Last modified:  July 2016

This Social Media Policy (this “Policy”) applies to the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc.’s (hereafter “ASCO,” “we,” “us” or “our”) Social Media Channels.  By accessing, viewing and/or posting any content on any Social Media Channel, you accept, without limitation or qualification, the terms set forth in this Policy. If you do not agree to the terms of this Policy, you may not view or post any content using any Social Media Channel. Your use of Social Media Channels is acceptance of this Policy.

In addition to the term set forth in this Policy, you agree to abide by the Platform Policies applicable to any Social Media Channel you access, view, post on, or otherwise use.  ASCO does not control third party Social Media Platforms’ access to or use of your information or User Contributions on the Social Media Channels.  For information on how third party Social Media Platforms collect, access, use, store, or transmit your information, please refer to the relevant Platform Policies.

1.  User Contributions

You must be at least thirteen (13) years old to post any User Contribution on any Social Media Channel.

Any User Contribution you post will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. By providing any User Contribution, you grant us and our affiliates and service providers, and each of their and our respective licensees, successors and assigns, an irrevocable, royalty free, worldwide, transferrable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, distribute, transmit, display, perform, adapt, resell, and publish and otherwise disclose to third parties any such material, in whole or in part, in any form or media (including in digital form), whether known or unknown. You represent and warrant that you own or control all rights in and to the User Contributions and have the right to grant the license granted above.  You represent and warrant that all of your User Contributions do and will comply with this Policy.

You understand and acknowledge that you are responsible for any User Contributions you post and you, not ASCO, have the responsibility for such content, including its legality, reliability, accuracy and appropriateness. None of the ASCO Parties are responsible or liable to you or any third party for the content or accuracy of any User Contributions posted by you or any other user of the Social Media Channels.

2.  Content Standards

All User Contributions must comply with the following content standards (the “Content Standards”).  User Contributions must in their entirety comply with all federal, state, local and international laws and regulations. Without limiting the foregoing, User Contributions must not:

  • Contain any material which is defamatory, obscene, indecent, abusive, offensive, harassing, violent, hateful, inflammatory, inaccurate or otherwise objectionable.
  • Promote sexually explicit or pornographic material, violence, or discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, age or any other protected class.
  • Infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual property or other rights of any other person.
  • Violate the legal rights (including the rights of publicity and privacy) of others.
  • Contain any material that could give rise to criminal or civil liability under applicable laws or regulations or that otherwise may be in conflict with this Policy or the applicable Platform Policies.
  • Be likely to deceive any person.
  • Promote any illegal activity, or advocate, promote or assist in any unlawful act.
  • Be likely to cause annoyance, inconvenience, duress, distress, discomfort or needless anxiety or be likely to upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person.
  • Impersonate any person, or misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person or organization.
  • Involve commercial activities or sales, such as contests, sweepstakes and other promotions, bartering or advertising not approved in advance in writing by ASCO.
  • Give the impression that they emanate from or are endorsed by us or any other person or entity, if this is not the case.
  • Includes unauthorized disclosure of the personal information of third parties or attempts to collect or store the personal information of third parties without their knowledge and consent.
  • Constitute electioneering, such as exhortations to vote for or against any candidate for public office.
  • Include any “spam,” “junk mail,” “chain letters,” or any other type of nuisance content.
  • Include personal health information.

3.  ASCO Rights

ASCO reserves the right to monitor, prohibit, restrict, filter, block, suspend, terminate, delete, or discontinue any User Contribution, any Content, and your access to any Content and/or any Social Media Channel, at any time, without notice and for any reason and in our sole discretion.

You understand and agree that ASCO may disclose your communications and activities via the Social Media Channels in response to lawful requests by governmental authorities, including Patriot Act requests, judicial orders, warrants or subpoenas, or for the protection of ASCO’s rights and interests.  You further understand and agree that ASCO may take all appropriate legal action, including without limitation referral to law enforcement, for any illegal or unauthorized use of the Social Media Channels.  You agree that in the event that ASCO exercises any of its rights hereunder for any reason, ASCO will have no liability to you.

4.  Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

ASCO assumes no responsibility for any injury or damage to persons or property arising out of or related to the Content, User Contributions, and/or the Social Media Channels.  You acknowledge and agree that ASCO has no responsibility for and limited control over User Contributions posted to the Social Media Channels.  You also agree that ASCO has no liability for or control over third party Social Media Platforms’ collection, access to, or use, storage, or transmission of your information or User Contributions on the Social Media Channels.  Such collection, access, use, storage and transmission is governed by the relevant Platform Policies.  ASCO makes no representation that your use of the Social Media Channels will comply with applicable laws.  Additionally, we do not represent, warrant or guarantee the completeness, truthfulness, accuracy, quality, usefulness or reliability of the Social Media Channels, the Content, or User Contributions. Any of the Content may be out of date at any given time, and we are under no obligation to update such material. Any reliance you place on the Content is at your own risk, and we disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from such reliance by you or by anyone who may be informed of the Content.

The Content does not constitute medical or legal advice, and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions.  The Content is not comprehensive and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with a licensed medical professional or other traditional source of medical information.  The mention of any product, service, organization, activity or therapy on the Social Media Channels should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement.

The Social Media Channels may include content provided by third parties, including materials provided by other users, bloggers and third-party licensors, syndicators, aggregators and/or reporting services.  All statements and/or opinions expressed in these materials, and all articles and responses to questions and other content, other than the Content provided by ASCO, are solely the opinions and the responsibility of the person or entity providing those materials.  These materials do not necessarily express the opinion of ASCO. We do not endorse any products, services, or opinions mentioned or expressed in or through any Content or User Contributions available on the Social Media Channels.

