Terms of Use and Standards

The American Reform Party strives to become a leading Political Action Committee and Party at the national, state, and local levels.  The social networking tools that we provide are just that—tools.  They are tools for activists to connect with other activists in their area, to spread information, to run successful events, to lobby politicians, to support candidates, and to influence voters.

Clearly, it is important that our members and guest users represent the American Reform Party with dignity.  We have therefore established guidelines for user-created content (eg. blog entries and comments).  In some situations, violations of these guidelines may result in a written warning and an edit or removal of the offending content.  In other situations, your content posting abilities may be revoked.  The decision is made at the sole discretion of American Reform Party staff.

1. Obscene language is not allowed.  We reserve the right to decide what constitutes obscenity, hate speech, or the like on our website.  The American Reform Party opposes legislation on obscenity and hate speech but we have a right to maintain this policy for our website. Sensitive topics concerning race are not off-limits but should be handled delicately.

2. Personal attacks on our members are not allowed.  If you have a disagreement, attack the argument, not the speaker.  It is OK to say "so-and-so didn't show up for the phone bank," but not "so-and-so is an idiot."

3. Comments on blog entries should generally relate to the blog entry itself, not respond to other comments.  Comments are subject to moderation and approval by the American Reform Party staff. It is rude to the blog author to use their blog and profile page as a battleground for your issues.  If you would like to start up a discussion with another member based on a comment they left on someone else's blog post, you may do so by writing your own blog entry, or commenting on their blog, or sending them a message, but please do not use someone else's blog on another topic as the setting for your discussion.

We remind everyone that The American Reform Party promotes a civil society where ideas and debate flourish. Please be respectful of each other and the subjects of any criticism. While we may not always agree on policy, we should all agree that being appropriately informed is everyone's intention visiting this site. Profanity, lewdness, personal attacks, and other forms of incivility will not be tolerated. Please keep your thoughts brief and avoid using ALL CAPS. While we respect your first amendment rights, we are obligated to our readers to maintain these standards.

4. The calendar feature is for campaign purposes only.  Use it to schedule meetings, rallies, fund-raisers, discussion groups, political party meetings and conventions, and the like.  Do not use it to promote your band's next show or the kegger at Bob's next weekend.(COMING SOON!!)

5. Sending one-to-one messages. You have more leeway with coarse language when sending one-to-one messages (since users have the ability to block you) but if users are complaining that you are sending harassing or otherwise abusive messages, corrective action may be taken.

The American Reform Party reserves the right to remove material for any other reason if it is determined to countervail the goals or objectives of the American Reform Party .