The most important points in a nutshell:
- We do not tolerate insults, racist, sexist or inflammatory comments, or anything similar
- Please remain objective, respectful and on topic
- Base your comments on facts
- Please refrain from advertising or spam of any kind
Welcome to our social media platforms. We look forward to lively and engaged debates – just as our namesake Helmut Schmidt always encouraged, true to his motto: ‘Democracy consists of debate and the subsequent decision based on that debate.’
We attach great importance to maintaining a factual tone and engaging in constructive debate, even when there are differences of opinion, so that all participants in the discussion can express themselves freely and no one is excluded.
To this end, please adhere to our netiquette:
- Treat one another with respect. Refrain from insults and provocations.
- Keep the discussion focused on the topics of our posts or those of the Helmut Schmidt Foundation.
- Keep your comments relevant, fair and constructively justify your views.
Please remain polite – just as you would in a face-to-face conversation.
We may remove theories, claims or allegations that cannot be substantiated, particularly if they are defamatory. Offensive, racist, inflammatory, defamatory, sexist, pornographic, inciting, harmful to minors or even criminal comments will be removed, hidden or not published. Since the Act to Combat Right-wing Extremism and Hate Crime came into force in 2020, we are obliged to report certain serious cases to the relevant authorities, e.g. threats of grievous bodily harm or the condoning of criminal offences that have not yet been committed. Should any comments on our platforms constitute a criminal offence, we reserve the right to report them to the police (Section 185 of the German Criminal Code (StGB)). Anyone who insults others online may be punished with a prison sentence of up to two years or a fine. Please respect copyright and personal rights in your posts. Ensure that you hold the rights to the content you publish or that it has been authorised for use. Mark quotations as such and cite your sources. Please refrain from posting commercial content, election or party advertising, calls for demonstrations, campaigns and petitions, as well as comments of an excessive nature and so-called spam. We reserve the right to remove comments containing content, information, software or any material that contravenes existing laws. This also applies to machine-generated comments (such as bots). Please also ensure that links to external content comply with our netiquette. We reserve the right to review posts containing links and, where necessary, to remove them if their content contravenes our netiquette.
Disclaimer
By interacting on our social media channels, you acknowledge and agree to our netiquette. All posts will be reviewed to ensure compliance with the above rules. In the event of any breaches, the Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Foundation reserves the right to delete comments or content. We do not censor content, but reserve the right to exercise our discretion to ensure constructive debate.
By posting a comment on our channels, you agree that your statements will be publicly accessible and may subsequently be quoted and stored. All users are personally responsible for the content they publish; the Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Foundation is not liable for this. In the case of comments protected by copyright, the copyright generally remains with the authors.
We endeavour to answer all questions and respond promptly to posts. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding our content, or if you wish to contact us to assert your rights, please direct your enquiry to: info@helmut-schmidt.de