DW Community Guidelines

Deutsche Welle aims to promote an open, friendly and respectful dialogue with our users about the topics we cover. Personal experiences, feedback, criticism and suggestions are all welcome.

To foster a space where our users can safely exchange views and take part in a constructive debate, we moderate the comments on our social media profiles. As such, comments that violate the following rules will be deleted or reported, if necessary. We will block users who repeatedly violate these guidelines.

Language

Please use English. Comments in other languages may be deleted.

Content

Racist, pornographic, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic, discriminative or offensive content will be deleted, as will comments that advocate violence or are seen as incitement to self-harm.

Grand generalizations, "trolling" and "flaming" are  not permitted, neither are chain letters, junk mail, spam, advertisements, violent imagery or content of a commercial nature — and they will be deleted. DW will block and/or report users posting such content, especially those doing it repetitively.

Comments that include false content and/or purposefully inaccurate information may also be deleted.

Please ensure that your comments are related to the discussion. Off-topic comments/links should be avoided and may be removed, as will content that is posted multiple times.

Tone

Ensure that your tone is fair and appropriate for a public discussion. Avoid name-calling, profanity or derogatory terms. Do not insult other users or make generalizations about their identity, nationality, gender or religion. Remain respectful at all times, even if you disagree with what is being said.

Types of comments

Be concise: shorter comments foster more of a debate amongst users. Make sure to keep your comments constructive: focus on the substance of the issues, not the people making the points. Refrain from using uppercase as it can be seen as shouting and try to avoid repeated punctuation, such as ????? or !!!!!

Copyright/Citations

If you're using copyrighted material or uploading any copyrighted audio, video or pictures, remember that you need the rights to use the content.

When in doubt about copyright, don't post photos, videos, music, etc., for which you do not have the rights. DW reserves the right to remove uploaded content where copyright is unclear.

Data Protection

Sharing the personal information of others, such as a home address, private email or phone number is also strictly forbidden. In addition, private correspondence shouldn't be published without the other party’s explicit consent. You should avoid publishing your own personal details, such as telephone numbers or address.

German laws

It is illegal in Germany to:

- Deny or minimize acts committed during the National Socialist regime (or Nazi government);

- Deny the Holocaust or violate the dignity of its victims by justifying, glorifying and approving of its acts;

- Use Nazi symbols.

As such, comments that break any of these laws will be deleted.

DW reserves the right to remove comments, content and users at its discretion, beyond these rules.