Fosstodon Community Statement
Official statement on cleaning house, owning past mistakes, reaffirming support for marginalized folks and fair treatment for everyone.
Hi all, Gina here 👋
I would like to start this post by emphasizing the following: two things can be true at the same time.
Key points in this post:
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I reject our former moderator’s views and I believe our former admins could have responded more thoughtfully. I’d like to affirm Fosstodon’s commitment to being a welcoming and inclusive place for tech and FOSS enthusiasts from any background. This 100% includes people from marginalized communities.
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I also need to state that our former admins were treated poorly and that this isn’t okay. Our moderators are bound by our Code of Conduct (CoC). This means that they are responsible for upholding it, but protected by it as well.
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We’re committed to doing better. This includes practical measures, but also occasional conversations about the tension between freedom of speech and moderation. We promise to do our best, please keep holding us accountable.
What happened
Recently, it was reported to us that a now former Fosstodon moderator, on a separate platform, took part in harmful engagement towards marginalized communities. We do not support or condone behavior, on any platform, that targets, dehumanizes, or disrespects marginalized communities. Regardless of whether a diverse and experienced moderator team balances out the views of one individual mod, participation in such behavior - whether on or off Fosstodon - undermines the inclusive space we are trying to build.
Fosstodon strives to be a welcoming and inclusive space for tech and FOSS enthusiasts from all backgrounds. This absolutely includes people from marginalized communities. I acknowledge that the initial response from our former admins could have been more thoughtful and better communicated. I understand that this left many feeling unsupported and hurt. Genuinely, I’m very sorry about that. It shouldn’t have happened.
Protecting people
I want to be clear: our server stands in solidarity with marginalized communities. Fosstodon’s Code of Conduct is meant to protect every member from harassment and abuse. No one should ever feel unwelcome here because of their identity or background. I deeply regret that the situation with our former moderator caused pain and that this wasn’t handled adequately. The new team will be committed to preventing this from happening again.
Now.. remember when I said two things can be true at the same time?
It’s important to acknowledge that, in the wake of these events, our former admins were also treated poorly. Kev and Mike experienced harassment and unfair personal attacks, and that was and is not acceptable. No one - regardless of their role - should be subjected to hostility. From now on, the protections outlined in our Code of Conduct will apply to the new team as well. Disagreements can be handled without name calling and abuse. Yes, the admins and mods should be held to a higher standard, but we all deserve to feel safe and respected.
Doing better
The past few days I’ve been scrolling non-stop through the fediverse, listening to your opinions, reading countless threads, posting about what’s happening, responding to people’s scepticism, learning from our former admins and current mods, chatting with admins from other Mastodon servers, and hopefully keeping most of you informed. I’m committed to learning from the past and doing better.
Some of the steps being taken:
- A new admin and moderator team will be formed, with clear guidelines.
- Our new team will be asked to adhere and live up to our CoC both on Fosstodon and externally.
- All moderators and admins will receive training on fair and inclusive moderation according to the CoC.
- We will try to improve transparency around how we handle reports.
- We will try to improve our feedback process. In addition to our existing report channels, we’ll experiment with Fider, an opensource user feedback platform. This way your feedback doesn’t get lost in threads of toots.
- There will always be tension between freedom of speech and moderation. This will be an ongoing conversation with Fosstodon users and the new team.
Please know that the new team is open to your feedback and reports at any time. There will be a future blogpost about reporting, moderating and checks and balances. If you see behavior that concerns you, or if you have ideas on how we can improve Fosstodon, we want to hear from you. Your voice matters.
Next steps
Sorry that this message took a while. I needed time to structure my thoughts and to make sure that we have plans, not just words. I’d like to thank everyone who stayed, trusted my efforts, and offered words of support. I’m looking forward to working with the new team, which is in the process of being formed. As I said in my previous post, I’m committed to keeping the original intent of the server alive; to be a welcoming, safe and inclusive place for tech and FOSS enthusiasts. Please keep holding me and the team accountable.
Thank you for listening <3