The Internet is a great place to meet people and have great fun. But sadly, just like the "real world", the Internet has dangerous people. Follow these simple rules to make sure your chat time is safe and enjoyable!
Never give your real name, email address, home address, phone number or school/work name to anyone you meet on-line.
Never arrange to meet in person with someone you've met online unless you discuss it first with your parents and an adult goes with you to a very public place.
When someone asks for a private chat or starts to Whisper to you, be extra careful about any information you reveal about yourself: you have no way of knowing who the other person really is.
Young people are urged to alert their parents or another adult if you think you are receiving chat messages that are scary/dirty/offensive.
If someone is harassing or flaming you (posting abusive messages targeted at you) in a chatroom, the best thing to do is to report it to a Chatroom sysop, or email our abuse team, then get out of the chatroom right away.
Don't respond to "flaming". Tip: In the right-hand panel of the chatroom, next to the names of each chatroom user, is a blank checkbox. If you check the box, you will not see any further messages posted by the person.
Choose a genderless QQ nickname. Names like "hotchick" and "toosexy" attract attention.
QQ's chatrooms are moderated. We have a team who monitor the chatrooms and have the power to remove people out of the chatrooms and ban them from coming back.
In addition, QQ uses automated scripts ("bots") to block offensive/racist language in the chatrooms. Our aim is to provide a safe, fun, and community chat space, free of profanity, vulgarity and racism.
If you are a victim of offensive behaviour, save the offending messages and report them to the QQ Abuse team by emailing abuse@qqafrica.com or help@qqafrica.com
If you are in an online situation that has become hostile - quit, or surf elsewhere.
If you have any questions or problems relating to your safety in our chatrooms, please email us at help@qqafrica.com
