Community guidelines

The RespectMyRights website ("site") aims to raise awareness of and promote action against the human rights abuses driven by poverty. It is also a space for users to share their opinions and stories with others. Communication between users ("Community") is therefore an integral part of the site.

This document covers all aspects of user interaction and moderation, including commenting. References to "we" or "us" are to Amnesty International; references to "you" or "your" are to users of the Community. This document supplements our separate Privacy Policy.

Our vision and mission

Amnesty International's vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. In pursuit of this vision, Amnesty International's mission is to undertake research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of these rights

Independence and impartiality

Amnesty International is independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion. It does not support or oppose any government or political system, nor does it support or oppose the views of the victims whose rights it seeks to protect. It is concerned solely with the impartial protection of human rights.

Diverse and accountable

We strive to be fair and reflect on a wide range of opinion on any given topic, as well as all significant strands of thought. We are accountable to our users and will deal fairly and openly with them.

Moderation

We will, where necessary, remove or refuse to post any content submitted where such content breaches these Guidelines or puts us in legal jeopardy. We also reserve the right to terminate the access of any user who seriously or persistently ignores these Guidelines.

Responsibility for Community content

The views expressed by the Community are those of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of Amnesty International; we do not guarantee the accuracy or reliability of any information

Changes to the Guidelines

We may revise these guidelines from time to time by amending this page.

Rules for posting to the site

A) General guidance

When posting content please take time to reflect on what you are publishing;

• First, consider Amnesty International’s vision and mission. Is your content relevant to these? Is your content relevant to the subject of the page where you are posting your content to?           
• Set out your view clearly without using offensive or aggressive language.
• Consider if the view that you wish to express could be considered defamatory and if so, do not express it.
• Show respect to others who will access the Site – your content may be read by people with differing ages, backgrounds, nationalities, beliefs and by those who may be the subject of your comments.
• Set out the facts and matters which lead you to the view you are expressing;
• Be open to other peoples' views and beliefs, and respect their right to hold views that differ from yours.

B) Rules relating to posting content

1) All content by the Community is posted and used by you at your own risk. By posting content on the Community space, you confirm that the content:

a. is your own original work and that you have the right to make it available to us for all the purposes specified above; 

b. is not false or defamatory;

c. does not infringe the rights of confidentiality or privacy of anyone else;

d. does not infringe any law or any intellectual property of anyone else; and does not otherwise breach these guidelines.

2) When using the Community you must not disrupt interaction in any way, including:

a. posting commercial solicitations and/or advertisements for goods and services; or;

b. sending repeated unsolicited or unwelcome messages to a single user or repeatedly posting similar messages as comments including continuous advertisements to sell goods or services.

3) When contributing to the Community you must not:

a. post any content which may reasonably be regarded as abusive, crude, vulgar, offensive, sexist, extremist, unlawful, encouraging violent or illegal activity, threatening, hateful, harassing, homophobic, false, defamatory, inaccurate, obscene, pornographic, sexually explicit, or racially, ethnically or otherwise discriminatory or objectionable (please note that using a misspelling or alternative spelling of a word or using asterisks for some letters will not get round this requirement)

b. add links to other websites which contain material whose content breaches these Guidelines, relates exclusively to commercial products or services, or which may offend other users

c. provide either your own or some else’s personal information which makes you or them identifiable or contactable; post any content or other material that contains a virus or other malicious code;

d. use any automated techniques (including so-called 'bots') to collect information from a blog page;

e. harass, threaten, stalk, embarrass or cause distress, unwanted attention or discomfort to any user or other person;

f. use an offensive username; or impersonate someone else.

4) By contributing to the Community you permit us to use your content in connection with our mission and vision and to publish, use or edit your entry worldwide in any media and on a royalty-free basis. Accordingly, you agree to waive your so-called 'moral rights' in this regard.