Acceptable use policy

Last updated: 2026-05-23

Summary

Better Likes is a small, free, donation-funded service. The rules below exist so one person counts as one vote, the API stays available for everyone, and the reaction counts mean something. By signing in to Better Likes you agree to follow them. Reading reactions anonymously is unrestricted; the rules apply to signed-in accounts and to anyone calling the API.

The reasoning behind several of these rules — especially the one-account-per-person and disposable-mail checks — is explained in Why Better Likes asks for an email.

1. One person, one account

Each person gets one Better Likes account. Running multiple accounts to vote more than once on the same item, to inflate counts, or to evade rate limits and lockouts is not allowed. Email aliases or plus-addressing used to mint additional identities count as multi-accounting.

2. No automation or bots

Reactions must come from a human action in a real browser. Scripted clicks, headless bots, paid or coordinated voting campaigns, and any tool that submits reactions on behalf of users without their direct, per-reaction consent are not allowed.

3. Use the API within the documented limits

The public read endpoints are open for any legitimate use, including third-party clients and research, as long as you stay within the rate limits documented on the API page. Mass scraping that bypasses those limits, distributed scraping that fans the same workload across many IPs to defeat them, and unauthenticated write attempts are not allowed.

4. Do not circumvent anti-abuse measures

Disposable-mail checks, OTP rate limits, per-account write limits, per-target replay protection, and per-IP throttles exist so the counts are not bot-driven. Bypassing them — for example by rotating providers, proxying through unverified relays, or exploiting timing gaps — is a violation even if no individual request would otherwise be illegitimate. The extension is GPL-3.0 and you are free to read, study, modify, and redistribute the code; this rule covers active circumvention of the server-side defences, not source-level inspection.

5. Do not react on illegal or harmful targets

Submitting a reaction is a server-side write that we cache against a public URL. Do not use Better Likes to interact with, draw attention to, or aggregate counts on:

• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or any content sexualising minors.
• Doxxing pages, non-consensual intimate imagery, or stalking targets.
• Direct threats, incitement to imminent violence, or coordinated harassment campaigns.
• Content that is illegal in the jurisdiction hosting the data (EU or US, depending on your assigned region).

We will remove reactions and aggregate entries that point at such targets on receipt of a credible report, and suspend the accounts behind them.

6. Do not abuse the report channel

The in-extension Report tab is for genuine bug reports, missing-site requests, and abuse notifications. Sending spam, fake reports, or threatening content through the report channel is a violation and will lead to suspension.

7. Do not interfere with the service

No attempts to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the infrastructure without prior written permission. No denial-of-service traffic, no amplification, no attempts to exhaust shared resources. Security research is welcome — open an issue on GitHub to coordinate first.

Enforcement

For clear violations we suspend or terminate the offending account by its hashed identifier. Termination decrements every aggregate counter that account previously contributed to, the same way a user-initiated deletion does. We do not operate an appeals queue and we do not pre-announce enforcement actions; for unclear or borderline cases we will reach out through the email address used for the most recent sign-in attempt before acting, where doing so is practical.

Sustained or large-scale abuse — botnets, coordinated multi-accounting operations, attempts to disrupt the service — may also be reported to the relevant network providers and, where applicable, to law-enforcement authorities.

Reporting abuse

The fastest way to report abuse, including reactions on illegal targets, is the Report tab in the extension popup — open it on the affected page so the URL is captured automatically. You can also open an issue on GitHub for non-urgent matters.

Changes

We may revise this policy as the service evolves. The "Last updated" date above reflects the most recent change. Material changes will be surfaced in the extension settings on next launch; continued use after that point counts as acceptance of the revised policy. If you disagree, delete your account from the extension settings in one click — see the privacy policy for what that removes.