Community Standards

PE Scholar exists to connect PE professionals and elevate the dialogue around physical education. Fostering engagement between our community of passionate practitioners is a key part of what we do.

Our platform allows you to contribute to this process and enhance your professional development and we hope you will get involved.

To ensure that this space remains a safe space with the freedom to enjoy meaningful discussion, we have in place these Community Standards, which we expect you to follow when using our platform. If you have any concerns about content you find on our platform, please report it to us via our Contact Form

We reserve the right to restrict or remove any content which we (in our sole discretion) consider violates these Community Standards and in serious cases we reserve the right to delete the account of an offending user. 

Courtesy

Please ensure that you are courteous to your fellow Community members. We encourage debate and the challenging of opinions so long as the tone of any disagreement and choice of language remains respectful and constructive.

You own the intellectual property rights in all original content that you post on our platform (including, within private or hidden groups). We will never re-publish or share your content without your express written consent.  You agree that you will not infringe any other person’s intellectual property rights when posting or sharing content. By posting other people’s content you confirm that you have their consent to do so. You must ensure that any trademarks or copyright attributions are included in any reposted material.

In the case of original content (including photographs or images) which features a third party who is not a public figure, you confirm to us by posting such content that you have sought and obtained the necessary permission of the person featured in the content to do so.

We recognise that it may sometimes be appropriate to share content relating to individuals who are not public figures, such as in the context of issues in the public discourse or a newsworthy event. In these cases we will not intervene provided that the post is a genuine attempt to contribute to the discourse and there is no malicious intent.

Where an image depicts an individual you must not post it without the express authority of the individual and/or parent (in the case of minors) to post the image. Where we require proof of this consent you must provide it to us without delay.

Illegal Activity

You must never post threats or incitements of violence or aggression whether explicit or implicit (such as by using an altered image or symbol suggestive of a threat) or advocate for the same. This applies both towards private individuals, election officials, public spaces, public events and public figures.

You should avoid any posts which reference the use of or construction of weapons or explosives. Do not post instructions for inflicting injury or causing pain, unless in the context of recreational self defence such as martial arts or boxing.

We do not tolerate posts containing graphic content such as of dead bodies in non-medical settings; images of torture or infliction of pain on humans or animals; gore or sadistic remarks about any of these things. 

Organised Hate

We do not allow posts representing or in support of, organisations or ideologies who encourage serious harm against civilians; discrimination; criminal operations or terrorism (e.g. nazism or white supremacy groups). We will remove any such posts including posts in support of prominent members or leaders of these organisations. We will also remove posts which attempt to raise donations for them or to recruit members.

You must not express support for or intent to attend events that further the aims of the organisations above, such as terror attacks, mass violence, hate rallies or hate crimes.

Please note that you are not prevented from referring to such organisations or individuals in the context of neutral discussion, condemnation or reporting.

Promoting or Inciting Crime

When posting, you must not reveal any personal information about an individual which may put them at risk because of their affiliation with or relationship to a high-risk group (e.g. a relation to a member of a terrorist group, juror or a police informant). Neither should you reveal any personal information about law enforcement, military or security personnel. 

Do not post in support of, depicting, inciting or advocating for harm against animals (with the exception of fishing, hunting, food preparation, self-defence or vermin management). This includes staged fighting with animals whether by another animal or a human.

You must not post anything which attempts to support or advocate for damage to property, including vandalism, cyber hacking or theft.

Avoid posting content which attempts to support or incite electoral fraud, such as offers to buy or sell votes or instructions on how to illegally interfere with the electoral process.

Restricted Goods and Services 

You should not post any content which encourages or facilitates trade in:

  • Firearms, ammunition or explosives or instructions on how to improvise the same
  • Recreational or non-prescription drugs
  • Prescription drugs prescribed for you
  • Endangered species or products derived from their parts
  • Human blood (with the exclusion of regulated blood donation services)
  • Weight loss products which contain unsubstantiated claims
  • Historical artefacts of national significance
  • Sexual enhancement products
  • Gambling services

These standards are designed to protect you from exposure to potentially harmful restricted products. However, we appreciate that content which may appear to violate this standard may be posted in a satirical context. In these cases we are unlikely to remove the material unless we judge that there is a risk that the satirical context may not be obvious to other community users.

