Code of Conduct

1.              Wo Hui Mandarin – User Code of Conduct

I.               Overview and Purpose

 

Welcome once again to the Wo Hui Mandarin community – a place where learning together in a globally interactive context can help us flourish as we realise our learning goals.

The Wo Hui Mandarin Platform has been established to provide a safe, effective and open platform:

  • for the learning of Mandarin Chinese language skills;
  • that encourages interactions and collaboration amongst users on a global basis; and
  • that engenders an atmosphere of trust, mutual support and learning.

The spirit of the Wo Hui Mandarin Platform is to establish the optimal conditions for learning via creating and maintaining a respectful, friendly, safe and courteous learning environment.

Together, we all have an exciting opportunity – as well as a responsibility – to make this a global resource and community that we can all be proud of and benefit from.

This Code of Conduct sets out the types of behaviours that we believe will deliver the most beneficial experience to all Wo Hui Mandarin Platform users.

In this Code of Conduct, we focus on distinguishing between the following kinds of behaviours:

  • Behaviours that will help promote and create a safe, respectful and successful learning experience for all users no matter how diverse our backgrounds, views and beliefs might be

 

vs.

 

  • Behaviours that have no place in an online community which is defined by common values of trust, respect, integrity, honesty and equality

As the online experience continues to rapidly evolve, together with growing and greater awareness of the importance of online behaviours, this Code of Conduct will also necessarily need to change.

Users who participate on the Wo Hui Mandarin Platform are expected to follow the rules laid out in this Code of Conduct. We therefore encourage you to consult this document regularly.

If you believe that our Code of Conduct can be improved to further enrich the Wo Hui Mandarin Platform, please contact us with your suggestions at hello@wohuimandarin.com.

II.              Scope of Policy

 

This Code of Conduct applies to each and every user of the Wo Hui Mandarin Platform – without exception. This includes:

  • Students;
  • Teachers;
  • Tutors;
  • Moderators; and
  • Anyone that visits the Wo Hui Mandarin Platform for any reason.

If you use the Wo Hui Mandarin Platform you must adhere to this Code of Conduct at all times, as is required by the Platform Terms of Use www.wohuimandarin.com/terms.

 

  • Golden Rules – Think Before You Share

The Wo Hui Mandarin Platform, like the internet, is a diverse and eclectic community – which sets the stage for a fabulously rich learning experience.

Despite our different backgrounds, beliefs and views, we share a number of common values, in addition to our shared passion to learn the Chinese language.

We have designed a set of Golden Rules for you to consider BEFORE you post any content to the Wo Hui Mandarin Platform. You should always ask yourself the following:

  • Is my content in line with this Code of Conduct?

 

  • Have I taken time to think if I really want to post this content?

 

  • Am I happy if the entire world sees my content?

 

  • Is my content directly related to the learning experience?

 

  • Is my content in line with the spirit of the Wo Hui Mandarin Platform?

 

  • Is my content likely to offend – even remotely?

 

  • Do I have the lawful right/permission to post the content?

 

  • Have checked to ensure that my post does not include any personal information about me or anyone else?

 

  • Does my content relate to the particular topic I am posting in?

 

  • Am I using respectful language?

 

  • Does my post involve another person and am I respecting their privacy?

 

  • Would I do or say what I am about to post in real life?

 

  • The internet is generally considered forever – do you really want to post this?

 

Whilst the above Golden Rules are not comprehensive, they provide some basic guidance to help you assess whether your behaviour is living up to the goals of the Wo Hui Mandarin Platform.

If your answer to any of the above is “no”, then you should not post that content to the Wo Hui Mandarin Platform.

 

  1. Prohibited Behaviours

In addition to our Golden Rules, there are number of specific behaviours that we must flag up as being expressly prohibited.

We will be monitoring for violations in all formats including, but not limited to, posts, comments, messages, pictures, memes, videos, text documents, or audio.

Failure to observe the following guidelines will be considered a violation of the Code of Conduct and may result in a loss of access to the Wo Hui Mandarin Platform, or other consequences.

  1. No political statements: A user may not post political statements, opinions and/or engage in political discourse whilst on the Wo Hui Mandarin Platform. Politics will always be a divisive issue, one that is often avoided by many due to the sensitive nature of the subject. Please save your political views for your local election.

 

  1. No spam and/or advertising: A user may not engage in disruptive behavior on the Wo Hui Mandarin Platform. Disruptive behavior includes but is not limited to unauthorised commercial postings, solicitations and advertisements.

 

  1. No impersonation: A user may not engage in any activity or post any content meant to impersonate another individual or organisation.

 

  1. No illegal content: A user may not post, transmit, promote, or distribute content that is illegal. A user may not conduct any activities that violate the laws of any jurisdiction including but not limited to copyright infringement, trademark infringement, defamation, invasion of privacy, identity theft, hacking, stalking, fraud and the distribution of counterfeit software. Illegal content is deemed so at the discretion of the moderator removing it.

 

  1. No illegal or harmful software: A user may not upload any software or content that you do not own or have permission to freely distribute. A user may not upload files or content that contain a virus, worm, spyware, time bombs, corrupted data or other computer programs that may damage, interfere with, jeopardize or disrupt other user’s PCs/electronic devices.

