Community Standards

Standards for User Generated Content

These Standards are in addition to the provisions of our Terms and Conditions on User Generated Content and form part of those Terms and Conditions

Welcome to our community!

We aim to make our readers’ experience with us a positive and engaging one, and our commenting sections are a big part of that. Lively debates, passionate opinions and a genuine connection to the stories we write.

In the same way that our readers have expectations of us, we also have expectations of our readers.

As a result, we have our House Rules that we ask users to agree to when they join. And we hope you agree these core rules are for the benefit of everyone in the comments section, including you.

We ask that you keep your contributions civil, tasteful and relevant. In order to do this, please remember:

We don’t allow hate speech, and you shouldn’t either: This includes making comments that are racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or otherwise discriminatory.

Respect other users: Do not engage in personal attacks. We want everyone to feel welcome and safe to express their views and will take action against any users that don’t engage with the same spirit. Bluntly, if you can’t be civil, then our sites are probably not for you.

Avoid the use of profane language: We filter out some words that are considered distasteful, offensive, or discriminatory. You should respect this, and not attempt to circumvent this through creative formatting or spelling.

No trolling or spamming: Comments made for the sake of provoking other users or starting an argument are not allowed. Comments that are off-topic or repetitive will be removed.

Don’t overshare: For your safety, you should not share personal information about yourself or others in the comments section, such as occupation, place of residence (however vague), or contact information.

Respect our staff, including our journalists: We’re eager for robust debate and understand that sometimes our readers will have a different view on any given subject. We ask all readers to express themselves with respect for our hard-working teams. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of attack or abuse directed towards our staff.

Respect our legal obligations, and your own: As a UK publisher, there are a number of rules we have to adhere to. Sometimes for legal reasons commenting may be unavailable on a particular story, or we can’t let users discuss a certain subject. If commenting on a story is not available please trust us that there is a very good reason, and refrain from making comments about it on other stories. You should also avoid posting comments that violate the law, or promote illegal activities.

Respect our moderators' decisions. Our community is like a big dinner party where everyone's welcome. But If you are a bad guest, we might have a quiet word or, in some cases, just ask you to leave. We have the right to create the community we desire. Comment removals or account suspension decisions are final. We cannot engage in discussions about individual content removals.

Report violations, but don’t flag maliciously: There’s a report button next to every comment you see on our sites, and you should report any comments you see that violate our rules. That being said, the report button isn’t a weapon for people you disagree with. Repeated malicious flags may lead to your account being restricted.

Breaking our House Rules can lead to suspension or a ban of your account, at our discretion. If this happens, you can't create a new account and we may terminate any existing ones. Further violations may result in us contacting your employer, internet service provider, or law enforcement.

If you want to contact us about a story, a correction to a story, or to complain about a story, the comments section isn’t the place to do that. We have other ways for you to get in touch that are faster and actually more effective. Check out our Contact Us page.

Remember that we’re here to help if you experience any issues, with a dedicated Community Team to answer any queries and assist with any technical problems. If we can be of assistance, please email Community@reachplc.com

We hope you enjoy being part of our community of commenters - see you around the site!