The italki Community Guidelines

The italki community is where language learners from all over the world can connect with one another and help each other reach their language learning goals.    

italki’s default position is not to delete, censor, or edit user generated content in any of italki’s user and teacher profiles and public forums. However, there are cases in which we may take the extraordinary step of editing or removing user content and in some cases deleting and banning users for violating any of the guidelines listed below:

Violence and Threats

Safety is italki's top priority. We remove content when we perceive a genuine risk of physical harm, or a direct threat to public safety. You may not credibly threaten others, or organize acts of real world violence. We do not allow promoting, planning, or celebrating any of you actions if they have, or could, result in financial harm to others, including theft and vandalism.

Self-Harm

italki takes threats of self-harm very seriously. We remove any promotion or encouragement of self-mutilation, eating disorders or drug abuse. We also work with suicide prevention agencies around the world to provide assistance for people in distress.

Bullying and Harassment

italki does not tolerate bullying or harassment. We allow users to speak freely on matters and people of public interest, but take action on all reports of abusive behavior directed at private individuals. Repeatedly targeting other users with unwanted friend requests or messages is a form of harassment.  If you feel you are being harassed, you can take action by reporting it to us. 

Hate Speech

italki does not permit hate speech. We do not permit individuals or groups to attack others based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or medical condition.

Nudity and Pornography

italki has a strict policy against the sharing of pornographic content and any explicitly sexual content where a minor is involved. We also impose limitations on the display of nudity.

Political or Religious Discussions

italki does not permit discussions and/or graphics relating to political or religious events or groups. 

Identity and Privacy

We ask that you refrain from publishing the personal information of others without their consent. Respect others' wishes and preferences when choosing a communication method. Ask for and receive written consent before recording another person. Claiming to be another person, creating a false presence for an organization, or creating multiple accounts undermines community and violates italki’s terms.

Intellectual Property

Before sharing content on italki, please be sure you have the right to do so. We ask that you respect copyrights, trademarks, and other legal rights.

Phishing and Spam

We take the safety of our members seriously and work to prevent attempts to compromise their privacy or security. We also ask that you respect our members by not contacting them for commercial purposes without their consent.  In addition, do not make posts or comments that are solely for commercial purposes since this detracts from, and does not add anything of value to the language-learning community.

Security

We take the safety of our members seriously and work to prevent attempts to compromise their privacy or security, including those that use fraud or deception. Additionally, we ask that you respect our members by not contacting them for commercial purposes without their consent.

Community

The italki website and community are for language learning and respectful cultural exchange.  Please be sure that your contributions to the community are constructive and relevant to these topics.  We ask that you read the following about uses of the italki community that are unacceptable and subject to being blocked or banned.

We apologize in advance for any negative experiences that you may encounter on italki.  By following the guidelines above, you'll be helping to make the italki community a better place to learn a language. 

In an effort to keep italki clean and focused on language learning and respectful cultural exchange, we’ve developed a list of things you shouldn't do on italki.

7 Things You Should Not Do on italki

1. Ask inappropriate questions or send inappropriate messages

For example, "Are you married?" or "Do you have any photos of yourself?"

2. Use italki as a dating site

Sending personal messages and asking another user "Will you be my boyfriend/girlfriend?" or sending unwanted comments such as "You are very beautiful" is highly inappropriate. 

3. Send spam 

For example, "My company is selling...please buy!". Please do not try to use italki as a platform to sell or advertise any products or services.

4. Publicly post your personal contact information

Posting your personal contact information (email, Skype, phone number, etc.) publicly on italki in comments, Answers, Notebook entries, Discussions, or any other public space on italki will lead to people contacting you and can be a risk to your privacy and security,

5. Disrespect other italki users

Disrespecting other italki users (on italki, Skype, or any other communication tool) or disrespecting their wishes when it comes to choosing audio, video format, or being recorded is unacceptable on italki.

6. Post nake, semi-nude, suggestive, or other inappropriate photos/images of you or anyone else

italki is strictly a language learning platform, and all inappropriate imagery is forbidden.

7. Post or start discussions relating to political or religious events or groups.

We want to keep italki focused on language learning and respectful cultural exchange.

Reporting Abuse

We take any misconduct very seriously.  Any italki user that violates italki policies will be removed from the italki system. If you see something that you believe violates our terms, please report it to us. To learn more about reporting abuse, click here.