Category: !announcements
We understand that the TOS is rather generalized, allowing for situations to be reviewed case by case. However, we also understand that some black-and-white guidelines would also be helpful. The staff team has worked together to outline a set of guidelines pertaining to misconduct and consequences of such. Keep in mind, there will always be grey areas for which the team needs to work together to reach decisions of action however these guidelines are intended to help users better understand basic expectations as well as serve as a guideline so the staff team can act more cohesively in such situations to ensure all members feel they are being treated equally. please direct any questions you may have to a CL.
Code of Misconduct
In an attempt to streamline processes and action on the site, the CL team has outlined the following protocols for misconduct and associated action. Please note, misconduct includes but is not limited to, the scenarios below. This is simply an outline to provide guidance to both community leaders and site users.
Offenses are broken up into three levels:
Level 1:
Minor offense that violates the ToS including but not limited to: spamming boards or qns, posting questionable comment on the site, discussing minor illegal actions. (actions that do not involve illegal substances or do not result in harm to any entity or property. Examples: copyright violations, file sharing)
Course of Action:
1st offense-Warning
2nd offense-1 week ban
3rd offense-2 week ban
4th offense-permanent ban
Level 2:
Moderate offense that violates the ToS including but not limited to: harassment of another user that is not remedied by use of the ignore feature, posting another user’s personal information without their consent, posting blatantly inappropriate content on the site, maintaining more than one user account (second account will be disabled, course of action applies to primary account).
Course of Action:
1st offense-1 week ban
2nd offense-2 week ban
3rd offense-permanent ban
Level 3:
Severe offense that violates the ToS including but not limited to: causing screen readers to crash, directly threatening another user, maliciously attempting to compromise or take down the website or any component therein, discussing harmful illegal actions (actions that involve illegal substances, or pose risk to entities or property).
Course of Action:
1st offense-permanent ban
Offense stacking:
In the case a user has an offense from another level, a new violation would result in the course of action above that level. For example, if a user has a level 1 1st offense, then commits a level 2 offense, the course of action would be a one week ban, since there is no warning for level 2 offenses. Another example, if a user commits a level two offense and has a one week ban, committing a level 1 offense would then result in a two week ban because that is the next step up in the course of action.
Unclear situations:
If a CL is unsure if or what level of offense has occurred, they must consult with another CL before enacting a course of action. This should be documented in the disable user comments section.
Permanent bans:
Permanent bans are subject to review by the staff team after two years of the ban. To petition, users may contact the team with a written request as to why they feel the ban should be lifted. Users may submit one petition per year. If approved, users will be under a 30 day probation period, after which their warning count will reset to zero.