Cancer Chat House rules

Welcome to Cancer Chat, Cancer Research UK's moderated forum community. Cancer Chat is your space to talk to others affected by cancer, share experiences and find information.

At Cancer Research UK we are committed to providing quality, up-to-date information about cancer. We want Cancer Chat to be a safe, helpful and supportive environment for the Cancer Chat community and visitors to the forum. These house rules have been designed to ensure that this happens.

By using Cancer Chat, you are agreeing to follow our terms and conditions and these house rules. If a message breaks our terms and conditions or house rules we may have to edit or remove it.

We have a team of experienced, dedicated and friendly moderators who are here to make sure that all discussions within the Cancer Chat community are inclusive, supportive and accurate. Our team of specialist cancer nurses support our moderators, to help this happen.

Why we moderate

The Cancer Chat moderators moderate the forum to try to stop any misleading information being posted, as well as anyone misusing Cancer Chat or breaking the terms and conditions. This sometimes means that we edit or remove messages that have been posted.

Cancer Chat is your space to talk about cancer. So for that reason we don't edit content, remove messages or ban members without a good reason. Any actions that we take are to protect the Cancer Chat community.

If you notice that a Cancer Chat member is posting misleading information, misusing the site or breaking the terms and conditions in any other way, please contact a moderator by using the 'report this message' button in their message. You can also click on the pink 'contact a moderator' button on the right hand side of every page.

Express yourself respectfully

Please be respectful and considerate to other members when using Cancer Chat. We understand that cancer can be an emotive subject and that you may have strong feelings about issues being discussed. Opinions do often differ, so if you disagree with someone please express yourself respectfully. We do not tolerate insults or personal attacks on other users.

Think carefully before you post a message

Cancer Chat is a public forum which means that everything you post can be seen by anyone on the internet. Please think carefully before you post, as your discussion may be on Cancer Chat for a long time.

Post information responsibly

Cancer Chat is here for you to share information and experiences with other users. Please try and make sure that any information that you share on Cancer Chat is accurate and that you check your facts before you post. Inaccurate information can be harmful to those who trust it.

Keep discussions on topic

Cancer Chat is a forum for people affected by cancer who wish to share experiences and find information. For this reason we ask that conversations are kept on topic. It is useful to check that you have posted in the right topic area; if your post does not relate to cancer, please use the Off topic area. Messages that are completely unrelated to a discussion may be moved or deleted from Cancer Chat.

Members are not allowed to post surveys or questionnaires on the forum.

Your conduct on Cancer Chat

Please do not use language that other Cancer Chat members may find offensive. This includes material that could be considered obscene, abusive, vulgar, hateful, threatening, and defamatory. Please do not use swear words, many of our users find them offensive.

We do not tolerate discrimination on the grounds of another person's race, sex, age, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation or any other basis.

Threatening other users (in any form) is also unacceptable on Cancer Chat.

Please do not type your messages in capital letters, as many Cancer Chat users may interpret this as shouting and aggressive.

Please do not use Cancer Chat to advertise or promote products

Members are not allowed to advertise, promote or try to sell anything on Cancer Chat. We will remove from the forum any messages that we consider to be advertisements and do not accept any form of commercial solicitation.

Be safe with your personal information

Please be mindful when using Cancer Chat and do not share your personal details, including phone numbers and your home address. Anyone can read discussions on Cancer Chat and details may stay on the internet for a long time. Don't put yourself at risk of intrusive or unwanted contact from people who you may not want to contact you.

Be careful with private messages

Our house rules apply to private messages as well. The private messaging system has been designed for communication between two Cancer Chat members. Private messages are not to be published on the forum without the consent of everyone involved.

If a member sends you a private message that you feel breaks our terms and conditions or house rules, please report the message to a moderator.

Reporting a message

If you think that someone is posting misleading information, misusing the site or breaking the terms and conditions, please contact a moderator by using the 'report this message' button within their message. You can also click on the pink 'contact a moderator' button on the right hand side of every page.

If a member sends you a private message that you feel breaks our terms and conditions or house rules, please report the message to a moderator by forwarding the message to Flag_Abuse user.

Further information

Cancer Research UK has the right to change or update the house rules at any time. For more information about Cancer Chat, you can read our terms and conditions.

Thank you for taking the time to read our house rules.