Effective 20 September 2026. Last updated 20 September 2026.
Guava is a publishing and learning platform for Tanzanian readers, writers and teachers, available at guava.co.tz and as an Android application. These terms are the agreement between you and Guava about how you may use it.
By creating an account or using Guava, you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, please do not use Guava. How we handle your information is a separate document: the Privacy Policy, which forms part of this agreement.
Your Guava account is yours to look after. You are responsible for what happens under it, so keep your Google account secure and do not let other people sign in as you. Tell us at [email protected] if you believe somebody else has got into your account.
Choose a display name and username honestly. Do not impersonate another person, another publication, or Guava itself, and do not pick a handle designed to make readers think you are somebody you are not.
You may close your account at any time. See Ending this agreement for what happens when you do.
Guava has two different things you can make, and they are gated differently on purpose:
| What you make | Who may make it |
|---|---|
| Articles, posts and documentaries that appear in the public feed | Accounts we have verified as creators. Publishing into a shared feed reaches people who did not choose you, so it is vouched for. |
| Courses, modules, lessons and assessments | Any account. A course sits on its author's profile and a learner opts into it, so it does not need the same vouching. |
Being verified is a decision we make, and we may decline or withdraw it. We will tell you if we withdraw it, and why.
You keep ownership of everything you write, film, record or upload to Guava. Guava does not take your copyright and does not claim your work as its own.
To run the service we need your permission to handle your work in the ordinary ways a platform must. By posting content on Guava you give us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host it, store it, back it up, resize and re-encode it for different screens and connections, and display it to the people you published it for. The licence exists only so Guava can show your work, it is not transferable to anyone else for their own purposes, and it ends when you delete the content or close your account, except for copies in ordinary backups that age out.
When you publish something, you are telling us that:
If you publish somebody else's work, credit and permission are your responsibility, not ours.
These are the things you may not do on Guava. They are written out in full rather than summarised, because an account can be suspended over them and nobody should lose their account to a rule they were never told.
There is no warning and no second chance here. Accounts are removed permanently and the matter is referred to the authorities.
Found a security flaw? Report it to [email protected] rather than exploiting it. We will not pursue anyone who reports a genuine flaw responsibly, stops at proving it exists, and does not access other people's data.
Some limits are enforced by the software itself, so you will meet them as a refusal rather than as a warning. They are here so a refusal is never a mystery.
| Limit | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Direct messages to one person | 5 per day | Counted on the Tanzanian calendar day. It stops a stranger filling somebody's inbox, and it resets at midnight. |
| Length of a direct message | 2,000 characters | Messages are for conversation. Longer work belongs in a post. |
| Who may start a conversation | One side must be a verified creator | Two brand new accounts cannot message each other, which removes the easiest route for spam and scams. |
| Support messages | 1 per day | Keeps the queue answerable by a small team. |
| Publishing to the feed | Verified creators only | See section 3. |
An account that is suspended, or that has a closure pending, cannot publish anything and cannot send messages. That is enforced in the database, not only in the app.
Direct messages are private between the people in the conversation and are not published. They are not end-to-end encrypted, so do not treat them as a secure channel for anything that would seriously harm you if exposed. We do not read them routinely. We may access a conversation where it is necessary to investigate a report of abuse, where the law requires it, or where it is needed to protect somebody's safety.
You can block or mute anyone on Guava, and you can report a message.
Anyone may teach on Guava. If you publish a course, you are responsible for its accuracy and for having the rights to the material in it. Guava does not review or accredit courses, and a course on Guava is not a recognised qualification unless the person offering it says so and can back that up.
Some courses are opened with an access code. A code is issued to you for your own use. Passing it on, selling it, or using one that was not issued to you is a breach of these terms.
Assessment results are recorded against your account. Do not misrepresent somebody else's results as your own.
Guava may show listings, brand pages and partner offers. Where a listing shows a price, that price is set by the person offering it, not by Guava.
