OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS GUIDELINES
1). Operation Principles
LINE Official Accounts are operated under the following three principles:
1. Official Accounts shall comply with LINE's policies and the laws and regulations of the countries they service.
2. Official Accounts shall not harm the interests of LINE users.
3. Official Accounts shall not damage LINE's business or credibility.
2). Compliance with Laws and Regulations
LINE does not allow Partners to publish any content through their Official Accounts if the content may impose legal risks on LINE. This includes:
1. Content that violates laws and regulations of the countries they service.
2. Failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations when handling personal information.
3. Content that includes misleading information.
4. Any other cases that LINE deems to be inappropriate.
3). Compliance with the Advertisement Guidelines
Partners must comply with the Advertisement Guidelines.
4). Competing Services
LINE does not allow Partners to publish any content that is deemed to include any services that are the same or similar to those provided by LINE or any other LINE family applications ("Competing Services").
Examples of Competing Services:
• Web portals
• Free call and messaging apps
• Blog services
• Music services and other apps
5). Prohibitions and Restrictions
In order to mitigate legal risks and protect the rights of LINE users, LINE provides guidelines regarding items and language used in messages and posts that are delivered through Official Accounts.
Although messages and posts are not reviewed before being published, they are constantly monitored for potential violations. If an account is found to violate the guidelines, penalties including account suspension may apply these Guidelines apply to any content delivered through LINE Official Accounts, including messages, posts on the account's Official Home, automatic replies, and any other content.
6). Content That is Not Allowed to be Published
1. Content that violates or may violate laws and regulations of the countries the account services.
2. Content that is restricted for sale by laws and regulations of the countries the account services.
3. Content that violates or may violate industry regulations.
4. Content that infringes or may infringe upon intellectual property rights, including copyrights and trademark rights of LINE or other third parties.
5. Content that goes against customs and socially accepted norms, and are contrary to public order and good morals.
6. Content that may harm the mental or physical well-being of young adults.
7. Content that contains sexually explicit material or conveys implications of sexual or obscene acts.
8. Content that may encourage gambling.
9. Content that may defame other people's reputations.
10. Content that may infringe upon other people's privacy.
11. Content that may encourage discrimination or infringe upon human rights.
12. Content that could be interpreted as sexual harassment.
13. Content that may be considered fraudulent or illegal products.
14. Content that exaggerates the effects of products.
15. Content that is extremely violent or that encourages suicide, self-inflicted injury, or drug abuse.
16. Content that is suspected to be related to misanthropic groups.
17. Content that may be unpleasant to other users, such as brutal or grotesque material.
18. Any other content that LINE deems to be inappropriate.
Warnings Regarding Language Used
1. Clearly state the advertiser
Partners should always state the advertiser clearly. When using an image to indicate the advertiser, it should be in an identifiable size. When using content that the Partner does not have the rights to, the Partner should clearly state the name of and relationship with the company that holds the rights to the content.
2. Double contracts
Advertising space belonging to Official Accounts cannot be resold, unless approved by LINE in writing. LINE does not allow any joint advertisements or advertisements that are jointly invested in. In addition, in order to protect users' rights, any advertisements that advertise unrelated third parties are not allowed to be published, unless the following conditions are met:
2.1. The hierarchical relationship between the companies is clearly stated, so as not to mislead users.
2.2. The relationship between the companies is clearly stated.
2.3. The party that provides the advertised products or services is clearly stated.
2.4. LINE Official Account policies are followed when using links to connect to companies other. than the Partner
3. Relevancy of advertisements
Advertisements that advertise unrelated third parties may be published through Collaboration Accounts, which LINE offers as a separate advertisement option.
Pages that are not directly related to advertisements cannot be linked to. Message subjects, main body content and linked pages should all be related, and there should be nothing that looks unnatural to users.
4. App download advertisements
Pages where users can download apps, such as App Store and Google Play, are not allowed to be linked to directly. Partners must link them to a landing page within their websites.
- Apps being advertised may be penalized according to Apple's or Google's policies if rankings change significantly due to the content published on LINE.
- Partners are not allowed to publish advertisements of services that are in competition with LINE.
5. Language that users may confuse with or misinterpret as LINE content
Partners are not allowed to use LINE logos, characters, or other content that may mislead users to think that the content is provided by LINE. Partners should exercise precautions not to infringe on LINE's copyrights, especially when using the LINE characters. Additionally, Partners are not allowed to implicate that LINE guarantees particular products or services, provide any information that may harm LINE or its affiliates, or use, change, or block LINE's intellectual property rights or content without authorization.
6. Language that users may find difficult to understand, or cause apps to malfunction
Partners are not allowed to use language that may hinder a smooth user experience, such as buttons or menus that do not work properly, or that have poorly defined link areas.
