eTwinning is the largest network for schools in Europe. It’s your community – each and every member makes eTwinning what it is. Here you will find a few ground rules to keep eTwinning safe and fun for everyone!

Report

Help us build a safe community! We rely on eTwinners to report inappropriate content and spam. If you run into any posts or comments in Journals and Forums, receive a private message, or stumble upon content that you find offensive, that infringes upon copyright, or simply find inappropriate, you may use the report button and write the reasons for reporting. Your message will be handled by the Support Services immediately.

Spam

We do our utmost to protect people from technical abuse and spam in eTwinning. Any users engaging in the activities specified below may be considered as spammers and eventually banned from the platform:

1. Misuse of the internal message system 

Refrain from sending too many messages to teachers with whom you are not working. Before contacting a user: check his/her profile; check if he/she is available for projects; make sure your messages is relevant. Do not send the exact same message to more eTwinners!

2. Use of eTwinning for commercial purposes 

It’s strictly prohibited to use the platform for commercial purposes. Any company, initiative, event or software with a commercial intent will be removed, as will their access to the platform itself.

3. Spam in forums 

The eTwinning Live partner forums generate thousands of messages. Help us keep them clean and tidy to improve collaboration!

• Avoid posting the same message on different forums
• Make sure that your message takes into account the subject of the thread.
• Before publishing a new post, check if other relevant messages are present and reply to them.

4. Irrelevant or inappropriate comments on people’s posts 

When posting a comment on somebody else’s profile, make sure it is relevant for the user. Comments must be for individuals and related to the user’s post. Do not write the same comment to more users!

5. Random contact requests and project invitations 

Avoid asking eTwinners to be part of your contacts or to join your project without any previous communication. Make sure you have a reasonable and manageable number of contacts in your list. Do you want to keep track of someone’s updates? Follow him/her instead.

Direct threats, bullying and harassment

eTwinning doesn’t tolerate bullying or harassment. If you are victim of cyberbullying or someone is threatening you, please report the message or contact your National Support Service. Be aware that anyone caught bullying or harassing other member of the platform may be permanently banned from eTwinning.

Hate speech and graphic content

Messages and posts that attacks or incite violence against people based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation or gender, will be removed from the platform and their behaviour reported to the authorities. Violent and inappropriate graphic content will be removed.

Intellectual property

Ensure that the content you upload in the platform does not infringe any copyright. Before sharing any pictures, videos, documents or any other resources, please, make sure you have the right to do so. The eTwinning platform cannot host videos - you will need to upload your video first to YouTube, DailyMotion or Vimeo and then paste the link in eTwinning. Don’t forget to have a look at their copyright policies too.

Students (minors)

eTwinning is concerned for students’ privacy and safety. Avoid posting pictures of pupils on your eTwinning Live profile, TwinSpace, Groups, etc. In any case, make sure you have parents’ consent or that pupils are not recognisable.

Private information and Sensitive data

Be thoughtful about content you post that relates to others. You shall not share yours or other eTwinners' private information -such as phone and credit card numbers, street address, etc.- or intimate pictures and videos without their express authorisation. Always think before you post!

Publication of data

The information you submit when registering will only be visible to the other eTwinning colleagues. However, your name will also appear in the public school’s profiles. This is the only piece of information we make public about you