NTC Code of Conduct¶

All NTC members are bound by the DSA code of conduct for members.

Community expectations¶

Guidelines for Respectful Discussion¶

Adapted from: DSA's Guidelines for Respectful Discussion

Assume good faith in your fellow comrades¶

Assume good faith in each other. Please try to speak from experience, speak for yourself, and actively listen to each other. When someone makes a point, repeat what you heard, summarize, and ask clarifying questions like “did you mean X” or “what makes you say that” to get more information. Encourage yourself and others to maintain a positive attitude, honor the work of others, avoid defensiveness, be open to legitimate critique and challenge oppressive behaviors in ways that help people grow. We want to “call each other in” rather than calling each other out — in other words, if you are challenging someone’s ideas or behavior, do it respectfully, and if you are being challenged, receive it respectfully. Remember, mistakes will be made, nobody is perfect.

Know whether you need to "step up" or "step back¶

Help create a safe and inclusive space for everybody. Please respect others by recognizing how often, much, and loud you’re speaking and whether or not you’re dominating conversation. Step back to leave space for others to voice their opinions and feelings. If the facilitator of the meeting asks you to wrap up, recognize that you should step back. This especially applies to participants who have privileged backgrounds. On the other hand, if you don’t often speak up, we encourage you to do so now!

Please ask yourself "Why am I Talking/Why am I typing"? (WAIT)¶

We have a limited amount of time for discussion and to accomplish the tasks before us. When in discussion, please ask yourself "Why am I talking (WAIT)?" Consider whether or not what you want to say has already been said, whether what you want to say is on topic or if there’s a better time and place to say it, and other methods for showing how you feel about the conversation (nodding your head, liking posts on the Forum, etc.)

Please recognize and respect others feelings, background, and cultural differences¶

Many people have different levels of experience, knowledge, and feelings in social justice and radical activism and all participants should respect and embrace this diversity. Many people from different backgrounds have different definitions of what it means to be an "activist" or "radical." While we all don’t have to agree on everything, we should respect our diversity of opinions. Recognize that everyone has a piece of the truth, everybody can learn, and everybody has the ability to teach and share something. Don’t use language that’s clearly oppressive or hurtful. Please, refrain from using acronyms or complicated language that could exclude others.

We have “one mic” so do not interrupt or speak while others are talking¶

Many of us will have different opinions on matters. However, speaking while others are talking or adding comments when they cannot respond appropriately does not build community. If you have a disagreement, wait for your turn to address it. This is basic politeness.

In meetings: Respect the facilitator when they use Progressive Stack¶

Progressive Stack is a form of leading discussions which involves a facilitator keeping a list of names of people who wish to speak. The facilitator scans the group during discussion and if someone wishes to speak, they raise their hand and catch the facilitator’s eye. The facilitator nods and makes eye contact to indicate the person is now put on the list to speak, and then the person can put their hand down so it does not distract other discussion participants. On Zoom meetings, this may be done by typing "Stack" into the chat. However, the facilitator does not simply write a list of names in the order that people raise their hand. Rather, if someone who has not spoken raises their hand, they go to the top of the list. If someone who is of an oppressed group raises their hand, they go to the top of the list unless they have already contributed significantly to the discussion.

Have a sense of humor¶

Who said movement building can’t be fun? This is a great opportunity for people to get to know one another, building lasting friendships and relationships, to laugh, love, and build a movement.

And, as always, please inform NTC Steering of inappropriate behavior immediately.

On the Forum¶

Introduce yourself in the Introduction thread 🔐 so everyone knows who you are!
Use @here and @channel notifications in the Forum Chat sparingly, especially in large channels. Before you ping, think: does everyone in here need to be notified?
Use threads to organize conversations.
Use your real/chosen name for a handle. If you need to change your Forum handle, reach out to NTC Steering!
Do not share developer keys or application secrets in the Forum chat or in Forum threads. Even if you delete them they are visible in our past posts.
- Use an encrypted service such as the NTC's Vaultwarden Password Manager, or use the Forum's encrypted DMs feature.
Only share secrets when necessary! Follow the principle of least privilege: least amount of access needed to accomplish your work.
Because of the sensitivity of our work, there is no expectation of privacy on the Forum; if necessary for security reasons or to assist with a grievance, admins may (with the consent of the steering committee) review logs and past conversations.
Inactive members may be periodically removed from the Forum; if this occurs you will be notified and given opportunity to re-join the NTC!
Forum membership is necessary for NTC related work but does not confer any special membership status.

On Calls¶

Respect the facilitator and the agenda
Follow the Guidelines for Respectful Discussion: WAIT, speaking from your own experiences, and ask clarifying questions!
Type "Stack" in the Zoom chat to be added to Stack.
Keep yourself muted until you're ready to speak
If you can, turn your camera on! It's more friendly and it's a great way to get to know one another.

Forbidden Conduct¶

Behaviors that are insulting, demeaning, exclusionary or harassing are not welcome in our community or spaces (public or private). This includes, but is not limited to:

Violence, threats of violence, or violent language directed against another person.
Sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist or otherwise discriminatory jokes and language.
Posting sexually explicit or violent material.
Posting (or threatening to post) other people's personally identifying information ("doxxing").
Personal insults, especially those that are discriminatory.
Unwelcome sexual attention.
Deliberate intimidation, stalking or following, online or off.
Sustained or repeated disruption of our work (e.g. by spamming, trolling, flaming, baiting or other attention-stealing behavior), online or off.
Repeated harassment of others. In general, if someone asks you to stop, then stop.
Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior.