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Blog comment and moderation guidelines

We welcome comments on our blog posts, especially where they provide clarifications or commentary that will assist other readers. We read all comments and will respond when necessary. Please note, however, that we do not necessarily publish all comments. Sometimes it is more appropriate to respond directly by email.

Our site participation guidelines mean that you should:

  • be respectful of others who use this site
  • stay on topic
  • not make comments which repeat others already made
  • keep comments concise
  • not use language that is offensive, inflammatory or provocative (this includes swearing and vulgar comments, as well as comments that are unhelpful, unnecessarily critical or that misrepresent the issues or evidence)
  • not break the law (this includes libel, condoning illegal activity and contempt of court)
  • not use this site for party political purposes (this site is paid for with public money so it's inappropriate to engage in party-political activity)
  • not post personal information in comments such as addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses or other online contact details, which may relate to you or other individuals
  • not impersonate or falsely claim to represent a person or an organisation
  • not attempt to log on using another user’s account
  • not make any commercial endorsement or promotion of any product, service or publication not relevant to the discussion

If you are aged 16 or under, please get the permission of your parent or guardian before participating. Users without this consent are not allowed to participate.

Moderation policy

Blog comments are pre-moderated to check they comply with the PHE Screening blog participation guidelines above. If comments don’t comply they will not be published. PHE Screening may reply by email instead.

Here is a brief outline of how we evaluate comments.

  1. Is this comment on topic, does it add value to the discussion and can PHE Screening answer publicly?
    If so, post a timely response.
  2. Is this person asking for information or detail relating to screening content on the main GOV.UK website?
    If so, we'll pass the query on and ensure it is dealt with as quickly as possible. We will update the user on progress.
  3. Does this comment raise an issue with another part of GOV.UK? Or is it reporting a bug or performance problem?
    If so, alert the appropriate Government Digital Service (GDS) team and tell the user this has been done.
  4. Is this comment a rant at PHE Screening venting frustration or anger?
    If so, STOP, monitor and discuss with the digital engagement team first, referring to the participation guidelines.

If necessary, we can escalate any unresolved/disputed blog comments, or complaints about the PHE Screening blog, to PHE.enquiries.