Bike Hub User Comments Policy

Bike Hub provides a number of opportunities for members to interact, ask questions, discuss content published on the website, or debate issues more generally. Our User Comments Policy defines the rules and guidelines for interacting on Bike Hub, including topics and replies, comments articles, avatars, photos and media and any form of correspondence / interaction made on or supported by our platform.

Our expectations:

• Be civil. Respect fellow members and the platform.
• Think Before Posting. Sensible, well thought-out and legible posts help other members understand what is being explained.
• Post in the Relevant Section. Posting in the most relevant section will ensure threads are seen by members most interested in the subject. Threads posted in the wrong section will generally be moved by moderators.
• Stay on Topic. Threads should remain on the topic that they are discussing, they should not be discussing other topics. A new thread should be made for a new discussion.
• Report Content. Reported content is sent to staff members for review. If a post needs staff attention because it breaks the rules, needs to be modified or moved the report system is the correct way to alert the staff.

We won't tolerate:

• Abusive or disruptive comments.
  This includes:
• Swearing or otherwise foul language (including abbreviations or alternative spellings).
• Harassment and Threats: Purposely intimidating or bullying another member, harassing them, sending them rude or unwanted private messages, etc. Any threat or intimation of a threat.
• Personal attacks / flaming: You may dispute somebody's opinion but not attack/flame the person who stated it
• Use multiple accounts: With the exception of members who have separate business / brand and personal profiles any member found to use duplicate profiles with the intent to cause trouble, evade negative ratings or troll will receive an immediate ban.
• Offensive comments. We will not tolerate sexually explicit, racist, sexist, homophobic or other forms of hate-speech, or contributions that could be interpreted as such.
  
• Comments which reveal private information or the contents of private conversations
  Including the contents of Private Messages, emails, SMS or other personal communications), the private information of any individual (including identification numbers, phone numbers, postal, physical or email addresses is not allowed unless for the purpose of enabling constructive connection of parties. Please do not reveal any unnecessary personal information about yourself or others as it might inadvertently put you or someone else at risk.
• Contain potentially defamatory statements. Defamation laws exist to protect individuals or organisations from unwarranted, mistaken or untruthful attacks on their reputation. Posting a defamatory statement in a comment is the same as publishing it in a newspaper or magazine and can result in a court case if a formal complaint is made. To avoid breaking defamation laws in your comments, please ensure that you verify the information in your comment, especially when presenting negative statements as facts. Also avoid jumping to conclusions, exaggerating or making subtle implications. Remember that adding the word 'allegedly' to a statement does not stop it being defamation.
• Comments which risk breaking South African law. Contributing material to Bike Hub with the intention to commit a crime, break the law, or condone or encourage unlawful activity is prohibited. In addition we may remove comments which we consider could endanger other users - for example, offering medical and health advice, or encouraging drug or alcohol abuse or self-harm.
• Are obviously commercial or otherwise spam-like. We actively discourage commercial entities passing themselves off as individuals, in order to post advertising material or links.
• Are off-topic or irrelevant
• Comments unrelated to the original topic ("off-topic") may be removed, in order to keep the thread on track.
• Use the forums to discuss the topic of the thread, not as a substitute for Instant Messaging or Personal Messages.
• Topic titles must describe the content of the original/ first post. Vague or misleading topic titles will be moderated or removed.
• Discussions containing subjects of: politics, religion, current affairs, or any similar themed or divisive topic.
• Contain advertisements / offers placed outside the Classifieds. All threads offering items for sale or trade or for free, or asking to buy or receive items must be posted in the Classifieds, which is accessible only to qualified members and subject to any applicable rules.

Bike Hub reserves the right to:

• Remove any user comments that do not follow the above guidelines.
• Ban users who repeatedly infringe the rules.

This page provides guidelines for user comment participation. Please view all our Terms & Policies