Netiquette

Dear users,
We look forward to receiving your comments and posts, and to having a lively and inspiring discussion with you. Please observe the following rules.

1. Stay respectful
We aim to have a respectful discussion.

  •  Please always remain polite, fair and objective on our social media channels: always bear in mind that you are talking to people, not virtual entities. Put forward your opinion, but never resort to personal attacks or arguments that relate to individuals.
  • Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so please do not attempt to impose yours on others.
  • We will delete any insults, sexual insinuations and sexist or racist comments, as well as any posts containing vulgar, abusive or hateful language, or posts that infringe third-party rights, including but not limited to copyrights. For reasons of data protection, the same applies to the publication of personal details and contact information such as phone numbers, email addresses and postal addresses.

2. Stay on topic
On our channel, you can find content relating to international cooperation. We hope you will understand that we do not comment on topics that are unrelated or only loosely related to international cooperation. We do not comment on political or economic subjects and we do not offer opinions on the performance of politicians, political parties or governments.

We look forward to receiving your comments relating to the content of our posts and reserve the right to remove any comments that are unrelated to the topic, and identical comments submitted below multiple posts. Naturally, we will inform the sender of any such deletion in a personal message.

3. No spamming
Any misuse of GIZ’s social media channels as advertising space for websites or services will be removed immediately without informing the sender, as will any commercial or private posts offering goods or services.

Content, information, software or other material that violates existing laws will likewise be deleted.

4. Quote correctly
When using quotes, the source or author must always be named. To quote correctly, you must use the exact wording and indicate the correct source. Only quotes and sources that the reader can verify are permitted. 

5. User responsibility
Users are responsible for their own contributions on our channels (comments, posts, etc.). GIZ shall not be held liable for users’ contributions.

The copyright to any contributions and photos that are covered by copyright is retained by the author; however, by posting the content, the author gives GIZ the right to keep the contribution on its social media channels permanently and archive it. He/she assures that no third-party rights are infringed thereby. GIZ has the right to hide, delete, edit, or report any topics and contributions.

6. Ultimate responsibility lies with the operator
As the operator of this page, we will not tolerate any breach of the netiquette set out here. We also reserve the right to delete posts or comments at any time without giving a reason.

By interacting with GIZ’s social media channels, you acknowledge and agree to these rules.

7. The general laws and regulations apply
Violations will lead to the user being excluded from taking part in discussion and, in  extreme cases, may lead to legal action.

We thank you for your understanding and hope you enjoy using our channels.

Additional information