Takedown Procedure

1. PURPOSE AND SCOPE

This Takedown Procedure explains how to submit a formal notice if you believe Content on the Platform infringes your copyright, trademark, or other legal rights, or otherwise requires removal on a legal basis (such as a valid court order). For reports based on our Community Guidelines such as harassment, hate speech, or spam please use the in-platform reporting tool described in our Content Moderation Policy instead.

2. WHO MAY SUBMIT A NOTICE

A notice under this Procedure may be submitted by the rights holder whose work is allegedly infringed, or by an authorized agent acting on the rights holder's behalf. We may request evidence of that authorization.

3. WHAT A VALID NOTICE MUST CONTAIN

To process your notice efficiently, please include:

• Identification of the copyrighted work, trademark, or other right you believe has been infringed;
• Identification and location of the allegedly infringing Content on the Platform (for example, a direct link to the episode or profile);
• Your full name, organization (if applicable), and contact details;
• A statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use of the material is not authorized by the rights holder, its agent, or the law;
• A statement, made under applicable perjury laws of each country/region, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are the rights holder or authorised to act on their behalf; and
• Your physical or electronic signature.

A notice that omits required information may take longer to process, or may be returned to you for completion before we can act on it.

4. HOW TO SUBMIT A NOTICE

Send your notice to (xxx@afripods.africa] or through (web form, if built-in). General customer support channels are not monitored for formal legal notices and using them may delay your request.

5. OUR REVIEW PROCESS AND TIMELINE

On receipt of a notice that meets the requirements in Section 3, we will review it and, where the notice is valid on its face, remove or disable access to the identified Content within 5 business days, or sooner where the matter is urgent or involves a court order. We will notify the Creator responsible for the Content that it has been removed and provide them with a copy of the notice, redacted where appropriate, along with information about the counter-notice process in Section 6.

Where a notice is incomplete or unclear, we may request further information before acting, and will notify you if we are unable to process it.

6. COUNTER-NOTICE PROCEDURE FOR CREATORS

If your Content is removed under this Procedure and you believe the removal was in error or that your use of the material is lawful, you may submit a counter-notice to the same intake channel, including:

• Identification of the Content that was removed and its location prior to removal;
• A statement, under penalty of perjury or its equivalent, that you have a good-faith belief the Content was removed as a result of mistake or misidentification;
• Your name and contact details; and
• Your consent to the jurisdiction of the local courts in your country, and a statement that you will accept service of process from the person who submitted the original notice.

Where a valid counter-notice is received, we will forward it to the original complainant. If we do not receive notice that the complainant has initiated legal proceedings within 14 business days, we may reinstate the Content, unless doing so is otherwise unlawful.

7. REPEAT INFRINGER POLICY

A Creator who is the subject of repeated, valid takedown notices under this Procedure may have their account suspended or terminated, in accordance with our Content Moderation Policy, irrespective of any pending counter-notice on an individual item of Content.

8. MISUSE OF THIS PROCEDURE

Submitting a knowingly false or bad-faith notice or counter-notice under this Procedure may expose you to liability and, where you are a User of the Platform, may itself be treated as a violation of our Community Guidelines.

9. URGENT AND CHILD SAFETY MATTERS

If your concern involves child sexual abuse material or a risk of imminent harm to a person, do not use this Procedure, use the in-platform reporting tool described in our Content Moderation Policy (Section 5), which triggers our zero-tolerance fast-track response rather than the standard notice timeline above.

10. RECORD-KEEPING

We retain records of notices, counter-notices, and the actions taken in response, for as long as necessary to demonstrate compliance with applicable law and to support any related legal proceedings, consistent with our Privacy Policy, Section 12.

11. HOW THIS PROCEDURE FITS WITH OUR OTHER DOCUMENTS

This Procedure is incorporated by reference into our Terms & Conditions, Section 10, and works alongside our Community Guidelines (which sets out what Content is prohibited) and our Content Moderation Policy (which governs enforcement of those Guidelines generally).

12. CHANGES TO THIS PROCEDURE

We may update this Procedure to reflect changes in our processes or applicable law. Material changes will be announced through the Platform.

13. CONTACT US

Formal notices: (dedicated email or in-built procedure). For general questions about this Procedure please reach out to us at: contactus@afripods.com