We as a group have had a code of conduct for quite some time. Anyone who has attended a gathering has seen some version of this. But it’s been vague and not obviously posted anywhere to read and follow, so here it is: our official policy for discussion and behavior.
As is our rule for attending a gathering, people make mistakes. If you break any of these rules, you’ll have a chance to apologize and make amends. If there is an argument, anyone who wants to participate in reconciliation in good faith is welcome to do so, moderated by an admin if necessary. Those who cannot follow this policy (and I don’t mean mistakes and disagreements followed by civil apology here, I mean serious violations of this policy) will be given a first warning. After that they will be asked to leave, and their attendance to other CA Jedi events and groups will be suspended, with the ability to appeal.
Our priorities are keeping this a space where all members can grow and learn, and feel supported as their whole self. Trolling, arguments in bad faith, and content that is intentionally disrespectful or bigoted without immediate apology after a warning will result in a ban. (updated as of 7/31)
1.Act like Jedi! That means doing your best to deescalate, stay calm, and assume best intentions with your fellow Jedi.
2.Absolutely no sharing of information outside of the group without the explicit consent of the original sharer. Please especially do not share private information or confidences with people outside of this group, even if those people are mentioned.
3.If you have a personal issue with another Jedi in the group that you feel cannot be resolved between the two of you, please PM Katie Mock. This group is not a space for public call-outs. If it is behavior that needs to be stopped immediately (i.e. dangerous, sexually explicit, or predatory behavior) please contact an admin immediately. If you are not sure, please bring your issue to an admin first. If you have a problem with something someone said or posted, please also go to an admin first.
4. California Jedi is an Intersectional organization; we do not tolerate transphobia, homophobia, sexism, ableism, racism, fatphobia, or any other kind of prejudice against others. Any discussion or debate that touches on these issues must put the emotional well-being of real people in the group before any kind of ideological debate. This goes double for people with privilege on that topic–people’s life or death issues are not a fun mental exercise for debate.
5. Absolutely no editing of comments after the fact. This deeply undermines the trust of your fellow posters if you go back and change what you said, especially during an argument. Similarly, no deleting of comments. Mods will decide if something should be deleted or not. If you do go back in and edit, add ETA: a description of your edits (e.g. ETA: typos! or ETA: Sorry, hit enter before i was done posting!)
6. No saving or recording of information from this group (this includes copypasting posts, sharing them outside the group, or screencaptures of the content) without explicit consent of the original poster, and any commenters pictured.
7. We sometimes talk about intense issues here, so this is a reminder to provide warnings! Just like movies have ratings and explanations of those ratings (violence, sex, etc), consider the factors that might make someone not enjoy what you post, and let them make their own informed choice on whether to watch or read that content by describing the possibly disturbing factors.An effective way is with content warnings (CW) and trigger warnings (TW). For example, writing “CW: gender equality” or “TW: sexual assault” before the body of the post.
8. Playing devil’s advocate on issues of actual weight is not the way we debate here. Asking questions about something or some opinion you don’t understand in good faith is the better route.
9. When your conversation partner steps away or asks you to stop, you stop. If you feel you can’t continue to have a useful and relatively civil debate, step away. If the other person does not let it go, step away and bring it up with them later, or an admin.
10. We must resist making assumptions about each other’s motivations. For debate to be useful, we have to assume best intentions.
11. Similarly, believe people about their experiences, and take their feelings seriously. This is not a place where emotion invalidates argument. We are not having a ‘who is the better vulcan’ competition.