COMPLAINTS, CORRECTIONSYOU’RE YOUR RIGHT TO REPLY
At the moment, we own the official domain name usofindia.com, which conveniently redirects visitors to our page at https://unitedstatesofindia.livezenlife.com/unitedstatesofindia. However, we currently lack our own dedicated web hosting solution. Instead, we rely on a subdomain provided by the founder’s website, livezenlife.com. Unfortunately, this setup is inadequate for accommodating the high levels of traffic we anticipate.
As we prepare for the full launch of the United States of India (USI) initiative, we recognize the urgent need for a robust, cloud-based web hosting solution. This hosting should be scalable and capable of efficiently managing significant web traffic. Additionally, once we are operational, we plan to introduce our “Right to Reply” services, further increasing our site’s demand and requiring a reliable hosting platform to support it.
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Editorial independence also means being accountable when we make mistakes.
USI therefore provides a clear process through which readers, subjects of reporting, Fellows, sources and other affected persons can raise concerns about published material.
A complaint is not automatically proof that a story is wrong.
But every credible complaint deserves to be taken seriously.
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Please use only the verified payment information published on this website.
Before making a contribution through a QR code, check that you are on the official USI website, usofindia.com, which redirects to https://unitedstatesofindia.livezenlife.com/unitedstatesofindia/.
WHAT CAN BE REPORTED?
A complaint may concern:
- a factual error;
- inaccurate or misleading information;
- missing material context;
- incorrect identification of a person, organization or location;
- failure to distinguish an allegation from an established fact;
- inadequate opportunity for a substantive right of reply;
- misrepresentation of a person’s words or position;
- material problems with translation or transcription;
- use of manipulated, miscaptioned or inadequately verified digital evidence;
- a significant editorial or ethical concern;
- a conflict of interest that was not disclosed;
- an important correction that has not been made.
Complaints about disagreement with an article’s conclusion, political viewpoint or editorial judgment may also be submitted, but disagreement alone does not establish an error.
HOW TO MAKE A COMPLAINT
USI will publish a dedicated Editorial Complaints & Corrections contact method on this website.
Where possible, a complaint should include:
- the URL or title of the material concerned;
- the date of publication;
- the specific statement, image, video or passage being challenged;
- what the complainant believes is inaccurate or unfair;
- evidence supporting the complaint;
- the correction or clarification being requested;
- the complainant’s name and a contact method.
Complaints may be submitted in English or, where practicable, in the language in which the relevant material was published.
A complainant does not need to agree with USI’s politics or editorial philosophy to raise a complaint.
REVIEW
A substantive complaint should be reviewed against the original reporting record, including where relevant:
- reporter notes;
- source communications;
- documents;
- recordings;
- photographs and video;
- published records;
- translations;
- editorial correspondence;
- the evidence available when the material was published.
The review should ask:
What did we publish?
What evidence supported it at the time?
Is the challenged statement factually accurate?
Was relevant context omitted?
Was an allegation clearly identified as an allegation?
Was the affected person or institution given a reasonable opportunity to respond?
Does the evidence now available require a correction, clarification or update?
The fact that a complaint comes from a political party, government, corporation, activist group, donor, Fellow or private individual should neither strengthen nor weaken the standard of review.
POSSIBLE OUTCOMES
A complaint may result in:
NO CHANGE
The original material is adequately supported.
USI may explain the basis for retaining the published wording.
CLARIFICATION
The material is substantially correct but could reasonably be misunderstood without additional explanation.
A clarification may be added to the article or associated material.
CORRECTION
A factual error is confirmed.
USI will correct the error promptly and, where the error is material, identify what was corrected and when.
UPDATE
New information becomes available after publication that materially changes or adds to the story.
The original reporting may be updated while preserving an appropriate record of the change.
RIGHT OF REPLY
A person or institution directly affected by substantive reporting may provide a relevant response or correction.
Where appropriate, that response may be published with the original material or linked prominently from it.
REMOVAL OR UNPUBLISHING
Removal should not be the routine response to criticism.
However, USI may consider removing or restricting access to material where there is a serious legal, ethical, safety, privacy or evidentiary reason to do so.
Where a material correction is required, silent deletion should generally be avoided when it would prevent readers from understanding what changed.
HOW CORRECTIONS WILL APPEAR
For material factual errors, USI will not quietly alter the article and pretend the original version never existed.
Where appropriate, the corrected article should contain a visible correction note such as:
CORRECTION — [DATE]: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated [brief description]. The article has been corrected to [correct information].
The correction should be proportionate to the seriousness and prominence of the original error.
Minor spelling or formatting changes that do not alter meaning may be corrected without a formal correction note.
For significant corrections, USI should maintain a public Corrections Log recording:
- date;
- article or material concerned;
- nature of the error;
- correction made;
- date of correction.
RIGHT OF REPLY IS NOT A VETO
A right of reply allows an affected person or institution to present relevant information.
It does not give that person or institution control over USI’s journalism.
USI may publish a response while maintaining the original reporting where the evidence continues to support it.
Likewise, USI will not suppress a legitimate correction merely because it is inconvenient to the publication.
APPEAL
If a complainant believes that a complaint was not properly considered, they may request an internal editorial review.
The appeal should identify:
- the original complaint;
- USI’s response;
- the specific issue that remains unresolved;
- any additional evidence or reasoning.
Where USI has developed independent editorial standards or a public editor function, appeals should, where practicable, be reviewed by someone who was not responsible for the original editorial decision.
The person reviewing an appeal should not be the sole person responsible for deciding their own previous complaint.
BAD-FAITH OR ABUSIVE COMPLAINTS
USI will not treat criticism as harassment merely because it is persistent, uncomfortable or politically hostile.
At the same time, USI may decline to engage with complaints that consist solely of threats, spam, personal abuse, discriminatory abuse, mass-generated duplicate submissions or demands to publish demonstrably false information.
Declining such a complaint does not prevent USI from correcting a genuine error discovered through it.
PROTECTING SOURCES AND PERSONAL INFORMATION
A complaints process should not expose confidential sources or unnecessarily disclose personal information.
USI may therefore withhold information where disclosure would:
- identify a confidential source;
- create a credible safety risk;
- violate a person’s reasonable privacy;
- compromise an ongoing investigation;
- disclose legally protected information.
Where information cannot be disclosed, USI should explain the limitation where doing so is safe and appropriate.
PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY
USI intends to maintain a public Corrections and Editorial Complaints Log as the institution continues to develop.
The purpose is not to make journalists afraid of making mistakes.
It is to make the institution capable of recognizing, correcting and learning from them.
A transparent correction is better than a hidden mistake.
A documented disagreement is better than an unexplained editorial decision.
A credible complaint should make journalism more careful, not more defensive.
OUR STANDARD
USI therefore adopts the following principle:
If we are wrong, correct us.
If we have misunderstood you, show us.
If we have omitted important context, provide it.
If we have stated an allegation as fact, challenge it.
If our evidence is inadequate, tell us.
And if, after review, the evidence still supports the published reporting:
We will explain why.
Editorial independence does not mean being beyond criticism.
It means being independent enough to examine criticism honestly — including criticism of our own journalism.
I would also add a small visible box near the top of the page, linking directly to the eventual complaints form:
Found a factual error or have a substantive concern about our reporting?
[Submit an Editorial Complaint or Correction Request]
USI aims to acknowledge substantive complaints within 7 working days and provide a substantive response within 30 days.
I would not publish a specific email address yet unless you have decided what address will permanently handle editorial complaints. The page should launch with a dedicated address/form rather than routing complaints through a founder’s personal account.