matrix-spec-proposals/supporting-docs/guides/2016-01-05-code_of_conduct.md

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# Matrix Code of Conduct

This code of conduct outlines our expectations for participants within the Matrix community, as well as steps for reporting unacceptable behaviour. We are committed to providing a welcoming and inspiring community for all, and expect our code of conduct to be honoured. Anyone who violates this code of conduct may be banned from the community.

This applies to conversation in the #matrix* rooms (#matrix:matrix.org, #matrix-dev:matrix.org, #matrix-spam:matrix.org) and commits and comments relating to any project in the [matrix-org](https://github.com/matrix-org) github space.
 
Our open source community strives to:

* **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 will 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're a world-wide community, so 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’s important to remember that a community where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a productive one.
* **Be careful in the words that we choose**: Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other participants. Harassment and other exclusionary behaviour aren't acceptable.
* **Try to understand why we disagree**: Disagreements, both social and technical, happen all the time. It is important that we resolve disagreements and differing views constructively. Remember that we’re different. The strength of our community comes from its diversity, people from a wide range of backgrounds. Different people have different perspectives on issues. Being unable to understand why someone holds a viewpoint doesn’t mean that they’re wrong. Don’t forget that it is human to err and blaming each other doesn’t get us anywhere. Instead, focus on helping to resolve issues and learning from mistakes.

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## Definitions

Harassment includes, but is not limited to:

- Offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, body size, race, age, regional discrimination, political or religious affiliation
- Unwelcome comments regarding a person’s lifestyle choices and practices, including those related to food, health, parenting, drugs, and employment
- Deliberate misgendering. This includes deadnaming or persistently using a pronoun that does not correctly reflect a person's gender identity. You must address people by the name they give you when not addressing them by their username or handle
- Physical contact and simulated physical contact (eg, textual descriptions like “*hug*” or “*backrub*”) without consent or after a request to stop
- Threats of violence, both physical and psychological
- Incitement of violence towards any individual, including encouraging a person to commit suicide or to engage in self-harm
- Deliberate intimidation
- Stalking or following
- Harassing photography or recording, including logging online activity for harassment purposes
- Sustained disruption of discussion
- Unwelcome sexual attention, including gratuitous or off-topic sexual images or behaviour
- Pattern of inappropriate social contact, such as requesting/assuming inappropriate levels of intimacy with others
- Continued one-on-one communication after requests to cease
- Deliberate “outing” of any aspect of a person’s identity without their consent except as necessary to protect others from intentional abuse
- Publication of non-harassing private communication

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We will not act on complaints regarding:

- Good faith and non-malicious conduct whose object is to ameliorate the conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups including those that are disadvantaged because of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.
- Reasonable communication of boundaries, such as “leave me alone,” “go away,” or “I’m not discussing this with you”
- Refusal to explain or debate social justice concepts
- Communicating in a ‘tone’ you don’t find congenial
- Criticizing racist, sexist, cissexist, or otherwise oppressive behaviour or assumptions

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### Diversity Statement

We encourage everyone to participate and are committed to building a community for all. Although we will fail at times, we seek to treat everyone both as fairly and equally as possible. Whenever a participant has made a mistake, we expect them to take responsibility for it. If someone has been harmed or offended, it is our responsibility to listen carefully and respectfully, and do our best to right the wrong.

Although this list cannot be exhaustive, we explicitly honour diversity in age, gender, gender identity or expression, culture, ethnicity, language, national origin, political beliefs, profession, race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and technical ability. We will not tolerate discrimination based on any of the protected
characteristics above, including participants with disabilities.

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### Reporting Issues

If you experience or witness unacceptable behaviour — or have any other concerns — please report it by contacting us via abuse@matrix.org. All reports will be handled with discretion. In your report please include:

- Your contact information.
- Names (usernames and nicks, real names, and/or pseudonyms) of any individuals involved. If there are additional witnesses, please
include them as well. Your account of what occurred, and if you believe the incident is ongoing. 
- The date and time of the incident (or start of incident).
- Any additional information that may be helpful.

After filing a report, a representative will contact you personally, review the incident, follow up with any additional questions, and make a decision as to how to respond. If the person who is harassing you is part of the response team, they will recuse themselves from handling your incident. If the complaint originates from a member of the response team, it will be handled by a different member of the response team. We will respect confidentiality requests for the purpose of protecting victims of abuse.

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### Attribution & Acknowledgements

This Code of Conduct is based on the [TODO Group](https://twitter.com/todogroup)'s [Open Code of Conduct template](https://github.com/todogroup/opencodeofconduct), but with some modifications.