7. Using links on smartphones
Partners are not allowed to use links that redirect users to pages that cannot be opened on standard smartphone (iOS, Android) browsers. Partners should check in advance that their link page works properly on smartphones.
Additionally, when redirecting users to external pages via links, Partners should clearly state that the redirected page is not related to LINE, and make sure that users' devices are not infected with viruses when using links to access external pages.
8. Unpleasant language
Partners are not allowed to use language that users may find unpleasant, such as personal attacks or sexually explicit language.
9. Misleading or exaggerated language
Partners are not allowed to use language that exaggerate products or services, or mislead users into thinking that their price is cheaper than the actual price.
When using language such as "World's first," or "Industry's No. 1," the name of the research institute that provided the data and the year in which the research was conducted should be clearly stated in order to prove that the data is true.
10. Language that may encourage gambling
Partners are not allowed to use language that directly express or are associated with receiving real or any other form of money made from gambling. Additionally, Partners are not allowed to publish links that use gambling-related content to attract users, online gambling sites, or sites that provide gambling-related tips.
However, lawful advertisements, such as advertising lotteries permitted in the countries in which the account services are provided, are allowed.
11. Acquisition of personal information
Partners are not allowed to acquire personal information, such as LINE IDs or any other personal information whatsoever as defined by law, using features provided by LINE Official Accounts, such as survey features, ON AIR features, the Timeline comment feature, or any other feature.(This restriction will be exempted in Taiwan; provided, however, that Partners warrant and represent that Partners shall fully comply with Personal Information Protection Act of Taiwan and other applicable laws in any event or case of collecting, processing, and use of personal information.)
12. Language related to handling of personal information acquired through subscriptions or other means
In the case of content that redirects users to external sites in an effort to encourage them to purchase products or services, it should be explicitly indicated that LINE is not related to the redirected site.
Additionally, privacy protection laws of the countries in which the account services are provided must also be followed if the redirected site acquires users' personal information.
Partners are not allowed to excessively encourage users to purchase or sign up for their services.
13. Language related to the use of alcohol or tobacco
Laws of the countries the account services should be followed when publishing content related to the use of alcoholic beverages and tobacco.
14. Language regarding medicine and medical supplies, sanitary aids, and cosmetic products
When publishing content related to medicine and medical supplies, sanitary aids, and cosmetic products, Partners should follow the laws of the countries they service.
15. Changing the name of official accounts
By default, account names cannot be changed once created. However, if it is absolutely necessary due to a company or brand name change, or other extenuating circumstances, Partners may contact their LINE representative to have their account name changed. Please note that account names cannot be changed if the changed name may potentially mislead or cause confusion among users.
16. Changing the profile image
Profile images can be changed, such as when service names or company logos change, or when the UI changes due to LINE's policies. However, please note that LINE may not be able to respond promptly to requests for changes if asked too frequently or urgently.
17. Changing content that has already been published
When correcting messages that have already been sent, it is recommended to clearly state that the message has been corrected. If the Partner is under a contract that charges them by the number of posts made, changing the content will not count as a new post if you notify your LINE representative beforehand. Please note that this is subject to the policies of the countries in which the account services are provided by default.
18. Number of messages sent
Since sending too many messages at once hinders the user experience, LINE recommends using up to three (3) speech bubbles when sending one (1) message. If you are under a contract that charges you by the number of messages sent, speech bubbles that are sent within 3 minutes after the previous speech bubble (these settings can be changed) and a group of speech bubbles sent within six (6) minutes after the previous group are counted as one (1) message, and you will not be additionally charged. Please note that this is subject to the policies of the countries in which the account services are provided by default.
19. Exemption from Liabilities
1. Information that belongs to the user who friended the Official Account, such as the user's account name and LINE ID, and messages sent through Official Account chats should not be disclosed (except those sent via ON AIR and a few other certain features).
2. LINE is a service designed for smartphones (iOS, Android). Although some basic features might work on feature phones, PCs, and smartphones that use operating systems other than iOS and Android, most of the features offered to Official Accounts are not guaranteed to work properly.
3. Official Account features, including the Official Account Manager, may be changed without prior notice. If any Guidelines should change due to changes in a feature, Partners will be notified separately through LINE.
4. Messages cannot be deleted or changed once they are sent.
5. LINE can delete any content in comments or posts on official Homes without prior notice if LINE considers the content to be inappropriate.
6. LINE shall not be held responsible in cases where a Partner causes damage or loss to users or third parties.
20. Restriction of the linked page
Partners are not allowed to use links that redirect users to the pages which are indirectly related to the content published through their Official Accounts or which Partners have no substantial authority to control. The title and text of content published through Partners’ Official Accounts should be related to the redirected page, and it required that the redirected contents should be looked natural for users.
21. Restriction of ON AIR usage
In order to protect user experience, Partners must control every ON AIR within one (1) hour and must send at least one (1) message during such period.
Last updated on November 23, 2017