OpenAI · Usage Policies

Election Integrity Restrictions

Medium severity
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Consumer impact (what this means for users)

OpenAI's Usage Policy directly affects what you can ask ChatGPT or other OpenAI tools to do, and violations — even unintentional ones — can result in account suspension or termination without a guaranteed restoration process. The policy also makes developers and businesses that build on OpenAI's API responsible for ensuring their own users comply, meaning the apps you use powered by OpenAI may impose additional restrictions beyond OpenAI's own defaults. You can submit an appeal if OpenAI takes action against your account by visiting https://openai.com/transparency-and-content-moderation/#:~:text=determining%20enforcement%20actions.-,Appeals%20process.

How other platforms handle this

BeReal Medium

BeReal never knowingly or willingly collects any personal data concerning children under 13 years of age. If you are under 13, please do not use BeReal.

Shopify Medium

You may not use Shopify's Services to send spam, unsolicited communications, or engage in harassment of any person. This includes using Shopify's email or messaging tools to send bulk unsolicited messages to consumers who have not opted in to receive communications from you.

Wealthfront Medium

Scrape or copy information through any means (including crawlers, browser plugins and add-ons, and any other technology or manual work); Use, launch, or permit to be used any automated system, including without limitation "robots," "crawlers," or "spiders"

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Why it matters (compliance & risk perspective)

AI-generated political content and micro-targeted propaganda are significant threats to democratic integrity — this provision signals OpenAI's recognition of that risk, though the vague language may limit its enforceability.

View original clause language
We want to make sure that AI is not used to undermine the ability of humans to make informed choices about who governs them, so we are particularly careful about building tools that could be used for political ads, propaganda, or targeting strategies based on political ideology.

Applicable regulations

CFAA
United States Federal
DMCA
United States Federal
DSA
European Union

Provision details

Document information
Document
Usage Policies
Entity
OpenAI
Document last updated
March 5, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
March 10, 2026
Last verified
April 27, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-002430
Document ID
CA-D-00005
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
SHA-256
d69a24617758e5b44e4be8eedeceb598a26dc4e280f2ab1469a45b64203e7403
Verified
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Change verified
How to Cite
ConductAtlas Policy Archive
Entity: OpenAI | Document: Usage Policies | Record: CA-P-002430
Captured: 2026-03-10 03:28:59 UTC | SHA-256: d69a24617758e5b4…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/openai/usage-policies/election-integrity-restrictions/
Accessed: April 29, 2026
Classification
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Medium
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