United States Transhumanist Party / Transhuman Party (USTP)

Guidelines for Community Conduct

Pertaining to the “Transhumanist Party” Facebook Group and the USTP Website

Version 1.0 – Released August 16, 2019

A.  Statement of Purpose

These guidelines make it clear that communities may self-regulate. This means that asking people to follow community guidelines is not itself a violation of the spirit or intent of our community. We are making this clear, and it is important to make clear, because the first thing that trolls often attempt to do is put this into question. Subsequently the following agreements bind this document:

1. All members of the community are expected to abide by behavioral norms.

2. It is acceptable to draw boundaries against those who are impeding a venue’s community guidelines.

3. There is nothing wrong with this. All communities should be able to create and enforce guidelines.

B. Introduction

1. This code of conduct outlines our expectations for participants within our shared space, as well as steps to reporting unacceptable behavior. Expectations are neither rights nor privileges. Anyone who violates this code of conduct may face restrictions, including temporary and permanent banning from the community and all community events.

2. These guidelines are being implemented to ensure that every member and contributor is treated with respect, and that the United States Transhumanist Party Facebook group (called “Transhumanist Party”) and the United States Transhumanist Party / Transhuman Party website remain venues for productive, respectful, and responsible discourse.

3. All individuals within the United States Transhumanist Party Facebook group and/or commenting on the United States Transhumanist Party / Transhuman Party website must acknowledge that every member of the United States Transhumanist Party / Transhuman Party (USTP) deserves to be here, and that every USTP member has the right to participate in our community without fear of harassment or discrimination. For any non-USTP members, participation is a privilege and is revocable at any time. However, any non-USTP member who happens to be present within the Facebook group or commenting on the USTP website still has the right not to be subjected to harassment or discrimination based on any attribute other than USTP membership status. (For instance, a non-USTP member may not have the same voting prerogatives or influence on the conduct of the USTP as a USTP member might, but still has the protection of the other basic expectations within these community guidelines.)

4. Remember, harassment is not tolerated, and you are empowered to politely engage when you or others are disrespected.

5. In the case that individuals do not adhere to the community guidelines, community moderators will be empowered to engage in the following tactics:

• Remove items that violate community standards
• Request that individuals change their behavior via private and/or public communication.
• If these requests/warnings fail, to follow the procedure for blocking or removing a member elaborated in § G.

6. USTP leadership reserves the right to amend these guidelines and to publish amended versions thereof at any future time and at its sole discretion.

C. Moderator Expectations

1. 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 as fairly and equitably as possible.

2. Whenever a participant has made a mistake, we expect that participant to take responsibility for it.

3. If someone has been harmed, it is our aspiration to listen carefully and respectfully, and do our best to right the wrong.

4. Although this list cannot be exhaustive, we will not tolerate discrimination based on age, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, race, color, religious affiliation or lack thereof (as long as individuals of that religious affiliation or lack thereof practice toleration themselves), national origin, or pregnancy. We honor diversity among our membership.

D.  Group Member Best Practices

As a member of the Transhumanist Party Facebook group and/or commentator on the USTP website, you are encouraged to adopt the following best practices:

1. Be friendly and patient.
2. Be welcoming: We strive to be a community that welcomes and supports people of all backgrounds and identities who may consider themselves to be transhumanists.
3. Be considerate: Any decision you take will affect users and colleagues, and you should take those consequences into account when deciding how to interact with your fellow group members.
4. Be respectful: Not all of us will agree all the time, but disagreement is no excuse for poor behavior and poor manners. We might all experience some frustration now and then, but we cannot allow that frustration to turn into a personal attack.
5. 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.
6. Respect each other’s privacy.

E. Harassment Defined

Harassment of any kind is not tolerated. Harassment includes, but is not limited to:

1. Egregious comments related to age, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, race, color, religious affiliation or lack thereof, national origin, or pregnancy. The determination of what constitutes an egregious comment is at the sole discretion of USTP leadership. Pursuant to Section III, Operating Principle 2, of the USTP Constitution, the USTP does not prohibit criticism of “any ideas or behavior which are contrary to reason, morality, common sense, or the principles and objectives of the Transhumanist Party Core Ideals and Platform.” Accordingly, the prohibition against egregious comments based on the above attributes should not be construed as a prohibition against criticism of behaviors or ideas. Merely expressing an intellectual disagreement or a different worldview or attempting to offer constructive criticism of another individual’s behavior would not constitute an egregious comment.
2. Deliberate misgendering. This includes deadnaming or persistently using a pronoun that does not correctly reflect a person’s gender identity.
3. Deliberate mislabeling. You must address people by the name they give you when not addressing them by their username or handle.
4. Threats of violence, both physical and psychological.
5. Incitement of violence towards any individual, including encouraging a person to commit suicide or to engage in self-harm.
6. Deliberate intimidation.
7. Stalking or following. This includes virtual following (locating a user on other web venues in order to continue unwelcome contact).
8. Harassing photography or recording, including logging online activity for harassment purposes.
9. Unwelcome sexual attention, including gratuitous or off-topic sexual images or behavior.
10. Pattern of inappropriate social contact, such as requesting/assuming inappropriate levels of intimacy with others.
11. Continued one-on-one communication after requests to cease.
12. Deliberate “outing” of any aspect of a person’s identity without their consent except as necessary to protect others from intentional abuse.
13. Publication of non-harassing private communication (not including conversation that leads into harassing conversation).

F. Reporting Issues

1. If you experience or witness unacceptable behavior—or have any other concerns—please report it by flagging the post or comment in question.

2. If the unacceptable behavior takes place in private messages or is otherwise not ‘flaggable,’ please contact a moderator or administrator of the group. In such situations, you are encouraged to provide screenshots as evidence.

3. All reports will be handled with discretion.

4. A decision will be made as to how to respond, with the decision of the USTP leadership being final and binding. We will respect confidentiality requests for the purpose of protecting victims of abuse.

5. Intentional or malicious false flagging of legitimate content that clearly does not violate these guidelines, is also considered a violation of these guidelines and will be penalized by the expulsion from the group of the individual determined to have engaged in such false flagging. The decision to expel an individual in such a circumstance is solely at the discretion of USTP leadership.

G. Process for Addressing Violations

1. Each flagged or reported item will be reviewed by two moderators or the USTP Chairman based on the criteria elaborated above.

2. If the item is deemed a violation, a private warning will be communicated to the individual in question.

3. Should the individual again violate community standards, the item will be removed and a public warning will be issued.

4. Should this occur a third time, the individual will be removed from the community.

5. Each item deemed a violation will be documented in some text-based medium, with the exception of obvious spam, which may be removed immediately.

6. The USTP Chairman reserves the right to circumvent the above process in the event a violation is deemed to be so egregious as to justify a more rapid escalation in response. Some violations – e.g., threats of violence – may be sufficiently egregious to justify banning the violator immediately.