Guava does not process payments and is not a party to any transaction between you and another user or business. If you buy something you found through Guava, the agreement is between you and the seller. Check who you are dealing with before you send anyone money.
Most of what you read on Guava was written by other users, and it is theirs, not ours. Publishing it here is not an endorsement by Guava. Guava also links to and embeds material hosted elsewhere, including video and live television streams operated by third parties. We do not control those services, they can change or disappear without notice, and their own terms apply when you use them.
Anyone can report content or an account, and we also act on what we find ourselves. Every action below is recorded with a written reason, because the system will not let us take one without giving one.
| Action | What it means | Reversible? |
|---|---|---|
| Warning | We write to you, explain what broke the rules, and leave your account alone. | Nothing to reverse |
| Content takedown | A post, course or listing is hidden from everyone and stops being reachable. It is hidden, not shredded. | Yes, for 12 days |
| Verification withdrawn | You keep your account and your existing work, but you can no longer publish into the public feed. | Yes, on appeal or over time |
| Suspension | The account cannot publish, cannot message anyone, and its content is hidden from other people. | Yes, a suspension can be lifted |
| Permanent removal | The account is closed and will not be restored. | No |
A takedown keeps the content for 12 days before it is gone for good, and that window exists for one reason: so that a wrong decision by us can be undone without the author losing their work.
We aim to be proportionate. A first mistake by somebody acting in good faith is not treated like a deliberate campaign against another person. What we weigh:
For most rules the path runs in this order, and a serious breach can start anywhere along it:
| Occurrence | Typical outcome |
|---|---|
| First | Content removed, and a warning explaining why |
| Second | Content removed, and verification withdrawn |
| Third | Suspension |
| Continued after a suspension is lifted | Permanent removal |
These do not get a first chance, because by the time a warning would take effect the harm has already happened:
If we take action against you and you think we are wrong, say so. Write to [email protected] from the address on your account, with what was removed and why you think the decision was mistaken.
Use the report control on the post, comment, account or message. Tell us what rule you think it breaks, because a report with a reason is acted on faster than one without.
Do not file reports in bad faith. Mass reporting somebody you disagree with, or filing reports you know to be false, is itself a breach of these terms and is enforced against the reporter.
If something on Guava infringes your copyright, email [email protected] with the URL, a description of the work, and a statement that you own the rights or act for the owner. We remove infringing material, and an account that infringes repeatedly is suspended.
If your work was removed and you believe the complaint was wrong, reply to us and say why. We will put it back if the complaint does not stand up.
You may close your account at any time from Settings. When you do, your profile and everything you published are hidden from everyone immediately, and the data is erased 65 days later. Before that date you can sign back in and restore everything.
We may suspend or close an account that breaches these terms, or where we are required to by law. Except where that is not possible, we will tell you why.
The parts of these terms that are meant to outlast the account survive its closure: ownership of content, the disclaimers, the limitation of liability, and the governing law.
We work to keep Guava running, but we do not promise it will be available without interruption. Features can change, and features can be withdrawn. We will give notice in the app before removing something people rely on, where we reasonably can.
Guava is provided as it is. To the extent the law allows, we make no warranty that it will be uninterrupted, error free, or fit for a particular purpose, and we do not warrant the accuracy of content published by users. Nothing here removes a right you have under Tanzanian consumer law that cannot be removed by agreement.
To the extent the law allows, Guava is not liable for indirect or consequential loss, for lost profits, or for loss of data, arising out of your use of the service. Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited.
These terms are governed by the laws of the United Republic of Tanzania, and the courts of Tanzania have jurisdiction over any dispute arising from them.
We may update these terms as Guava changes. The effective date at the top always shows the current version. If a change materially affects your rights or what you are allowed to do, we will tell you in the app before it takes effect. Continuing to use Guava after that means you accept the new version.
Questions about these terms, appeals against moderation, copyright complaints and security reports all go to the same place:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://guava.co.tz