Code of Conduct and Ethics

This Code of Conduct and Ethics is an Open Educational Resource (OER) licensed under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 license. It is free to download, retain, reuse, revise, remix and redistribute. Please use at your own discretion and attribute this work using the information at the end of this document.

Purpose

A primary goal of this community is to be inclusive of the contributions of its participants, with their varied and diverse backgrounds. As such, we are committed to providing a friendly, safe and welcoming environment for all, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ability, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and religion (or lack thereof).

This is not an exhaustive list of things that you cannot do. Rather, take it in the spirit in which it is intended — a guide to make it easier to enrich all of us and the technical communities in which we participate.

This code of conduct and ethics outline our expectations for all those who participate in our online community, in face-to-face meetings and in all communications, as well as the consequences for unacceptable behaviour.

We invite all those who participate in community activities to help us create safe and positive experiences for everyone.

Creating a Welcoming, Inclusive and Ethical Culture

Communities mirror the societies in which they exist and positive action is essential to counteract the many forms of inequality and abuses of power that exist in society.

If you see someone who is making an extra effort to ensure our community is welcoming and friendly, and encourages all participants to contribute to the fullest extent, please recognize their efforts.

Expected Behaviour

The behaviours outlined below are expected and requested of all community members.

Relationship and conduct with each other:

• Be friendly and patient.
• Be welcoming. We strive to be a community that welcomes and supports people of all backgrounds and identities. This includes, but is not limited to members of any race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, colour, immigration status, social and economic class, educational level, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, size, family status, political belief, religion, and mental and physical ability.
• Be considerate. Your work can be used by other people, and you in turn will depend on the work of others. Any decision you take will affect users and colleagues, and you should take those consequences into account when making decisions. Remember that we are a world-wide community, and you might not be communicating in someone else’s primary language.
• Be respectful. Not all of us will agree all the time, but disagreement is no excuse for poor behaviour and poor manners. We might all experience some frustration now and then, but we cannot allow that frustration to turn into a personal attack. It is important to remember that a community where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a productive one. Members of the community should be respectful when dealing with other members as well as with people outside this particular community.
• Be careful in the words that you choose. We are a community of professionals and we conduct ourselves professionally. Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other participants. Harassment and other exclusionary behaviour are not acceptable. This includes, but is not limited to:
• Threats or abusive language (including tone) directed against another person.
• Discriminatory jokes and language.
• Posting sexually explicit or violent material.
• Posting (or threatening to post) other people’s personally identifying information (“doxing”).
• Personal insults, especially those using racist, body mass or sexist terms.
• Unwelcome sexual attention.
• Advocating for or encouraging any of the above behaviour.
• Harassment (including repeated harassment) of others. In general, if someone asks you to stop, then stop.
• When we disagree, try to understand why. Disagreements, both social and technical, happen all the time and this community is no exception. It is important that we resolve disagreements and differing views constructively. Remember that we are different. The strength of this community comes from its varied people from a wide range of backgrounds. Different people have different perspectives on issues. Being unable to understand why someone holds a viewpoint does not mean that they are wrong. Do not forget that it is human to err and blaming each other does not get us anywhere. Instead, focus on helping to resolve issues and learning from mistakes.
• Moderators, chairpersons and facilitators reserve the right to delete excessive self-promotional or commercial posts in discussion channels.
• Content that has been identified as objectionable, inappropriate or off-topic will be subject to deletion by community moderators, chairpersons and facilitators. Posters or sharers of content will receive a warning and risk being blocked from the community if unacceptable behaviour persists.
• As a community, we expect justice and fairness by all, to all.
• The work of the community will be carried out with care for all involved.
• The processes established by the community formally, by precedent or design, will respect the dignity of all.
• This community expects honesty from all members or participants in an open and clear exchange, using language that is clear and respectful. There must be an honest sharing of information.
• This community expects there to be respect for both individuals and the community.
• Community members respect all our cultures, including having respect for our environment and personal privacy.

Ethical standards:

• A member of this community must not accept any reward, benefit or gift from any person or body that creates conflict of financial or business interest for such member or any family of that member or any business partner of that member, or that is intended or is an attempt to corruptly influence that member in the exercise of her or his duties or responsibilities.
• A member of this community must not use her or his influence in such a manner as to improperly advantage the personal or private financial or business interests of themselves, or any family of that member or any business partner or associate of that member.
• A member must not engage in any personal or private financial or business activity, which leads to her or his using information or knowledge acquired in her or his dealings with others which is not available in the public domain, in such a manner as to improperly advantage the personal or private financial or business interests of such member or any family of that member or any business partner or associate of that member.
• A member must declare any direct personal or private financial or business interest that that member or any family of that member or any business partner of that member may have in a matter or withdraw from the proceedings of that committee or forum when that matter is considered or decided on.
• A member must not lobby for or receive any remuneration, reward, favour, benefit or gift for that member or for the family of that member or the business partner or associate of that member, for making such representation as a member on behalf of any person or body.

Consequences of Unacceptable Behaviour

Unacceptable behaviour by any community member, including those with decision-making authority, will not be tolerated. Members who are accused of unacceptable behaviour are called upon to change the relevant behaviour immediately or withdraw from the community.

If a community member engages in unacceptable behaviour, the moderators, chairpersons and/or facilitators may take any action deemed appropriate, up to and including a temporary ban or permanent expulsion from the community without warning.

Reporting Guidelines

If you are subject to or witness unacceptable behaviour, or have any other concerns, please notify the secretariat of the community as soon as possible.

License and attribution

This work is licensed to the public under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

This adaptation titled: Code of Conduct and Ethics, by Paul G. West (the “Adapter”), downloadable from https://tinyurl.com/4rhhdfvj is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 open license.

The Adapter modified the original work. This work is adapted from: Slack/Code of Conduct, by Creative Commons, https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/Slack/Code_of_Conduct, shared under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 open license. The Slack/Code of Conduct, by Creative Commons was adapted from: Citizen Code of Conduct by the Stumptown Syndicate, https://github.com/cczona/code-of-conduct-diffinator/blob/master/stumptown-syndicate-2013.md, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike (CC-BY-SA) license. Portions of text were derived from the Django Code of Conduct and the Geek Feminism Anti-Harassment Policy.

Inspiration for this work has been drawn from: Respect and Research: Lessons from the San Code of Ethics, Carla Bernardo, https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2017-05-23-respect-and-research-lessons-from-the-san-code-of-ethics, shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives open license, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/

Inspiration for this work has been drawn from: Code of Ethical Conduct (5th Parliament), the South African Government, https://pmg.org.za/page/code-of-ethical-conduct, shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 South Africa open license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/za/

22 May 2021