Fraud

Do not post any content for the purpose of deceiving others in order to benefit yourself (whether financially or otherwise). This includes:

  • Unregulated investment or financial services
  • Scams which rely on you assuming a false identity (such as charity or romantic scams)
  • Spiritual programmes
  • Bribery 
  • False job opportunities or contract offers
  • Debt relief scams
  • Fake document services
  • Money laundering
  • Trading in stolen information (such as credit card numbers or personal data)
  • Trading in examination papers, student work or information about future papers
  • Betting insider information

Harassment, Bullying and Hateful Conduct

Harassment and bullying takes various forms, none of which are tolerated on our platform or within our network. This includes harassment or bullying directed against an individual user or an unrelated third party. Here are some examples:

  • Repeated unwanted messaging 
  • Making violent threats relating to an identifiable person or group
  • Condoning, inciting or wishing serious harm on a person or group
  • Unwanted sexual advances (which includes unwanted sexual discussion of someone’s body)
  • The use of profanity, insults or slurs on someone’s character with the intention of intimidation or offence or encouraging others to do the same
  • Posts about a tragedy or it’s victims including misleading claims or claims that it did not occur
  • Threats to reveal personal information about a person
  • Posting derogatory or sexualised images in relation to an individual whether photoshopped or otherwise
  • Derogatory statements or images relating to a person’s race, sexual orientation, gender or age

Impersonation and Deliberate Abuse of our Community 

You must only use your account in good faith for the purpose of engaging in discussion with fellow users. Do not create a duplicate account or engage in coordinated efforts to form a network of accounts to violate or bypass our Community Standards. 

Registered sex offenders are prohibited from setting up a user account or using our platform.

Your user account should only be used to represent you personally and should not be used by any other person. You are not permitted to use your account to represent any other organisation or individual, including by using their image. Your username or nickname does not have to be your first and last name but should not include any name which violates these Community Standards. The first and last name you provide to us upon setting up your user account must be your first and last name as it appears on your legal documents (such as a driving licence).  

You must provide us with your genuine date of birth upon setting up your account. Individuals under  16 years of age are not permitted to use our Community services.

You must notify us immediately if your user account has been compromised in any way by using the Contact Form on our website.

Misinformation

You must not use your account to post knowingly false or misleading content. We consider this to be content which has been deceptively altered or fabricated, shared in a deceptive manner or in misleading context and which is likely to result in confusion or harm.

We appreciate that in some cases commentary, memes, art or satire may appear to violate this standard. We will not intervene in the absence of violation of any other part of these Community Standards or where it is clear to us that the intention behind the content is not to cause confusion or harm.

Spam and Advertising

You must not use our Community services to spam other users. This includes posting or carrying out other interactions at a high frequency, whether manually or using automation or  directing users away from our site using deceptive or misleading links.

We do not permit advertising of your products or services on our platform, without our express permission , however reference may be made to your services if it is genuinely and materially relevant to the discussion you are engaged with.

When promoting or supporting third party brands to which you have an affiliation or from which you enjoy a benefit (such as a commission on referrals), you must always declare your interest in a clear and unambiguous way.

Sexual Content or Nudity

You should not use our platform to post content containing nudity, solicitation, exploitation or sexualisation of minors or inappropriate behaviour in the presence of minors under any circumstances. 

You may in some circumstances post imagery of adult nudity in the context of real-world art (for example sculpture); breastfeeding and birth; health related situations or in a scientific context (for example, breast cancer awareness). 

It is never acceptable to post images of sexual activity, regardless of whether the activity is explicit or implied.

Sharing of Private Information

You must not share any third party’s personal information on our platform without their consent. This includes content which enables an individual to be personally identifiable. It also includes other private information that could lead to physical or financial harm (for example financial, residential or medical information).

These standards are kept under review and may be updated from time to time in order to ensure they remain relevant and adequate.