User:Sophivorus/CoC

The discussion is about a set of changes done by the WMF to the Code of Conduct (CoC) based on a previous discussion. Below is summary of the main changes, including the reaction and result:


 * A new section titled "Expected behavior" was added, containing positive guidelines to complement the negative guidelines of the "Unacceptable behavior" section. This change was well received (though one particular guideline was found vague or unhelpful by 4 non-WMF users). However, another discussion started to determine if the positive guidelines should become a separate document, and clear consensus was reached that yes, so the "Expected behavior" section was finally moved out of the CoC into a new document called Expected behavior, linked to from the "See also" section of the CoC.
 * New text was added to the "Unacceptable behavior" section, saying that the Committee will not consider certain acts as violations of the CoC, even if superficially they may appear so, followed by a list of such exceptions. For example, criticizing racism may offend a racist person, but such criticism will not be considered against the CoC. Like the "Expected behavior" section before, the general idea was well received, but debate about particular issues (1, 2, 3, 4) grew substantially so a proposal was made to move the new text out of the CoC and leave the following sentence instead: Reports of unacceptable behavior must be done in good faith to defend potential victims and to restore a friendly environment. Accusations of unacceptable behavior against potential victims or reporters done as a tactic to introduce more tension or confusion are unacceptable themselves. This new proposal garnered strong support.
 * A new unacceptable behavior was added: "Publication of non-harassing private communication". This was met with strong resistance by User:Krenair (and to a lesser degree by other users). The main concern was that the given wording hinders publication of useful private conversations that the sender could reasonably be expected to agree to publish, such as advice on how to code something, or a summary of a discussion. Finally a new wording was proposed (Inappropriate or unwanted publication of private communication) as a compromise to address the raised concerns, and received enough support, though Krenair still objected.

Other more minor changes that sparked little to no controversy were:


 * Neuroatypicality was added as a characteristic for which no one should be harassed, discriminated, etc.
 * Flexibility about how project maintainers can respond
 * Several changes to "Unacceptable behavior" section:
 * Addition of explanatory section that explains things the Committee will not consider violations, and how they will take the context of # incidents into account.
 * A new unacceptable behavior was added, prohibiting publication of non-harassing private communications, per being a form of harassment