YOUR USE OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS AND CONTENT IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.  THE SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS AND CONTENT ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS,” “AS AVAILABLE,” AND “WITH ALL FAULTS” BASIS. ASCO DISCLAIMS ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS, AND WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION (1) ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NONINFRINGEMENT, AND (2) ANY WARRANTY REGARDING THE USEFULNESS, SECURITY, RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY, ACCESSIBILITY, QUALITY, SUITABILITY, TRUTH, ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS AND THE CONTENT.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, ASCO AND ITS AFFILIATES AND THEIR RESPECTIVE SUBSIDIARIES, LICENSORS, SERVICE PROVIDERS, SUPPLIERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, MEMBERS, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, ASSIGNS, AND OTHER REPRESENTATIVES (COLLECTIVELY, “ASCO PARTIES”) DISCLAIM AND WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF BUSINESS, REVENUE, PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA, ELECTRONICALLY TRANSMITTED ORDERS OR OTHER ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE) (“DAMAGES”) ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS OR THE CONTENT, EVEN IF ASCO HAS PREVIOUSLY BEEN ADVISED OF, OR REASONABLY COULD HAVE FORESEEN, THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, HOWEVER THEY ARISE, WHETHER IN BREACH OF CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DAMAGES DUE TO: (a) THE USE OF OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS, ANY WEBSITE LINKED TO THE SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS, ANY CONTENT ON THESOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS, OR SUCH OTHER WEBSITES LINKED TO THEM, OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS OR SUCH OTHER WEBSITES; (b) STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA, MALICIOUS OR CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR OR FALSE OR FRAUDULENT TRANSACTIONS; OR (c) THE CONTENT OR INFORMATION YOU MAY DOWNLOAD, USE, MODIFY OR DISTRIBUTE.

In the event you have any dispute with one or more third party as a result of your use of the SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS, or are in any way damaged as a result of any third party in connection therewith, you hereby release ASCO Parties from and covenant not to sue or otherwise make a claim, demand or file any legal action or institute any legal or regulatory proceedings against the ASCO Parties for any Damages of whatever kind or nature, known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, whether foreseeable or not, disclosed or undisclosed.

5.  Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold the ASCO Parties harmless from and against, and shall promptly reimburse them for, any and all losses, claims, damages, settlements, costs, and liabilities of any nature whatsoever (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) to which any of them may become subject arising out of, based upon, as a result of, or in any way connected with, your posting of any User Contribution to a Social Media Channel, including but not limited to any third party claims of infringement or any breach of this Policy.

6. Security and Confidentiality

When posting any content on the Internet, including the Social Media Channels, you should think carefully about disclosing detailed or private information about yourself, your family, or anyone else.  User Contributions may be viewed by the general public.  There are inherent risks in sending any information over the Internet, including the Social Media Channels, including but not limited to the risks of further disclosure or publication, intentional or malicious interception, intrusion, or access.  These risks exist even if information sent through the Social Media Channels is intended for a limited or private audience.  YOU EXPRESSLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU ASSUME ALL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISKS RELATED TO THE SECURITY, PRIVACY, AND CONFIDENTIALITY RISKS INHERENT IN SENDING ANY INFORMATION OVER THE INTERNET INCLUDING THROUGH THE SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS.  ASCO DOES NOT WARRANT OR SAFEGUARD AGAINST ANY DISCLOSURE, PUBLICATION, INTERCEPTION, OR COMPROMISE OF ANY INFORMATION YOU SHARE THROUGH THE SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS.

7. Choice of Law and Forum Selection

This Policy and all matters relating hereto or to the Social Media Channels or the Content shall for all purposes be governed, interpreted, construed, and enforced solely and exclusively in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, United States, without regard to conflicts of law provisions thereof.  You agree that exclusive jurisdiction and venue of any dispute with the ASCO Parties arising out of or in any way relating to this Policy, the Content, or your use of or inability to use the Social Media Channels shall reside in the federal and state courts serving the city of Alexandria, Virginia, United States. You expressly consent to the exercise of personal jurisdiction by such courts and agree that you will not object to jurisdiction of or venue in such courts on the grounds of lack of personal jurisdiction, forum non conveniens, or otherwise.

8.  Changes to this Policy

We reserve the right to update or modify this Policy at any time and from time to time without prior notice.  Any revisions to this Policy will be effective upon posting.  The most recent version of this Policy is available on the Social Media Channels.  You should review this Policy periodically to ensure you are aware of any changes.  If you object to any changes to this Policy, you must cease using the Social Media Channels.  This Policy was last updated on the date indicated at the top of this page.  Your continued use of the Social Media Channels after any changes or revisions to this Policy indicates your agreement to the terms of the revised Policy. 

9.  Glossary

ASCO Parties is defined in Section 4. 

Content. Any and all information or materials made available on the Social Media Channels, including, without limitation, any data, text, software, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages, and other materials, but excluding User Contributions as defined below.

Content Standards are defined and set forth in Section 2.

Platform Policies.  The third party terms of use, privacy policies, and various other terms and conditions applicable to your registration, access, and use of the Social Media Channels on the Social Media Platforms.  The Platform Policies are available at each third party social media or other website that hosts an ASCO Social Media Channel.  Please review them carefully.

Social Media Channels.  ASCO’s publicly facing pages on various third party social media sites, blogs, bulletin boards, networks, and other user-generated content sites, including but not limited to ASCO’s Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube pages, as well as social media channels connected to major initiatives, such as Cancer.net on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube.

Social Media Platforms.  The social media sites, blogs, bulletin boards, networks, and other user-generated content sites owned or operated by third parties, including, but not limited to Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube, on which ASCO Social Media Channels (e.g. the ASCO Facebook page) are hosted.

User Contributions. Information provided by users to be published or displayed on public areas of the Social Media Channels, or transmitted to other users of the Social Media Channels or to third parties.