Terms of use

We are a platform for social and political change. We are happy about our engaged users and we invite everybody to stand up for his or her concern - free expression is always welcome. To ensure that expressions do not harm others, we set up a few rules for using our platform.

1. Illegal petitions
   1. Petitions that violate the free, democratic basic order or seek to abolish it will be closed. Petitions that incite hatred and violence, or that condone, deny, or trivialize the crimes of National Socialism will be closed. Petitions that question the Basic Law or the criminal liability of incitement to hatred will be closed. Petitions that violate the European Convention on Human Rights or international law will be closed.
   2. Petitions against court judgments are only admissible if further legal remedies are sought by normal legal process or if a legal regulation is demanded which would make a jurisprudence challenged by the petitions impossible for the future.
   3. Insulting, derogatory, and discriminatory petitions will be terminated and blocked. This includes, but is not limited to, insults, derogatory behavior, and discrimination based on gender, age, appearance, origin, social status, religion, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation.
   4. Petitions containing false factual claims, missing sources, or misleadingly omitting relevant facts will be closed. openPetition reserves the right to subsequently request sources in controversial cases or to add important facts.
   5. Petitions which, from a subjective point of view, disparage (the behaviour of) persons or groups and judge them in general terms will be terminated and blocked. Petitions in which blanket attributions are made to entire groups of people that cannot be substantiated and merely reflect one's own opinion are also inadmissible. An objective and justified criticism of public persons or groups in relation to their public activity is permissible.
   6. Petitions which only refer to other petitions and do not state their own independent goals will be ended and blocked. This is also the case for petitions on other platforms.
   7. Petitions with satirical content are banished to the troll tower
   8. Petitions with direct or indirect advertising for own products, services or parties will be terminated. Petitions with direct or indirect advertising for parties are admissible if the party has launched the petition itself. Petitions that are launched by sympathisers or members of a party and contain direct or indirect advertising for parties are not admissible.
   9. Petitions are only admissible if the petitioner registers with his own full name or on behalf of a legal person, stating the full address and the Email address actively used. The Email address will be used for verification. The address may also be used for verification by public authorities.
   10. Petitions must not infringe the copyrights of third parties. When using copyrighted texts, images, or videos, the petitioner is responsible for obtaining the consent of the rights holders and citing the sources.
   11. To publish personal data of non-public persons requires the consent of this person.
   12. Petitions must be written in the respective official languages of the country. Other language versions of a petition may be created.
   13. Petitions, whose content and/or the demand of the original petition were changed or extended afterwards seriously, are blocked.
   14. Petitions that represent an incorrect translation of the petition in the original language by differing in relevant content or demands will be terminated.
2. Restricted petitions
   1. Petitions which are not addressed to specific persons, legal entities, parliamentary bodies or organisations in politics, business, society or to the public as a whole will not be publicly listed.
   2. Petitions that do not meet our quality requirements for petitions must be revised by the petitioner. Petitions in revision are not publicly listed.
   3. Petitions that exclusively pursue the interests of the petitioner are treated as individual concerns. Individual concerns are not publicly listed.
   4. Petitions that are identical or similar in content to existing petitions will not be publicly listed, but can still be signed. In the interest of the cause, as many signatures as possible should be collected under one petition.
   5. Petitions addressed to a recipient who is not in charge of a decision will not be listed publicly and the supporters will be informed about that fact.
   6. If the accuracy of statements in a petition is disputed, or if the statements are speculative, contradictory, or lack sufficient scientific evidence, supporters will be informed and the petition will not be publicly listed. openPetition requests that you seek information on the subject of the petition from appropriate sources before signing.
   7. In case of slight violations of our terms of use for permitted petitions, a period of 3 days may be granted to rectify the violations. During this period, the petition will not be publicly listed.
   8. If the content of a petition is formulated in a very one-sided manner, if there are significant, contradictory expert opinions or basic, supplementary information on the topic, openPetition reserves the right to inform supporters of this.
3. Usage fees on openPetition
   1. Petitions are free.
   2. Participation in petitions and the use of all other functions on openPetition are and remain free of charge.
4. Rights and responsibilities of the petitioner (author of the petition)
   1. The petitioner can set the period of time, in which the petition can be signed. It has to be between one week and one year.
   2. The petitioner has the right to revise the text during the signature period, provided that the basic purpose of the petition is not distorted.
   3. The petitioner can choose his own goal if he doesn't address the petition to a parliament, a government or an administration.
