Our Networks is dedicated to providing a harassment-free environment for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion or technical skill level.

In order to reduce obstacles to participation, we have adopted an explicitly-documented code to communicate our expectations for conduct at the event.

Expected behaviour

We expect event participants or organizers to remain mindful of, and take responsibility for, their speech and behavior. This includes:

  • acting out of respect for others
  • actively listening to others and not dominating discussions
  • respecting physical and emotional boundaries

Unacceptable behaviour

We do not tolerate harassment of event participants or organizers in any form. Harassment includes, but is not limited to:

  • verbal comments that reinforce social structures of domination related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion, technical skill level
  • deliberate intimidation, stalking, following
  • harassing photography or recording (in an online context, this includes screenshots)
  • sustained disruption of talks or other events
  • inappropriate physical contact
  • unwelcome sexual attention and sexual language
  • advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviour

Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. Participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or asked to leave, at the discretion of the organizers.

Scope

This Code of Conduct applies at the event, in the online spaces of the conference, and in public spaces when an individual is representing Our Networks.

Content Moderation Guidelines

To ensure this Code of Conduct is enforceable in an online context across platforms, we have some guidelines about the types of spaces the conference includes.

  • Moderated - one of the organizers or a trained volunteer is present for the full duration of the event actively moderating. The platform provides at least a minimum set of tools for moderation.

  • Partially moderated - either the space is durational and cannot be continuously moderated (but an organizer or a trained volunteer will check in periodically to check on participants and moderate if needed) and/or the space has some moderation tools but they may not be ideal or “complete”.

  • Unmoderated - the space cannot be moderated because of the nature of the platform/artwork/etc please use these spaces at your own risk/discretion, we will do our best to clearly mark them.

For a session to be considered “moderateable” for this conference, the minimum feature set we’re requiring is that the platform or service allows:

  • Moderators to:
    • mute participants (for audio)
    • delete messages that have been posted (in text chats)
    • kick/ban participants if required
  • Users to:
    • use a pseudonym
    • turn off their own microphone/camera
    • leave at any time

    Because of the limits of machine translation, the organizers and volunteers are only able to moderate text written in English, unless arranged in advance.

Enforcement

At events, Our Networks organizers will identify themselves and any incidents can be reported to them directly. Event organizers will be happy to help participants by providing escorts, contacting local law enforcement (only if appropriate and requested), or otherwise assisting those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of an event. We value your participation.

If a participant engages in harassing behaviour, the organizers may take any action they deem appropriate, including warning the offender or expulsion from events and online forums.

If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact an organizer immediately.

Those who wish to report a violation but don’t feel comfortable talking to the organizers online or at an event can email coc@ournetworks.ca, which is currently monitored by Dawn Walker, and will be monitored during the event on an active basis.

Our internal guidelines for enforcing our Code of Conduct are viewable online.

These are adapted from the Toronto Mesh Code of Conduct, which in turn was based on the anti-harassment policy from the Geek Feminism Wiki and draws inspiration from No more rock stars: how to stop abuse in tech communities. The section about expected behaviour is adapted from the Gamma Space Code of Conduct.