TimesLIVE & Sunday Times comment moderation policy

1. Only registered users of TimesLIVE and the Sunday Times, including Sunday Times Daily, are able to comment on articles published on these websites. We apply the same policy to comments made on our social media channels.

2. We will open comments on TimesLIVE and Sunday Times articles, or on our videos on other platforms, at our sole discretion. 

3. We welcome comments that are civil and considered. Comments that are racist, bigoted or vulgar; that amount to trolling in any way; that constitute personal attacks; or that, in our view, are otherwise rude or offensive will be deemed a violation of our policy. The same applies to comments deemed to be pornographic, in breach of another party’s copyright, or defamatory.

4. Comments that, in our opinion, can be seen as solicitation of funds or advertising of goods or services are not allowed. The same applies to identical comments posted multiple times on different articles. If you'd like to advertise with us, see our advertising information page.

5. In line with the South African Constitution, comments deemed to be propaganda for war;  incitement to imminent violence; or advocacy of hatred based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and that constitute incitement to cause harm, are prohibited. 

6. In line with the requirements of the Press Code, we do not pre-approve comments prior to publication. However, some comments may be temporarily held back by an automatic keyword-based filter until they can be reviewed by a moderator.

7. Comments that are reported as possibly inappropriate and in violation of our comments policy – by using the flagging function available on each comment – may be removed once they have been reviewed by a moderator. 

8. You can also report possible violations of our comments policy to feedback@timeslive.co.za. Please identify the comment clearly and state why it is considered to be in violation of our comments policy. We will review the complaint and revert to the complainant. Should you disagree with our decision, you can complain to the press ombudsman at the South African Press Council who will then consider the complaint. 

9. Gross violations of our comments policy or repeated abuse by a commentator will result in the user's account being blocked without notice. We will not enter into correspondence over such a decision. 

10. Any user of our comments facility accepts these terms and conditions.