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Social Media Terms

Terms and Conditions

These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) govern your use of any and all blogs, message boards, discussion groups, comment/feedback forms, and other online public forums provided or sponsored by Keck Medical Center of USC (including Keck School of Medicine, Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital) (collectively, “we,” “us” or “USC”), including those hosted on third-party social media sites, such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube (collectively, “Online Public Forums”). By making a submission to or accessing any of the Online Public Forums, you accept and agree to be bound by these Terms. USC may at any time revise these Terms and will post revised Terms at www.keckmedicine.org/social-media-terms. Your continued use or accessing of the Online Public Forums following the posting of changed Terms will confirm your acceptance of the revised Terms.

USC welcomes users to submit comments to Online Public Forums, and we look forward to hearing from you. To promote respectful discussion within the Online Public Forums, we request that you be courteous and productive and avoid comments that are profane, obscene, offensive, sexually explicit, inappropriate, inflammatory or otherwise objectionable. Social media often fosters debate of an issue; participants must engage in these exchanges with mutual respect for others’ opinions.

Although USC reserves the right to delete user posts due to content, USC assumes no responsibility for posts submitted by users. You should expect that users may post items that could be offensive, distressing, or inflammatory to you or other users, and you assume any and all risks of reviewing such content. USC is not responsible for any such materials posted. USC requests that you not respond with anger when seeing such a post, but instead alert the administrator of the Online Public Forums to the post, who may, but is not obligated to, take some action. You acknowledge that USC has no obligation to, and does not in its normal course, prescreen, monitor or review the materials posted online. USC does not exert editorial control over any materials posted online.

IMPORTANT NOTE: None of the Online Public Forums is intended to provide professional medical advice or to substitute for professional medical advice. You should NOT use or rely on any information obtained from Online Public Forums, including postings by USC or any other user, to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health or medical condition. USC is under no obligation to monitor the Online Public Forums and the occasional moderators are not health providers. Always consult with your doctor or other qualified health care provider before starting any treatment, medicine, diet, fitness or health program. You should never disregard the medical advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider, or delay in seeking it because of something you have read in any of the Online Public Forums. You acknowledge and agree that any action or non-action by you in reliance upon any information obtained from the Online Public Forums is entirely at your own risk and that under no circumstances will we be responsible or liable in any way for any injury (including death), loss or damage resulting from such reliance by you.

With respect to the privacy of users and their families, please be advised that all user postings to the Online Public Forums will be publicly available on the Internet and therefore publicly accessible without limitation or protection of any kind. You must take full responsibility for protecting your personal information from exposure on the Internet or in the Online Public Forums. Understand that any personal information you publish or share through Online Public Forums will automatically become public information and accessible to others and that you do so entirely and solely at your own risk.

You, and not USC, are solely and entirely responsible and liable for any and all content that you post or otherwise transmit via the Online Public Forums. By accessing or submitting content in any of Online Public Forums, you grant to USC a perpetual, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable license to any content that you post or submit to the Online Public Forums, which includes the right for USC or any other party it designates, to use, copy, transmit, excerpt, publish, distribute, publicly display, create derivative works of, host, index, cache, tag, encode, modify or adapt (including without limitation the right to adapt to streaming, downloading, broadcast, mobile, digital, thumbnail, scanning or other technologies) in any form or media now known or hereinafter developed. By submitting content or posting a comment, you are consenting to its display and publication on the Site and for related uses. Content that, in the sole and absolute judgment of USC, contains any of the following elements is strictly prohibited:


  • Material that we determine is threatening, harassing, obscene, violent, abusive, discriminatory, hateful, defamatory, libelous, slanderous, or hostile towards any individual or entity.
  • Confidential or personal information, including phone numbers, email addresses, or other contact information for yourself or any other individual or entity in the body of your comment.
  • Material that conflicts with any policy of USC or that is inconsistent with USC’s mission or purposes, including political postings.
  • Material that infringes or violates the rights of any person or entity, including rights of privacy, rights of publicity, and intellectual property rights.
  • Material that promotes or advertises a commercial product or solicits business or membership or financial or other support in any business, group or organization except those that are officially sponsored by Keck Medical Center of USC (including Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital).
  • Chain letters, posts that include the same comment multiple times, or otherwise distribute “spam”.
  • Post material or comment content that is “off topic” (i.e., not relating to the topic that is being discussed or commented on).

We reserve the right, though we do not assume any obligation, to screen out or delete any user submission prior to or after posting for any reason, including, without limitation, if we believe or suspect, in our sole discretion and judgment, that the submission is or may be in violation of any of these Terms, or may otherwise expose or subject us to potential liability to any third party. We may block or terminate any posts or even the access of any user who violates these Terms. USC is not responsible for the content posted or transmitted through the Online Public Forums by any user.

We further reserve the right to change or discontinue the content on the Online Public Forums at any time and for any reason, including discontinuing our participation or the availability of any feature, functionality or content, without notice and with no liability to USC.

We also reserve the right to ban future posts or participation from any user who repeatedly violates any of the above restrictions.  We may enact such bans by refusing posts from specific email addresses or IP addresses, or through other means as necessary.

You are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your user name and password to the Online Public Forums and for prohibiting any other person from using your login information or viewing content on the Online Public Forums using your login credentials. You are solely responsible and liable for any use of your login credentials in connection with the Online Public Forums. You represent and warrant that you are at least 18 years old.

