The UK Debate Rules & Guidelines

The following rules are intended to stimulate a climate that is enticing to as wide a spectrum of people as possible, without restricting the ability of users to express their personal views, even if those views are inflammatory or unconventional.

Our members do have very strong views about the issues being discussed on these boards and as such the UK Debate forums are only suitable for mature, articulate adults who can argue their point in a friendly atmosphere and without recourse to personal insults or intolerance.

The Nuts and Bolts

Please read these rules before posting on the UK Debate forum. They are written to provide a framework within which members can debate with passion and punch. By posting on the forums you agree to abide by these rules and by the spirit of the UK Debate.

• Legality
  Members MUST NOT use this Web site to commit or incite any form of criminal offence under British Law. This includes but is not limited to, threat of violence and incitement to religious and racial hatred. In addition to this, members are reminded that they have agreed to be bound by this Web site's Registration Agreement and are directly held repsonsible for their own actions. In serious cases of suspected illegality, this forum reserves the right to release member's confidential information including connection details and timestamps to the relevant authorities.
  


• General conduct
  Communications and contributions MUST NOT include nudity, adult only topics in detail, or severely violent imagery. Content SHOULD NOT contain extreme profanity or constant use of mild profanity (the mainstream media providing a general guide). Members SHOULD NOT indulge in trolling (to provoke an emotional response) and SHOULD NOT clutter threads in reply to any rule breaks. Do not feed the trolls - report the post. Please be aware that in specific sections of the forum this rule may be in part relaxed or tightened with a notice providing details.
  


• Member abuse
  In conduct between members, members SHOULD NOT resort to personal abuse or harassment, including using other member's usernames in thread titles. Specifically, members SHOULD address the post and not the poster. Do not let them bait you into a rule breaking reply - report the post. Please be aware that in specific sections of the forum this rule may be in part relaxed or tightened with a notice providing details.
  


• Spam and scams
  Members MUST NOT use this Web site for the purposes of spam, phishing attacks or any kind of commercial scams.
  


• Use of English
  Members MUST write primarily in English and SHOULD NOT use excessive capitalisation, 'txtspk' or language likely to be difficult to moderate. In addition, members are ENCOURAGED to configure spell checkers in their browsers and make good use of the "Preview" button to read back content before committing it.
  


• Personal private details
  Members MUST NOT publish personal details, including names/email addresses etc., of private individuals. Members MAY re-publish details already in the public domain of public figures where consent or legal public interest has been previously established.
  


• Post on-topic
  In both creating threads and replying to them, members SHOULD NOT post off-topic. Where a natural divergence occurs, consider including a suggestion or Private Messaging a moderator to request the thread to be split.
  


• Post opinion
  Members SHOULD include original personal contributions in posts. Excessive "Copy/paste" dominated posting, "check this out: (link)", or including pictures with no accompanying text are NOT welcome. A post SHOULD also still make some sense when viewed in isolation.
  


• Double posting or replication
  Members SHOULD NOT repeat posts or create a new thread where an appropriate thread already exists.
  


• Quotation standards
  Quotation of other people's or Web site's written content MUST be accurately reproduced within quotes (using quotation marks or quote tags - see the Quote button). Accompanying credits for reference (preferably hyperlinked) SHOULD be provided where available.
  


• Linking standards
  Members MUST NOT link to Web sites that require user registration to view the page in question. Referral programme links MUST NOT be used. Links SHOULD be accompanied by suitably descriptive text, ideally by using the Link button. Image links (see the Image button) SHOULD be of sensibly viewable size and not animated. Bare links are discouraged. The linked page/image must be appropriate to THIS forum, and must not break any of OUR rules.
  


• Undermining Moderators
  When a member posts OFFICIALLY in their capacity as a Moderator, regular members MUST NOT attempt to PUBLICLY question or undermine any given direction or ruling. Where a member does not understand or objects to a Moderator's actions, they MUST first Private Message that Moderator with details, allowing the moderator reasonable time to respond, and in the case of mistakes, remedy them. Only after this, where a member remains dissatisfied, should they Private Message details to Admin who will then have the final say on the matter.
  

Members breaking these rules may be subject to temporary exclusion to the cellar, a temporary ban on posting or, in extreme cases, a full permanent ban.

Free Speech

We use the term free speech to indicate that the forum may contain posts that some people find offensive. It does not mean that you have the right to use vulgar language, racial or ethnic abuse, religious rantings, political campaigning or threatening behaviour. Find out more about free speech on the UK Debate.

Moderation

The UK Debate adopts a laissez-faire approach to forum moderation. We believe this approach provides members with the ideal environment for debate; Debate that is frank, passionate, friendly and public.

The primary role of a UK Debate moderator is to help promote a lively community free of personal abuse, free of excessive profanity, free of spam and free of unwanted commercial advertising in posts. To achieve this goal moderators sometimes need to apply a rule. This will be done in a friendly and approachable manner and is intended as help rather than restriction.

If you need to report a post to a moderator please use the report the post link that is available on the right of every post.

• UK Debate forum overview
  New to the UK Debate? Check this out
• Free speech forum
  Find out what free speech means in regard to the UK Debate
• Members arbitration
  The right way to make a complaint or query a moderation decision
• Forum sitemap
  A quick way to find the debate topics you want
• Forum RSS feeds
  All the forum threads are available for your feed reader
• Reputation logs
  Members points awards for posts
• Top 10 contributors
  A big thanks to ALL our members

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Members Arbitration

If you have an issue with a moderation decision please contact a moderator via PM and not on the open boards. The moderation team will discuss your problems with you in private and we will work on a solution together. The UK Debate arbitration area is private and allows for moderators and members to discuss issues in a friendly atmosphere.

Arbitration is wholly aimed at resolving issues members may have. For more details, please see The UK Debate Arbitration process.

Additional Rules and Guidelines

A copy of these rules, and other useful forum information, is available at the forum rules and guidelines section of the UK Debate. There is also a sticky thread on each forum board that is specific to that board and may contain additional rules. Please read the stickies before posting.

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