Welcome to Brussels Independent. We encourage open, insightful, and respectful debates on European politics, economy, and society. By using our comment section, you agree to comply with the following Terms of Use and Community Guidelines.
1. Scope and Acceptance of Terms
- These Terms of Use govern the access to and participation in the comment sections and interactive features of Brussels Independent.
- By posting a comment, registering an account, or interacting with user-generated content on our platform, you fully accept these Terms.
- We reserve the right to update these guidelines at any time. Significant changes will be communicated on our website or via email if you hold a registered account.
2. Community Guidelines (Netiquette)
To maintain a constructive and professional debate, all users must adhere to the following rules:
- Respectful Discourse: Treat other users, authors, and subjects of our articles with respect. Personal attacks, insults, trolling, and provocative behavior will not be tolerated.
- No Discrimination or Hate Speech: Comments containing defamatory, libelous, racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or otherwise discriminatory language will be removed immediately.
- Factual and Relevant: Keep your comments relevant to the topic of the respective article. Constructive criticism is welcome, but unsupported claims or deliberate disinformation may be moderated.
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- Privacy First: Do not post personal data (e.g., telephone numbers, addresses, private email addresses) of yourself or third parties.
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4. Content Moderation and EU Digital Services Act (DSA) Compliance
As a publisher operating within the European Union, Brussels Independent complies with the regulations of the Digital Services Act (DSA).
- Moderation Practices: We use human review and moderation tools to monitor comments. We reserve the right to temporarily hold, edit, reject, or permanently delete comments that violate these Terms.
- Reporting Illegal Content: If you encounter content or comments that you believe are illegal or violate these guidelines, you can report them to us immediately via email at
[Your Contact Email]. - Notice and Action: If we remove your comment or restrict your account access due to a violation, we will notify you of our decision and state the reasons for the restriction, unless we are legally prevented from doing so.
- Appeals Procedure: If you disagree with a moderation decision (such as the removal of your comment), you have the right to appeal our decision within six months by contacting our editorial team at
[Your Contact Email]. We will review your request promptly.
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- Users are solely and legally responsible for the content they publish. Brussels Independent does not adopt user comments as its own opinion and explicitly distances itself from user-generated content.
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6. Data Protection
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7. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
- These Terms of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany.
- If you are a merchant, a legal entity under public law, or have your permanent residence outside of Germany, the exclusive venue and jurisdiction for all disputes arising from the use of this platform shall be the competent courts at the registered seat of the publisher in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
