At CongoSentinel.com, we are committed to building a respectful, inclusive, and constructive space for readers in Congo-Brazzaville, across Africa, and around the world. To achieve this, we have adopted the following Community Guidelines, which apply to all our platforms — our website, comment sections, and official accounts on Facebook, YouTube, X (Twitter), and TikTok.
These rules are designed to protect open debate while ensuring that conversations remain civil, factual, and safe for all. By engaging with our platforms, you agree to abide by these principles.
1. Respect & Civility
- Treat others with respect, even when you disagree.
- Personal attacks, insults, harassment, or threats will not be tolerated.
- Hate speech based on ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or nationality is strictly forbidden.
2. Accuracy & Responsibility
- Do not spread false or misleading information.
- When sharing news or claims, please verify your sources.
- CongoSentinel reserves the right to remove content flagged as misinformation, especially during sensitive periods such as elections in Congo-Brazzaville and across Africa.
3. No Harmful Content
- Do not post violent, graphic, or sexually explicit material.
- Content that glorifies terrorism, organized crime, or self-harm will be removed.
- Attempts to intimidate or doxx individuals (publishing private details) are prohibited.
4. Constructive Participation
- Keep your contributions relevant to the topic.
- Spam, repetitive comments, and commercial promotions without authorization are not allowed.
- Healthy debate is encouraged, but trolling or deliberate disruption is not.
5. Confidentiality & Safety
- Protect your privacy: avoid sharing sensitive personal data in comments.
- Respect the confidentiality of sources and third parties.
- If you share information with our newsroom, we will handle it with discretion in line with our editorial ethics.
6. Moderation Policy
- Comments and posts that violate these guidelines may be removed without prior notice.
- Repeat offenders may be blocked or reported to the relevant platform.
- Our moderation team applies these rules fairly and transparently, without political or partisan bias.
Platform-Specific Guidelines
- Use real identities where possible to foster trust.
- Avoid mass tagging, spam links, or fake engagement tactics.
- Be aware that repeated violations may also result in Facebook’s own enforcement actions.
YouTube
- Keep discussions in the comment section relevant to the video.
- Respect creators and other commenters; avoid harassment.
- Do not post copyrighted material or pirated content.
- Avoid spammy promotion of external channels or products.
X (Twitter)
- Express opinions respectfully within the platform’s character limits.
- No mass harassment, coordinated attacks, or use of bots.
- False claims and misinformation flagged by fact-checkers may be removed or reported.
TikTok
- Comments and videos must follow a respectful tone.
- No use of music, visuals, or edits that promote hate, violence, or discrimination.
- Avoid misleading clips that take our reporting out of context.
- Respect TikTok’s creative environment while keeping content factual.
7. Your Role in Building a Healthy Space
CongoSentinel aims to serve as a trusted newspaper for Congo-Brazzaville and Africa. By following these guidelines, you help strengthen our collective commitment to truth, democracy, and respectful dialogue.
We encourage you to:
- Report violations using the tools available on each platform.
- Engage constructively with other readers.
- Be ambassadors of responsible information sharing.
Final Note
Our platforms are spaces for informed discussion, not for harassment, propaganda, or disinformation. We may update these guidelines as platforms evolve and new challenges arise.
Together, let’s make CongoSentinel a space where news and debate contribute positively to society.
