Our Pledge

 

We pledge to make the Blackout The System community welcoming, safe, and equitable for all. As individual contributors, we are committed to fostering an environment that respects and promotes the dignity, rights, and contributions of all individuals, regardless of characteristics including race, ethnicity, caste, color, age, physical characteristics, neurodiversity, disability, sex or gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, language, philosophy or religion, national or social origin, socio-economic position, level of education, or other status. The same privileges of participation are extended to everyone who participates in good faith and in accordance with this Covenant.

 

As a collective, we are committed to forming initiatives, messaging and behaviors that align with Blackout The System values of peaceful resistance and UNITY across all demographics.

 

We agree to subject ourselves to the sanction of the collective should we fail to uphold these values.

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Encouraged Behaviors

 

While acknowledging differences in social norms, we all strive to meet our community's expectations for positive behavior. We also understand that our words and actions may be interpreted differently than we intend based on culture, background, or native language. With these considerations in mind, we agree to behave mindfully toward each other and act in ways that center our shared values, including:

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1. Respecting the purpose of our community, our activities, and our ways of gathering.

2. Engaging kindly and honestly with others.

3. Respecting different viewpoints and experiences.

4. Taking responsibility for our actions and contributions.

5. Gracefully giving and accepting constructive feedback.

6. Committing to repairing harm when it occurs.

7. Behaving in other ways that promote and sustain the well-being of our community.

8. Behaving and communicating in such a way that aligns with the overarching value of unity and respect for others.

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Restricted Behaviors

 

We agree to restrict the following behaviors in our community. Instances, threats, and promotion of these behaviors are violations of this Code of Conduct.

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1. Stereotyping or discrimination. Characterizing anyone’s personality or behavior on the basis of immutable identities or traits.​​

2. Harassment. Violating explicitly expressed boundaries or engaging in unnecessary personal attention after any clear request to stop.

3. Character attacks. Making insulting, demeaning, or pejorative comments directed at a community member or group of people.

4. Sexualization. Behaving in a way that would generally be considered inappropriately intimate in the context or purpose of the community.

5. Violating confidentiality. Sharing or acting on someone's personal or private information without their permission or operating outside of data security guidelines.

6. Endangerment. Causing, encouraging, or threatening violence or other harm toward any person or group.

7. Behaving in other ways that threaten the well-being of our community.

8. Behaving in a way that promotes or perpetuates division with other collectives.

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Other Restrictions

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1. Misleading identity. Impersonating someone else for any reason, or pretending to be someone else to evade enforcement actions or for disingenuous/bad faith purposes.

2. Failing to credit sources. Not properly crediting the sources of content you contribute, if not your own.

3. Self-promotion in areas outside of designated channels of communication.

4. We affirm the right of every member to express themselves and their opinions freely and openly, however we will not tolerate:

• ​expression that amounts to hatred of another based on race, gender, ethnicity or religion

• speech or action that is violent in nature, inflammatory or intended to incite violence against another

• any misinformation, disinformation or outright untruths

• operating on behalf of the collective illegally or unethically

• statements or expressions that seek to divide our collective, undermine our collective action, are derogatory of another fellow activist or which infringes on the inherent human dignity of another.

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Reporting an Issue

 

Tensions can occur between community members even when they are trying their best to collaborate. Not every conflict represents a code of conduct violation, and this Code of Conduct reinforces encouraged behaviors and norms that can help avoid conflicts and minimize harm.

 

When an incident does occur, it is important to report it promptly. To report a possible violation, message the Team Captain(s) or moderator(s) for the group this has occurred in. If they, for some reason, cannot appropriately address the issue, escalation to a Division Leader should take place.

 

Team Captains and Community Moderators take reports of violations seriously and will make every effort to respond in a timely manner. They will investigate all reports of code of conduct violations, reviewing messages, logs, and recordings, or interviewing witnesses and other participants. Community Moderators will keep investigation and enforcement actions as transparent as possible while prioritizing safety and confidentiality. In order to honor these values, enforcement actions are carried out in private with the involved parties, but communicating to the whole community may be part of a mutually agreed upon resolution.

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Scope

 

This Code of Conduct applies within all community spaces, and also applies when an individual is officially representing the community in public or other spaces. Examples of representing our community include using an official email address, posting via an official social media account, or acting as an appointed representative at an online or offline event.

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Attribution

 

This Code of Conduct is adapted from the Contributor Covenant, version 3.0, permanently available at  https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/3/0/code_of_conduct/

Contributor Covenant is stewarded by the Organization for Ethical Source and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

For answers to common questions about Contributor Covenant, see the FAQ at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/faq.

Translations are provided at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/translations.

Additional enforcement and community guideline resources can be found at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/resources.

The enforcement ladder was inspired by the work of Mozilla’s code of conduct team.