Social Media Terms of Use

25 January 2013

 

(last updated 6 July, 2011)

Welcome to the British Council, the United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We thank you for wanting to engage online with the British Council and ask that you take time to read these Terms of Use carefully. They explain a number of things including, for example, the rules covering your use of this site as well as other information regarding your rights. By using this British Council site and its official sites on social media platforms (“Site”), you'll be confirming that you have read and understood and agree to these Terms of Use. The Terms of Use may change from time to time and, if they do, the up-to-date version will always be available on the site. We will also indicate at the top of these Terms of Use when they were last updated.

Code of Conduct

You agree:

  • to behave in a respectful way to all other users of this Site
  • not to abuse, harass, threaten, demean, impersonate or intimidate any other members of this Site
  • not to post or otherwise make available content which is, in our view, offensive, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or of a sexual nature, illegal, in breach of privacy, confidentiality or third party rights or otherwise unacceptable
  • not to post or otherwise make available content which, in our view, portrays unacceptable violence
  • not to breach the law or encourage a breach of the law
  • not to stalk or violate the rights of others including individuals' privacy rights
  • not to do, cause or permit anything to be done that may infringe, damage or interfere with any copyright, moral rights, performing rights, design rights, trade mark rights or other proprietary or intellectual property rights of the British Council
  • not to knowingly introduce viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful to the Site
  • to only upload content which is an original work created by you
  • not to share any information which is confidential to any other person
  • not to obtain or attempt to obtain unauthorised access to the Site, any part of it or any private or member account areas or the server on which the Site is stored
  • to be entirely responsible for any activity that occurs under your profile name
  • to keep secret any password used by you; you must change your password if you believe it is no longer secret
  • not to create or submit unwanted messages ("Spam") to any members of this Site
  • not to register as or on behalf of anyone else, impersonate anyone else, seek to take on a false identity or misrepresent yourself, your identity or your age
  • to respect information you obtain on our site and use it only in accordance with this Code of Conduct and the Terms of Use

General Information

If the British Council believes that you have not abided by the Code of Conduct as described above or these Terms of Use, the British Council, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to remove your content, delete your account and refuse you any use of and/or access to this Site or any other British Council site, with or without notice.

Third Party Sites and Content

The Site may link you to other web sites (“Third Party Sites”) on the Internet. These other web sites are not under the control of the British Council, and you acknowledge that the British Council is not responsible for the accuracy, copyright compliance, legality, decency, or any other aspect of the content of such Third Party Sites. The inclusion of such a link does not imply endorsement of the Third Party Site by the British Council or any association with its operators.

British Council social media sites will also contain content which does not derive from the British Council whether such content is posted by users or otherwise comes from anyone other than the British Council ("Third Party Content"). Any views expressed in such Third Party Content may not represent the views of the British Council and the British Council shall not be responsible or liable for any Third Party Content or for the consequences of the use of it.

Linking to the Site

As a general rule, British Council will not object should you have a text link from your web site to the Site. However, you may not incorporate any part of the Site into different web sites or products. Further, you may not link to the Site if you create or post any illegal, obscene or offensive content, or if the link in any way has a negative impact on our reputation. British Council reserves the right to restrict the posting of links to the Site at its sole discretion.

Proprietary Rights

The British Council is the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights in the Site, and in the material published on it including without limitation all text, graphics, user interfaces, visual interfaces, photographs, trademarks, logos, video media, artwork, design, structure, "look and feel" and the arrangement thereof. The content and materials are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All such rights are reserved.

You may print off one copy, and may download extracts, of any page(s) from the Site for your personal use and you may draw the attention of others to material posted on the Site.

You must not modify the paper or digital copies of any materials you have printed off or downloaded in any way, and you must not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from any accompanying text.

Any material you upload to the Site will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary, and we have the right to use, copy, distribute and disclose to third parties any such material for any purpose.

Privacy

The British Council is the data controller of any personal data collected through the Site for the purpose of the Data Protection Act 1998.

By using the Site, you consent to the British Council processing any personal data (including sensitive personal data) collected from you in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Liability

The material displayed on the Site is provided without any guarantees, conditions or warranties as to its accuracy. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the British Council, its subsidiaries and holding companies, the subsidiaries of their holding companies and each of their respective officers, directors, shareholders, employees, representatives and agents exclude all liability arising from your use of the Site.

Indemnification

In using this Site you agree to indemnify and hold harmless the British Council, its subsidiaries and holding companies, the subsidiaries of their holding companies and each of their respective officers, directors, shareholders, employees, representatives and agents (and you shall continue to indemnify them and hold them harmless) in respect of all losses, liabilities, costs, claims, damages and demands suffered in connection with any content which you post or share on or through the Site, your conduct in using the Site, your behaviour towards us, other British Council companies, our and their representatives, other users, any breach of law, any breach of these Terms of Use or any breach of any third party's rights.

Law and Jurisdiction

The English courts will have non-exclusive jurisdiction over any claim arising from, or related to, a visit to the Site although we retain the right to bring proceedings against you for breach of these conditions in your country of residence or any other relevant country.

These terms of use and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales.

Contact Us

If you have any queries, comments or complaints regarding the site or these Terms of Use, please contact us at general.enquiries@britishcouncil.org, on Facebook or on Twitter.