The Smart Cities Council brings together a worldwide audience that is dedicated to helping cities become more livable, workable and sustainable. The integrity of our platform — from digital resources to in-person events — is something we take very seriously and we are committed to operating it in a safe, secure, legal and respectful way. To foster a productive, inclusive platform, we have created these Community Guidelines that describe the terms of participation.
TIP: The list isn't exhaustive and we may add to it; therefore, it is important that you continue to check in on any modifications or updates frequently. Please respect these Community Guidelines. If you come across any content that violates them, please contact us right away, or in the case of a specific event-related issue, use the Report This Event link.
NOTE: These Community Guidelines are incorporated by reference into the Smart Cities Council Terms of Service, and capitalized terms in these Community Guidelines not otherwise defined here have the same definitions that we use in the Terms of Service.
We believe in and encourage an open exchange of ideas, even though we may not always agree with every opinion expressed. That said, you may not use the Smart Cities Council to post content or engage in any conduct that is (in our sole evaluation) offensive, harmful, or inappropriate for general audiences, or that we believe constitutes or is likely to encourage or promote any harmful, violent, or illegal activity or outcome.
Prohibited content or activities includes, but is not limited to, the following:
1. Don't Promote Illegal or Inappropriate Activities
Smart Cities Council may not be used to facilitate harmful or criminal activity of any kind. You may not create or promote events on the Smart Cities Council Services that constitute or promote any of the following, as determined by Smart Cities Council:
• Explicit sexual activity (including escort services), or pornography,
• Illegal gambling activity (whether illegal under any U.S. federal or state law, or non-U.S. law),
• Sale or ingestion of illegal drugs, other illegal substances, or nutraceuticals,
• Cannabis, cannabis samples or cannabis-infused products provided for free, for purchase by the Organizer, or as part of the ticket price, attendee sharing of cannabis, or dispensary tours,
• Activities that principally promote any other commercial product or service unless specifically permitted by the Smart Cities Council,
• Unauthorized multi-level marketing businesses,
• Credit repair services,
• Activities that demean, harass, intimidate, threaten or express hatred toward any societal group, whether based on race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, or veteran status,
• Sale, distribution or unlawful use of (i) firearms, firearm parts or hardware, and ammunition; or (ii) weapons and other devices designed to cause physical injury, or
• Terrorist activity or organized criminal activity.
2. Don't Post Hateful/Dangerous Content, or Events By Hateful/Dangerous Organizations
Smart Cities Council does not permit on our platform content or organizations that promote or encourage hate, violence, or harassment towards others and/or oneself. Specifically, we prohibit content or organizations that promote hate towards or the harassment of individuals or groups based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity. This prohibition extends to the public promotion of this type of prohibited behavior whether or not specific to the event or content appearing as part of the Services.
3. Don't Post Harmful or Illegal Content
We expect you to respect the individuals, organizations, and groups that are a part of the Smart Cities Council community. You may not distribute any written or other content through the Smart Cities Council Services that:
• Impersonates any person or entity, including without limitation any governmental officials or public figure; falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with any person or entity; or expresses or implies that Smart Cities Council endorses any statement you make without express written approval to do so,
• Promotes or encourages hate or dangerous content (as we've also described above),
• Defames or libels any other person,
• Invades any person's privacy, or contains a person's likeness without their permission,
• Harasses, threatens or seeks to intimidate any person (also described above),
• Is fraudulent, deceptive or tortious, or
• Is protected by copyright, trademark or trade secret law, unless you have the express prior written consent of the owner of such right.
4. Don't Interfere with the Smart Cities Council Services
To maintain the security and integrity of the Smart Cities Council Services, you may not do any of the following:
• Interfere with or disrupt the operation of the Smart Cities Council Services or the servers or networks used to make the Services available,
• Post, transmit through or release into the Smart Cities Council Services a virus, worm, Trojan Horse, time bomb, spyware, rootkit, cancelbot, or other computer code, file, or program that is harmful or is intended to damage or hijack the operation of, or to monitor the use of, any hardware, software or equipment,
• Access, or program any technology to access the Services through any robot or "bot," crawling or scraping technology, or other extraction technology (for any purpose), or
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Services, other accounts, computer systems or networks connected to the Services, through password mining or any other means.
5. Don't Infringe on the Intellectual Property Rights of Others
You may not upload or distribute content on Smart Cities Council that you do not have a right to transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information, or proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements). This includes, but is not limited to, all images, logos, videos, and text uploaded on your event listing. Additionally, you may not do the following on the Smart Cities Council Services:
• Remove any copyright, trademark or other proprietary rights notice from the Services or any material displayed by the Services, or
• Reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or otherwise exploit for any commercial purposes, any portion or aspect of the Services.
If you have identified an unauthorized use of your intellectual property on Smart Cities Council, please follow the process in our Copyright and Trademark Policy.
6. Don't Invade the Privacy of Others
Be thoughtful and careful about the kind of information you ask for. You may not use Smart Cities Council to collect credit card numbers, social security numbers, financial information, or other sensitive information not absolutely necessary for the administration of your event, and not available for collection through alternative methods.
7. Don't Post Explicit Content
Smart Cities Council is not a place for pornography, or for explicit, violent and/or graphic content. This applies to all content on our site, including images, videos, and descriptions. We understand that not all nudity is pornographic, and that certain graphic content may be necessary to emphasize the nature of an event on our Services. We will remove content that exposes certain parts of the body, or is intended to celebrate violence or primarily to shock the viewer. Beyond this, we may choose to remove or make certain content private to ensure a general level of safety and appropriateness for the majority of the community.
How to Flag and Process for Review
Our goal is to promote a safe and respectful community. If you learn that any listing or content that violates these Community Guidelines or our Terms of Service, please contact us right away, or in the case of an event, use the Contact Us menu link. We will review each report, and depending on the nature of the report, we may or may not follow up with you. It's also important to remember that Smart Cities Council encourages a diverse, global community; content that you find offensive or controversial may not violate our Community Guidelines, and not result in your desired action. We truly value your feedback and the opportunity to hear from our community.
Violations of our Community Guidelines
If we determine that the content violates our Community Guidelines, we may remove only the relevant content, we may take down the entire listing, or take alternative action that Smart Cities Council determines to be appropriate given the circumstances surrounding the content. If the abuse of our Services is serious and severe (in our sole evaluation), we may also suspend or terminate the associated Smart Cities Council account. Note that certain content, while not in violation of our Community Guidelines, may not be appropriate for the majority of our community. In these cases, we may decide to make the content private. If we believe there is a legitimate risk of physical harm to someone or a group of people, or direct threats to public safety, we not only take action on our site, but will also work with law enforcement, as appropriate and at our discretion. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger as a result of content posted on Smart Cities Council, please first contact your local law enforcement agency. Once you've reported the issue to law enforcement, click here to report the issue directly to Smart Cities Council.