Legal

Terms of Service

The rules that govern your use of PRISM and theprisminstitute.org.

Last updated: August 4, 2026

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the website at www.theprisminstitute.org and related PRISM services (collectively, the “Site”). By accessing or using the Site, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Site.

1. About PRISM

PRISM is an educational publication and digital institute that offers essays, frameworks, and related materials on truth, wisdom, perspective, health, family, economics, and civilization. The Site may also offer subscriptions, memberships, account features, and optional integrations with third-party platforms such as TikTok.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old (or the minimum age of digital consent in your jurisdiction) to use the Site. If you use the Site on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization to these Terms.

3. Accounts and subscriptions

Some features require an account or email verification (for example magic-link sign-in). You are responsible for maintaining the security of your email and any credentials used to access the Site. Memberships, paid products, and billing may be handled through third parties such as Ghost and Stripe. Their terms also apply to those transactions.

You agree to provide accurate information and to update it as needed. We may suspend or terminate access if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms or misused the Site.

4. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

  • Use the Site for any unlawful purpose;
  • Attempt to gain unauthorized access to systems, accounts, or data;
  • Interfere with or disrupt the Site or its infrastructure;
  • Scrape, harvest, or systematically copy content except as allowed by law or with our prior written consent;
  • Misrepresent your identity or affiliation;
  • Upload malware or engage in abusive, harassing, or fraudulent activity;
  • Use TikTok or other connected platform features in ways that violate those platforms’ terms or community guidelines.

5. Intellectual property

The Site, including essays, frameworks, branding, design, and software, is owned by PRISM or its licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws. You may read and share links to publicly available pages for personal, non-commercial use. You may not reproduce, republish, sell, or redistribute Site content as a product or competing service without our prior written permission, except for brief quotations with clear attribution to PRISM and a link back to the original page.

“PRISM,” the PRISM mark, and related branding are trademarks or trade dress of PRISM. You may not use them in a way that suggests endorsement or affiliation without permission.

6. User content and feedback

If you submit comments, feedback, or other materials to us, you grant PRISM a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, and adapt that material to operate and improve the Site and our services, subject to our Privacy Policy. You represent that you have the rights needed to grant this license.

7. Third-party services and TikTok

The Site may integrate with or link to third-party services, including TikTok, payment processors, email providers, and social platforms. Your use of those services is subject to their own terms and privacy policies. PRISM is not responsible for third-party services.

PRISM may use TikTok for Developers products to support our official TikTok presence. With authorized access, we may read basic identity (user.info.basic), profile information (user.info.profile), public account statistics (user.info.stats), and public video listings (video.list) solely for educational content operations and analytics, as described in our Privacy Policy and TikTok’s developer terms. We do not use these scopes to access private messages or non-public content. If we later add publishing or sharing features, we will request only the additional scopes those features require and update these Terms and our Privacy Policy accordingly.

8. Educational content disclaimer

Content on the Site is for educational and informational purposes. It is not legal, medical, financial, investment, or other professional advice. You are solely responsible for how you use any ideas or frameworks you find here. Markets, health, family, and civic life involve risk; past patterns do not guarantee future results.

9. Disclaimer of warranties

THE SITE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE.” TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, PRISM DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS.

10. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, PRISM AND ITS OPERATORS, CONTRIBUTORS, AND SUPPLIERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SITE. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF THESE TERMS OR THE SITE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO PRISM IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (US $100).

11. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless PRISM and its operators from claims, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from your misuse of the Site or your violation of these Terms or applicable law.

12. Termination

We may suspend or terminate access to the Site at any time if we believe you have violated these Terms or if we discontinue the Site. You may stop using the Site at any time. Provisions that by their nature should survive (including intellectual property, disclaimers, limitations of liability, and indemnity) will survive termination.

13. Changes

We may update these Terms from time to time. The “Last updated” date will change when we do. Material changes may be communicated by posting on the Site or by email where appropriate. Continued use after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

14. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the United States and the State of Delaware, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, unless mandatory consumer protections in your jurisdiction provide otherwise. Courts located in Delaware will have exclusive jurisdiction over disputes arising from these Terms, except where prohibited by law.

15. Contact

Questions about these Terms:

See also our Privacy Policy, which explains how we handle personal information.