 

  1. No offensive usernames: A user may not use abusive, offensive, or defamatory usernames. We remind all users that some commonly used words in one language might cause offense in another, so we encourage thoughtful and considered selection of usernames.

 

  1. No doxing: A user may not attempt to get a password, account information, or other private information from anyone else. A user may not post or communicate any other person’s real-world personal information.

 

  1. Commercial content / business solicitation: Users may not post business solicitations, engage in marketing activities or otherwise post any content aimed at facilitating commercial transactions unless authorised by Wo Hui Mandarin.

 

  1. Infringements of privacy: Users may not post anything infringing upon another person’s privacy rights (e.g. photos of private people that they do not want posted online).

 

  1. No hate speech: Users may not post any content that amounts to hate speech and the use of vulgar/explicit language is not tolerated. Please note that using asterisks, characters, or alternative spelling to bypass the word filter is considered to be the same as posting the actual profanity.

 

  1. Graphic / offensive content: Users may not post content of a violent or graphic nature (even if particular content is newsworthy). Remember that we want this to be a family friendly online community – so if you think that the content might not be suitable for a child, it is not suitable for the Wo Hui Mandarin Platform.

 

  1. Sexual content: In keeping with the above, users must not post any content portraying nudity, sexual activity or fetish imagery (even if it is for educational or artistic purposes).

 

  1. Self-harm: Users must not post any content glorifying acts of self-harm and must not request help from other users in procuring or obtaining implements to enable self-harm.

 

  1. No bullying, discrimination or harassment: A user may not post any content that is meant to harass, threaten, embarrass, name and shame, provoke, spam or do anything else to another user that is unwanted, such as repeatedly sending unwanted messages or making personal attacks or statements about race, sexual orientation, religion, heritage, etc.

 

Additionally, a user may not organise, effectuate or participate in any activity that is harmful, abusive, hateful, racially, ethnically, religiously or otherwise offensive, obscene, threatening, bullying, vulgar, sexually explicit, defamatory, infringing, invasive of personal privacy or publicity rights, encourages conduct that would violate a law or in a reasonable person’s view, would be considered objectionable and/or inappropriate.

 

  1. No false reports: A user may not make false reports to moderators. Whilst we absolutely want to be informed of anyone who is in breach of this Code of Conduct, we do not want users to submit frivolous and vexatious complaints.

 

  1. Misinformation: A user may not post false news, misinformation, or media content which has been manipulated so as to be deceptive or misleading.

 

  1. Inappropriate content: A user may not post any content which would reasonably be considered to be inappropriate in a professional / school setting.

 

 

  1. Enforcement

Wo Hui Mandarin and its moderators are here primarily to facilitate the learning goals set out in Section 1.

However, if anyone on the Wo Hui Mandarin Platform does, in the opinion of Wo Hui Mandarin, violate this Code of Conduct we reserve the right to take corrective actions, including but not limited to:

  • Permanent bans – Termination of user account and access to the Wo Hui Mandarin Platform
  • Temporary bans – Suspension of user account or deactivation of certain account features
  • Content Removal – We will take down offending content
  • Upload Restrictions – We may block the ability of certain users to upload content
  • Legal Action – We may take legal action ourselves and/or refer matters to relevant law enforcement authorities

 

 

  1. Reporting Procedure for Complaints re Objectionable Content

We take the health, safety and success of our online community seriously and we hope that you will too. If you are concerned that anyone might be violating the terms or spirit of this Code of Conduct please do let us know, by following the below processes.

 

  1. How to report? – Submit a query/notice to Wo Hui Mandarin using the following email address: support@wohuimandarin.com

 

  1. Evidence required to report violations – Every situation will be different, but please do try to include as much information and evidence as possible when you submit a report. This may include screen shots / copies of emails / descriptions of the behaviour / contact details of other witnesses etc.

NOTE: Please don’t reply or attempt to “fix” the inappropriate behaviour of another user yourself – your actions may simply end up encouraging their bad behaviour, consuming your energy and wasting time. Please simply follow the reporting protocol above and we will take appropriate actions.

 

 

 

  • Appeal Procedure

Enforcement decisions will be made and imposed by Wo Hui Mandarin at its sole discretion, as such no appeal producers of any kind will be available.

 

  • Amendments to the Code of Conduct

This Code of Conduct is a “living document” that may be updated / improved upon / amended from time to time.

Such amendments will be made by Wo Hui Mandarin whenever Wo Hui Mandarin considers it appropriate to do so.

 

  1. Legal Notices

We know that reading legal terms is tedious, but it is also important that you be aware of the legal framework we have created to protect the Wo Hui Mandarin Platform, as well as its users (i.e. you) and your data.

By using the Wo Hui Mandarin Platform, you are required to have accepted our Wo Hui Mandarin Product and Services Sales T&CSs www.wohuimandarin.com/eula  which also oblige you to comply with this Code of Conduct at all times.

In relation to our practices as to the processing of personal information, we flag to your attention our Privacy & Cookie Notice www.wohuimandarin.com/privacy .

We will endeavour to inform you of changes to any of the above documents but given their importance to the Wo Hui Mandarin Platform experience, we do encourage you to check them regularly.