You must not use the Online Public Forums, or any data or services provided through the Online Public Forums, in a manner that could damage, disable or impair the services or content. You must not attempt to gain unlawful or unauthorized access to the administration of the Online Public Forums, the computer systems or networks connected to any server associated with the Online Public Forums through hacking, password mining, or any other improper or illegal means.

USC may post links to other sites, advertisements, reference materials or lists of resources of third parties (collectively, “Third Party Resources”) to the Online Public Forums, but USC has no responsibility and accepts no liability for the content or availability of the Third Party Resources. The Third Party Resources are provided solely for the convenience of users and the inclusion of the Third Party Resources should not be interpreted as any sort of endorsement by USC. You agree to assume all risks associated with viewing or obtaining information from the Third Party Resources and are responsible for any losses or damage that you may suffer as a result of the Third Party Resources.

The Online Public Forums may operate on other social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube, for example. In addition to these Terms, you are subject to those entities’ terms of service.

Information and content on the Online Public Forums may be protected by trademark, copyright and other laws. Except as expressly provided in these Terms, nothing contained in the Terms will be interpreted as conferring by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right under any patent, trademark or copyright of USC or any third party. You are not permitted to use any trademark, logo, trade dress or other intellectual property of USC without the prior written consent of USC.

USC grants you a non-exclusive, limited and revocable license to view and use the Online Public Forums. You may view content only for your personal and non-commercial purposes. You may not modify, use, download, upload, print, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, post, transmit, modify, adapt, or distribute any content in whole or in part without USC’s express written authorization.

USC is obligated to comply with governmental requests, subpoenas, and court orders and has the right to protect other users, or to ensure the integrity of operations and, for these reasons, USC may monitor, access, limit and disclose any information and content it considers necessary or appropriate, including, without limitation, account information (name, email address, etc.), IP addressing, usage history, posted content and data analytics.

USC makes no representations, warranties, or assurances as to the accuracy, availability or completeness of the information provided in the Online Public Forums. The Online Public Forums and all related content, products and services are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. USC expressly disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non‐infringement. USC makes no warranty that: (a) the Online Public Forums will meet your individual objectives or needs; (b) the Online Public Forums will be available on an uninterrupted, timely, secure or error‐free basis; (c) the information that may be obtained from the use of the Online Public Forums will be accurate or reliable; or (d) the quality of any content, products, services, or other material obtained by you through the Online Public Forums will meet your expectations. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so the above exclusions may not apply to you.

USC reserves the right to disclose information to satisfy any legal, regulatory or governmental request or to make a report to any governmental agency. In its sole discretion, USC reserves the right to refuse to post or remove a post, but because USC does not monitor the Online Public Forums at all times, it is impossible to prescreen, review or monitor every post before it appears on the Web site.

You release USC, its physicians, faculty, officers, directors, employees, agents and successors from claims, demands, any and all losses, damages, rights, and actions of any kind including, without limitation, for personal injuries, death, and property damage, that are either directly or indirectly related to or arise from: (i) the Online Public Forums, including any interactions with other users that may occur off the Online Public Forums; (ii) any incorrect or inaccurate content posted on the Online Public Forums, whether caused by other users, USC, a third party, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized on the Online Public Forums; (iii) the conduct of any user or third party, or the conduct or inaction of USC, (iv) these Terms, or (v) any breach of your privacy or personally identifiable information or any other right or interest you may have.

If you need to notify USC regarding some aspect of an Online Public Forum, or to ask to be removed, please send an email to social@med.usc.edu.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, in no event will USC be responsible for any incidental damages, consequential damages, exemplary damages of any kind, lost goodwill, lost profits, lost business and/or any indirect economic damages whatsoever regardless of whether such damages arise from claims based upon contract, negligence, tort (including strict liability or legal theory), a breach of any warranty or provision of these Terms, and regardless of whether you were advised or had reason to know of the possibility of incurring such damages in advance.

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold USC and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, and other partners and employees, harmless from any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including reasonable attorney’s fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your participation in the Online Public Forums or your violation of these Terms.

These Terms contain the entire understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersede all prior agreements, oral or written, and all other communications between the parties relating to this subject matter.

If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason, the remainder of the Terms shall remain in full force and effect disregarding such unenforceable or invalid provision. Any failure of USC to enforce any right under any provision of these Terms shall not be construed or act as a waiver of USC’s subsequent right to enforce any of the provisions contained herein.

All disputes arising under or in connection with these Terms or the Online Public Forums shall be submitted to Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services (“JAMS”) or successor organization for binding arbitration in Los Angeles County by a single arbitrator who shall be a former California Superior Court judge. Such dispute shall be governed by California law. The arbitrator shall be selected by JAMS in an impartial manner determined by it. Except as may be otherwise provided herein, the arbitration shall be conducted under the California Arbitration Act, Code of Civil Procedure §1280 et seq. The parties shall have the discovery rights provided in Code of Civil Procedure §§1283.05 and 1283.1. The arbitration hearing will be commenced within 180 days of the filing of this application with JAMS by any party hereto, and a decision shall be rendered by the arbitrator within (30) days of the conclusion of the hearing. The arbitrator shall have complete authority to render any and all relief, legal and equitable, appropriate under California law and this Agreement. The arbitrator shall award costs of the proceeding, including reasonable attorney’s fees, to the party determined to have substantially prevailed.