The policy prohibits using the platform to generate political rhetoric intended to alter political views or sow division, political advertising or propaganda, content targeting based on political ideology, disinformation, fake news, or content that could undermine election integrity.
This analysis describes what Perplexity AI's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
This provision contains several broadly framed categories, including 'rhetoric that could unduly alter people's political views' and content that could 'sow division,' that are not defined in the document. These categories create significant enforcement discretion for Perplexity and may affect users engaged in legitimate political commentary, journalism, academic research, or civic education. The disinformation prohibition also engages emerging platform content liability frameworks including the EU Digital Services Act.
Interpretive note: Key terms including 'unduly alter political views,' 'sow division,' 'disinformation,' and 'undermine the integrity of elections' are not defined in the document, creating significant ambiguity regarding the scope and application of this prohibition.
Under these terms, Perplexity may determine at its discretion that political, journalistic, or civic content violates this provision, and the absence of defined thresholds means enforcement scope is determined unilaterally by the platform. The agreement does not specify a formal process for users to contest content decisions made under this clause.
How other platforms handle this
Do not generate images for political campaigns or to try to influence the outcome of an election. Do not generate images to spread misinformation or disinformation.
You may not automatedly crawl or query the Services for any purpose or by any means (including, without limitation, screen and database scraping, spiders, robots, crawlers and any other automated activity with the purpose of obtaining information from the Services) unless you have received prior exp...
relate to transactions involving (f) the promotion of hate, violence, racial or other forms of intolerance that is discriminatory or the financial exploitation of a crime... (i) involve offering or receiving payments for the purpose of bribery or corruption.
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"You may not use Perplexity to generate rhetoric that could unduly alter people's political views, sow division, or be used for political ads, propaganda, or targeting strategies based on political ideology. You may not use Perplexity to generate disinformation or fake news that could deceive the public. You may not use Perplexity to undermine the integrity of elections.— Excerpt from Perplexity AI's Perplexity Acceptable Use Policy
(1) REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: This provision engages the EU Digital Services Act, which imposes obligations on very large online platforms regarding systemic risk from disinformation and election integrity, and may require evaluation under FEC regulations regarding political advertising if the platform is used for political communications. The FTC Act's unfair practices framework may also apply if enforcement of this provision is applied inconsistently. (2) GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Medium. The undefined nature of 'rhetoric that could unduly alter political views' and 'disinformation' creates broad enforcement discretion. This is operationally significant for media organizations, political campaigns, academic researchers, and civic technology developers using the API. (3) JURISDICTION FLAGS: EU operators face heightened exposure under the Digital Services Act's disinformation risk assessment obligations. US political campaign operators should assess FEC implications of using AI-generated content in political communications. (4) CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: API integrators in media, civic technology, and political research sectors should seek written clarification from Perplexity on how these categories are operationally defined and enforced to avoid unexpected service interruption. (5) COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Organizations using Perplexity for news summarization, political research, or civic engagement tools should document use case justifications and assess whether their workflows could be characterized as generating 'disinformation' or election-undermining content under Perplexity's enforcement discretion.
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This provision contains several broadly framed categories, including 'rhetoric that could unduly alter people's political views' and content that could 'sow division,' that are not defined in the document. These categories create significant enforcement discretion for Perplexity and may affect users engaged in legitimate political commentary, journalism, academic research, or civic education. The disinformation prohibition also engages emerging platform content …
Under these terms, Perplexity may determine at its discretion that political, journalistic, or civic content violates this provision, and the absence of defined thresholds means enforcement scope is determined unilaterally by the platform. The agreement does not specify a formal process for users to contest content decisions made under this clause.
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