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DW's "netiquette policy"

February 27, 2015

DW offers its readers the opportunity to engage in a discussion on dw.de and other platforms. In order not to offend any users, it's important to maintain a respectful dialogue. Please adhere to these guidelines.

https://p.dw.com/p/1Eiu4

DW has the right to review comments and shorten them. Comments that violate DW's netiquette policy will be deleted or reported, if necessary. DW also reserves the right block users, who repeatedly violate the netiquette guidelines.

1. Language

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

2. Content

Racist, pornographic, sexist, xenophobic, discriminative or offensive content will be deleted, as will comments that advocate violence. Please refrain from political appeals of any kind. "Trolling" or "flaming" is not permitted, as are chain letters, junk mail, spam, advertisements or content of a commercial nature. Comments with such content will be removed. In addition, DW retains the right to block and/or report users posting such content.

Please also ensure that your comments are related to the discussion. Off-topic comments should be avoided in the interest of everyone and will be removed, as will content that is posted multiple times.

3. Tone

Please ensure that your tone is fair and appropriate for a public discussion.

Do not use profanity or derogatory terms. Do not insult other users. Remain respectful even if you disagree about what is said. Accept the opinions of others without feeling personally attacked. Treat other users as you would like to be treated. DW reserves the right to remove comments that violate the netiquette policy.

4. Types of comments

Keep comments brief and to the point, as this encourages dialogue among users. Refrain from using upper letters because this could be seen as shouting. Also avoid repeated punctuation, such as ????? or !!!!!

To avoid long download times, make sure that any audio or video that is uploaded isn't longer than 10 minutes and that PDF documents do not summarize more than five pages.

5. Copyright/Citations

Please ensure that quotes from other participants are cited accordingly in your comments. If you use quotes from well-known people, newspaper articles, books, and so forth, please ensure that you name the source. If you're quoting 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 that violates the netiquette policy or where the copyright is unclear.

6. Data Protection

Posting of private data like addresses or telephone numbers in the comments is not allowed. Private emails or messages from other people shouldn't be published without their permission. For your own interest, you should avoid publishing personal data like telephone numbers or addresses.

By choosing to use the feedback function on dw.de and our pages on social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, etc, you acknowledge your agreement with DW's netiquette policy.

Please note that Deutsche Welle will not assume any liability for any possible error, damages or data loss.