HSBNE has a number of community communication platforms available to members and the general public. In order to keep these methods civil and productive, our moderation policy lays out the powers of people who are recognised as Moderators and the process of becoming a Moderator.
Moderation is a power held by the Executive of HSBNE to maintain the good running of the organisation, and we delegate some of those powers to people we officially recognise as Moderators.
If you do not agree with the policies of moderation at HSBNE, please limit your engagement with HSBNE platforms.
Messages posted on HSBNE provided or moderated platforms are the sole opinion and responsibility of the poster. We have the right to edit, delete, transfer, keep, sell or re-license posts at our sole discretion. HSBNE accepts no liability or responsibility for the statements made on communications platforms that it provides and or moderates.
Moderators can exercise their powers all HSBNE platforms, including but not limited to:
Moderators are people who approach the Executive and sign volunteer contracts agreeing to Moderator roles and this policy. They maintain this status until they resign their volunteer position or the Executive discontinues their volunteer position.
The Executive may discontinue Moderator Volunteers at any time, according to a vote. The general membership may also vote to discontinue.
Some people may have access to moderation tools as a function of their position, but may not be officially recognised as Moderators. It is inappropriate for non-Moderators to use moderation tools. Where the Executive exercises moderation tools or powers, they must follow this policy as any other Moderator would.
Moderation at HSBNE should aim to correct behaviour that is contrary to the good interests of the group, such as a reasonable person would interpret, or as guided by HSBNE documents such as the Safe Space Policy or Code of Conduct, or external documents such as the Ombudsman Unreasonable Complainants Conduct document (for example).
Moderators can take actions such as:
Moderators cannot:
Moderators must:
Deletion of content is sometimes necessary, however it should be the last resort of moderation.
Moderators should, wherever possible, leave original materials and respond to them with moderation actions. This lets all members be aware of bad behaviour and subsequent consequences. If materials are objectionable or problematic and are in a moderation queue to be approved, there is no guarantee that Moderators will publish said materials.
If Moderators take the action of deletion, they must make appropriate records, please refer to Logging and Records of Moderation Actions.
Some content should be immediately deleted:
Removal should follow logging requirements as per this policy.
The Executive outlines an appropriate location for Moderators to record and document moderation actions, such as a Google Drive.
Moderators must make a record each time they take a moderation decision. This can be as simple as a one line description, or a screenshot plus a reason, including who was affected, what action was taken, why it was done. Where content is deleted, the original content must be recorded using screenshots or print to pdf for example.
Storing of material that has been moderated that may place HSBNE as storing illegal or highly sensitive material should not happen. A log should be taken without a copy of the content itself.
If a member feels a moderation decision is unfair or inappropriate, they may ask the Moderators, as a group, to take a vote to approve or reverse the decision. This vote must be recorded in the Moderator log. The decision of the Moderators as a group is the final decision.
Moderators voting as a group pass decisions by a simple majority of all participants voting within 24hrs of vote initiated, closed early by the simple majority of all possible moderators being achieved. Executives are not part of this voting process.
Moderators cannot guarantee that they will take actions on any item within any specified timeline. Moderation actions are best-effort and in good faith.
Arguing publicly with moderation actions, taunting, insulting or harassing Moderators or generally acting poorly may result in further actions such as bans.