Page: Code of conduct for technical spaces

This is a code of conduct for Wikimedia technical spaces. It applies both within physical spaces, such as Wikimedia technical events and Wikimedia technical presentations in other events, and virtual spaces (MediaWiki.org, wikitech.wikimedia.org, Phabricator, Gerrit, technical mailing lists, technical IRC channels, and Etherpad).

Principles

In the interest of fostering an open and welcoming community, we are committed to making participation in Wikimedia technical projects a respectful and harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sex, sexual orientation, disability, neuroatypicality, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, political affiliation, or religion.

Technical skills and community status make no difference to the right to be respected and the obligation to respect others. Newcomers and other contributors with limited experience in our community deserve a welcoming attitude and constructive feedback. Prolific contributions and technical expertise are not a justification for lower standards of behavior.

Unacceptable behavior

Harassment and other types of inappropriate behavior are unacceptable in all public and private Wikimedia technical spaces. Examples include but are not limited to:

Personal attacks, violence, threats of violence, or deliberate intimidation.
Offensive, derogatory, or discriminatory comments.
Gratuitous or off-topic use of sexual language or imagery.
Inappropriate or unwanted attention, touching, or physical contact (sexual or otherwise).
Inappropriate or unwanted public or private communication, following, or any form of stalking.
Unwanted photography or recording.
Disclosure of a person's identity or other private information without their consent.
Inappropriate or unwanted publication of private communication.
Trolling, for example by sustained disruption, interruption, or blocking of community collaboration.

Reports of unacceptable behavior must be done in good faith to defend potential victims and to restore a friendly environment. Accusations of unacceptable behavior against potential victims or reporters done as a tactic to introduce more tension or confusion are unacceptable themselves.

Report a problem

In case of threats of harm and other urgent situations, notify the relevant authorities first (if possible) and email the Wikimedia Foundation via emergencywikimedia.org (more information).

People who experience or observe unacceptable behavior are encouraged to follow any of these steps:

Ask the person who is behaving unacceptably to stop. Make them aware of this Code of Conduct.
Report the problem to the administrators, maintainers, or designated contacts of the space where the problem is happening.
Report the problem directly to the Code of Conduct Committee via techconductwikimedia.org. You can also send a report to the Committee if you reported an incident elsewhere but were not satisfied with the response.

Project administrators and maintainers have the right and are expected to take action on any communication or contribution that violates this Code of Conduct.

Reports can be as short as a notification with a link, but more information will help us understand what is happening. You can include:

Your contact information (e.g. Wikimedia and Phabricator usernames), if you want to identify yourself
Your account of the incident:
- Where and when it happened
- A description of the unacceptable behavior
- Who was involved and who saw it happen
- Whether the incident is ongoing
Any additional information that will help the committee fully understand the problem, such as previous incidents or special circumstances
Links to public records of the incident, if any
Screenshots showing what happened

All reports will be processed confidentially.

Go to Code of conduct for technical spaces/Cases to learn about how reports are processed.

Attribution and re-use

This Code of Conduct is adapted from the Contributor Covenant (revision 49054013), the jQuery Code of Conduct (revision 91777886), the Open Code of Conduct (v1.0), and the Citizen Code of Conduct, along with the WMF Friendly space policy. Text from the Contributor Covenant and the jQuery Code of Conduct is used under the MIT License. The text from the Open Code of Conduct is used under a Creative Commons Attribution license. The text from the Citizen Code of Conduct is used under a Creative Commons Share-alike Attribution license. The overall text is under MediaWiki.org's standard license (CC BY-SA 3.0).

We value each other's contributions and each contributor's commitment to making our technical spaces friendly spaces for everyone. We encourage other projects to adopt and adapt this code of conduct regardless of whether they use Wikimedia technical infrastructure.

Page: Code of conduct for technical spaces/Cases

FIXME: this content belongs to Code of conduct for technical spaces/Cases but it is drafted here to keep the discussion in one place -- see discussion.

For instructions to report a problem, see Code of conduct for technical spaces#Report a problem.

Handling reports

Reports will receive immediate attention from the Code of Conduct Committee. The Committee will maintain a private log, which is used as described below.

For a simple case (e.g. a first offense or a minor violation in a single space), a single committee member can take one of these actions on their own:
1. Defer to the space itself.
2. Issue a public or private reprimand directly.
3. Decide not to take action.
More complex cases may require the Committee to investigate, eventually contacting any individuals involved and/or related administrators or project maintainers. The Committee must get consent from the reporter before revealing any confidential information (including the reporter's identity). The full Committee can always overrule a response by an individual member.
In case of even more complicated or urgent matters, or if the Committee is unable to reach consensus, the report can be transferred to the Wikimedia Foundation Developer Relations team.

