What are the rules for commenting and uploading?

Updated: 20 July 2023

Remember that submissions you and other people post are personal views, not the BBC’s.

We love you posting comments and uploading creations. Thank you for joining in, but please don’t submit anything horrible, rude or illegal.

More specifically, please don’t submit anything that:

  1. Is inappropriate (abusive, offensive, hateful, etc). Note that we have a zero-tolerance approach to user-to-user personal abuse
  2. Is off topic (to the original subject matter or the ongoing conversation). This includes commenting for the purpose of derailing the conversation with the intention of discussing another topic
  3. Is disruptive or spoils the conversation for others when posted with disruptive intent
  4. Contains personal information (either your own or someone else’s)
  5. Puts children or other contributors at risk
  6. Is illegal, or glamorises or encourages illegal activity
  7. Is defamatory (damaging to someone else’s reputation)
  8. Is in contempt of court (anything that could affect the outcome of a court case)
  9. Is potentially harmful misinformation or disinformation
  10. Infringes anyone's rights (including privacy rights)
  11. Was made by someone else, or that copies someone else's creation
  12. Is posted for financial gain (advertising, sponsorship etc.)
  13. Isn’t in English (Welsh and Gaelic are currently not supported)
  14. Is spam or flooding (in other words, repeating similar or unwanted messages in a way that’s disruptive)
  15. Contains links to downloads (including PDFs), anything that might contain viruses, spyware, paywalls etc., or content that needs a log in
  16. Breaks our election and referendum rules during official campaigning periods. So no sloganeering, no polling, no encouraging others to vote a certain way and no mentions of who you voted for on polling day itself
  17. Impersonates someone else – especially another user – with disruptive intent
  18. Is posted from an account created to get around moderation restrictions or to cause disruption
  19. Doesn't otherwise comply with the rest of our Terms of Use

If you think a submission has broken these rules, please use the report feature within the submission. You shouldn’t report it just because you disagree with its views.

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