film or sound recording in respect of the work;

6. To make any translation of the work;

7. To make any adaptation of the work;

3.  Copyright Violations: Under Section 51 of the Copyrights Act, 1957, a person infringes on copyrights by: 

1.  Violating the rights of a copyright holder;

2. Making infringing copies for sale or hire or selling or letting them for hire; 

3. Permitting any place for the performance of works in public where such performance constitutes infringement of copyright; 

4. Distributing infringing copies for the purpose of trade or to such an extent so as to affect prejudicially the interest of the owner of copyright; 

5. Exhibiting in public infringing copies by way of trade;

6. Importing infringing copies into India. 

4. Fundamentals: As per Section 2(1)(zb) of the Trademarks Act, 1999, a trademark is a mark capable of being represented graphically to distinguish services or goods from one person from those of others. A person is the proprietor of the trademark if it is a registered mark or is a mark used in relation to goods or services to indicate a connection in the course of trade between the goods or services.

5. Trademark Infringement: As per Section 29 of the Trademarks Act, 1999, a person infringes a registered mark when they use the mark without authorization. This could occur in many ways. Including, if one person uses a trademark that is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark owned by another. Such use could be in relation to products or services which are identical or similar to those covered by registration.

14. Malicious Programmes

Do not share malicious programs.

You must not share any content that contains a program with any virus or code capable of causing harm, loss to users on the platform. You must not share, upload or publish any program that could disrupt, cause harm, limit the functionality of the platform. Following this guideline while posting content or messaging other users will contribute to a safe and enjoyable experience for you, other users and the larger community. 

As a user you must note that the law does not allow anyone to gain unauthorized access or restrain the original owner from being able to access their own resources, owing to some action on your part. You must ensure that you do not upload any content that can potentially interfere with the communication services which are available to our other users. 

Please note that this is not a complete list, and there could be other instances which could violate this guideline. 

Read more on the law on Malicious Programs here: 

1. Penalty for Damage of Computer Systems: As per Section 43(c) of the Information and Technology Act, 2000, if a person introduces any computer contaminant or computer virus into any computer system or computer network: they will be punished. 

2. Penalty for Damage of Computer Systems: As per Section 43(j) of the Information and Technology Act, 2000, if a person teal, conceals, destroys or alters or causes any person to steal, conceal, destroy or alter any computer source code used for a computer resource with an intention to cause damage: they are liable to be punished. 

15. Child Safety

Koo is designed to preserve the safety of minors. 

We take a zero-tolerance approach to any content that exploits or promotes child sexual exploitation. For the purposes of this section, a child is a somebody who has not reached the age of majority. 

You are not allowed to transmit, publish, promote, advertise or upload any content that depicts or promotes child exploitation. Such content includes, but is not limited to:

1. Visual depictions of children engaged in obscene, indecent, sexually explicit acts or conduct; 

2. Links to third-party sites that host child pornographic content; 

3. Facilitating child abuse;

4. Sending sexually explicit media to a child;

5. Recruiting or advertising an interest in a commercial sex act involving a child, or in harboring and/or transporting a child for sexual purposes.

Please note that this is not a complete list, and there could be other instances that could violate this guideline. 

Read more on the law on Child Safety here: 

1. Sexual Harassment Against a Child: Section 11 of the Protection of Children From Sexual Offences, 2012, lays down scenarios as to when a child is sexually harassed. Among the grounds, constantly watching, following or contact a child with sexual intent through electronic or digital means amounts to Sexual Harassment. Threatening to use any body part of the child or threatening to involve a child in a sexual act by any form of media through electronic, film or digital is Sexual Harassment. 

2. Punishment for Publishing or Transmitting Obscene Content: As per Section 67B of the Information and Technology Act, 2000, a person can be punished for publishing or transmitting material depicting children in sexually explicit acts in electronic forms. 

1. This includes creating text, digital images, collecting, downloading, advertising, promoting exchanges or distributing material in any electronic form depicting children in obscene or indecent or sexually explicit manner.

2. Cultivating, enticing, or inducing children to online relationship with one or more children for sexually explicit acts in a manner that offends any reasonable adult is punishable. 

3. If a person is found to have records of the above content in any electronic form, they may be imprisoned for a term of 5 years, if a first time offender.