After the initial outcome, the reporter will be notified. The initial outcome must always be logged, even if action is deferred or declined. Both the notification and logging must be done regardless of whether the initial response is by a single member or the group.

After being notified of the outcome, the reporter or alleged offender may raise objections to the resolution. These will be considered by the committee, which may alter the outcome. If the outcome is altered, the new outcome will be logged. When the committee begins enforcing a decision, that is also logged.

Responses and resolutions

Possible responses by the full committee to a reported breach of the Code of Conduct may include:

Taking no further action, if the committee determines no violation occurred.
Defer to the space involved (e.g. MediaWiki.org admins in the case of an incident on MediaWiki.org, or event organizers for a hackathon), if they seem best-equipped to handle it.
A private reprimand from the committee to the individual(s) involved. In this case, the group chair will deliver that reprimand to the individual(s) over email, copying the group.
A public reprimand. In this case, the group chair will deliver that reprimand in the same venue that the violation occurred (e.g. in IRC for an IRC violation; email for an email violation). The group may choose to publish this message elsewhere for posterity.
An imposed break (e.g. asking someone to "take a week off" from a technical mailing list or technical IRC channel). The group chair will communicate this imposed break to the individual(s). They'll be asked to take this break voluntarily, but if they don't agree then a temporary ban may be imposed to enforce this break.
A temporary or permanent ban from some or all Wikimedia technical spaces. The group will maintain records of all such bans so that they may be reviewed in the future, extended to new Wikimedia technical forums, or otherwise maintained.
A request for a public or private apology. The chair will deliver this request.
Project maintainers who do not follow the Code of Conduct may be removed from their positions of responsibility, temporarily or permanently.

In some cases we may determine that a public statement will need to be made. If that is the case, the identities of all victims and reporters will remain confidential unless those individuals instruct us otherwise.

Appealing a resolution

Only resolutions (such as bans) that last 3 months or longer may be appealed by the reported offender. Reported victims can always appeal. To appeal a decision of the committee, the reported offender or reported victim may contact the Developer Relations team at developer-relationswikimedia.org and they will review the case. Until an appeal is resolved, the prior resolution remains fully in effect.

Page: Code of conduct for technical spaces/Committee

FIXME: this content belongs to Code of conduct for technical spaces/Committee but it is drafted here to keep the discussion in one place -- see discussion.

The Code of Conduct Committee is a team of five trusted individuals with diverse affiliations responsible for general enforcement of the Code of conduct for Wikimedia technical spaces. Committee members are in charge of processing complaints, discussing with the parties affected, agreeing on resolutions, and following up on their enforcement. At the committee's discretion, it can also delegate complex issues to the Wikimedia Foundation's Developer Relations team, transferring the responsibility of their resolution.

The Committee determines its own procedures, subject to the duty to act fairly.

Diversity

Diversity among Committee members is encouraged, as a way to promote fairness and independence in their decisions. Members need not be formally part of any organization, and the Committee cannot have all members affiliated to the same employer. Members are expected to have complementary participation in different technical spaces, to assure a good knowledge of our community.

Confidentiality

Committee members and anyone else joining the Committee's deliberations on a case may not disclose private information, except when required by procedures of the Code of Conduct or the Law.

Conflict of interest

Members of the committee must not participate in a decision if doing so would place them in a conflict of interest.

Creation and renewal of the Committee

Self-nomination of candidates

The nomination period for new members of the Committee lasts one month. During the first two weeks, people can self-nominate and discuss the candidates. During the remainder of the month, only discussion is permitted. Feedback about candidates can be provided publicly, or privately to the group choosing the next committee.

In their nomination, candidates must commit to comply with the full Code of Conduct, and they can include an initial statement. All candidates must identify to the Wikimedia Foundation.

Selection of new members

The initial Committee is selected by the Developer Relations team after the first nomination period, and remains without changes during one year. From that point, the Committee elects their new members by a majority vote every six months. Up to four committee members can be re-elected.

After a new Committee is chosen, they elect a chair.

Resignation and suspension

Committee members can resign at any time. A member not meeting their obligations can be suspended by agreement of the other four members. In case of a vacancy, the Committee should choose a new member as soon as possible.