   4. The petitioner must check online and offline signatures and delete signature which are obviously invalid.
   5. The petitioner undertakes to respond promptly to inquiries from supporters during the subscription period. Inquiries will be forwarded to the petitioners via email using a contact form. The petitioner has the right to deactivate this function.
   6. The petitioner is obligated to deliver the petition to the recipient promptly after the end of the petition period. Petitions not submitted 12 months after the end of the petition period will be given the status "failed."
   7. If the recipient is a petition committee, openPetition reserves the right to submit the petition itself to the addressed committee if the petition has not been submitted by the petitioner within 3 months.
   8. The petitioner has the right and the duty to inform his or her supporters about the progress of the petition at any time. The right to inform supporters is limited if messages do not explicitly relate to the petition.
   9. By creating a petition via the openPetition gGmbH online platform, the petitioner authorizes openPetition to represent them within their right to petition, provided the petitioner does not exercise their right to petition themselves. This does not create an obligation for openPetition gGmbH to represent the right to petition in every case.
   10. Petitions that are no longer being pursued by the petitioner can be transferred from the previous petitioner or from openPetition to a new petitioner.
   11. The petitioner has the right to terminate their petition early if the petition's objective is no longer relevant or has been resolved through other means. The petitioner undertakes to inform their supporters of the reason for terminating the petition.
   12. The petitioner may not forward signature lists and collection forms to anyone other than the recipient of the petition.
   13. After completing the information work, the petitioner is obliged to destroy all signature data made available to him, whether digital or printed.
5. Copyright law
   1. Texts, images, or videos published on openPetition are licensed under the Creative Commons by-nc-sa license. Attribution includes mention of the openPetition platform and the author (if known).
   2. If a supporter signs a petition anonymously and adds a comment to their signature, this anonymity must be respected and protected. Accordingly, neither openPetition nor the petitioner has the right to publish the comment in connection with the name of the anonymous supporter.
6. Transparency
   1. Published petitions are permanently stored and accessible to ensure the traceability of political processes. Any changes to petition content are recorded and publicly reconstructable.
   2. Upon request, personal data published in petition texts will be anonymized.
7. Editorial changes
   1. openPetition reserves the right to remove texts and links in petitions, comments, debate contributions, and blog entries that refer to external websites or documents. This particularly applies to links to pages, documents, and texts that
      • violating state law and basic democratic values
      • do not correspond to the European Convention on Human Rights or International Law
      • contain offensive and discriminatory statements towards individuals or groups of people)
      • do not meet our quality requirements
   2. openPetition reserves the right to add appropriate sources for better comprehensibility and to edit petition texts, provided that these edits serve to improve readability and do not change the essence of the petition.
   3. openPetition reserves the right to remove petition images and videos in the following cases:
      • may have a shocking effect on people
      • show violence or atrocities against humans or animals
      • private recordings that violate privacy
      • are ponographic
      • satirical depictions
      • Representations that contradict the petition request
   4. openPetition reserves the right to add pictures to petitions, if they can illustrate the petition's issue in better way.
   5. openPetition reserves the right to remove appeals for donations from the petition text. If a call for donations serves the purpose of the petition, it may be published in a notification to supporters. Section 4.8 of the Terms of Use remains unaffected.
8. User comments and debate

   These terms of uses extend to user comments and debate. The basis for the moderation of comments and debate you find in the Netiquette.

9. Gender-sensitive language

   We see more gender-neutral language as an important step towards achieving gender equality in our society.

   As a platform, we take into account the way people are used to communicating with each other.

   • We use the official rules of German orthography of the Duden
   • Where it does not disturb the flow of language, we refer to both genders using the full or shortened pair form
   • Where appropriate, we use the male and female forms alternately.
   • Every now and then we use established gender-neutral words, plural nouns, the passive form or direct address.
   • In individual cases we use the more common male or female form
   • Content from our users will be retained in its current form

   As a platform, we will support the language transition toward gender-inclusive language. We will not force the change, nor will we attempt to prevent it.

   We strive for inclusive language, particularly through the use of simple language.

10. Disclaimer

    For the unlinkely case that openPetition should be unavailable for some time or we experience data loss, you will abstain from compensation claims for damage that might have occured or for expenditures that might have resulted.

11. Subject to modifications

    openPetition reserves the right to modify or extend these terms of use. Changes with retroactive effect will not be made.

As of October 2025