Code of Conduct/Cases

For instructions to report a problem, see Code of conduct#Report a problem.

Handling reports

Reports sent to techconduct wikimedia.org are handled by the Code of Conduct Committee with urgency and confidentiality. When assessing behavior in Wikimedia technical spaces, the Committee can consider behavior in other spaces (e.g. a conference or website, whether or not related to Wikimedia) for context.

Immediate Response

The first priority is to act quickly in order to avoid a deterioration of the present situation. A Committee member can issue a short-term response in the name of the Committee based on their training and/or how similar situations were resolved.

Longer-term Response

The full Committee, after having received the written report following the Immediate Response, will investigate whether there is a history of similar complaints about an individual or in that space. Longer-term Responses may require the Committee to investigate within the margins of confidentiality, eventually contacting any individuals involved and/or related administrators or project maintainers. They may also request support from experts and reviewers external to the Committee and unrelated to the case. The Committee must have consensus on the resolution.

Responses and resolutions

The Committee will consider actions already taken (if any) in the local space (e.g. MediaWiki.org, IRC, an in-person event).

An Immediate Response to a breach may include (see below for details):

A private or public message
A temporary ban or permission revocation

Possible Longer-term Responses by the Committee to a reported breach of the Code of Conduct may include:

Taking no further action.
A private message from the Committee to the individual(s) involved. In this case, the group chair will deliver that message to the individual(s) over email, copying the group.
A public message. In this case, the group chair will deliver that message in the same venue that the violation occurred (e.g. in IRC for a violation on IRC; Phabricator for a violation on Phabricator). The group may choose to publish this message elsewhere for posterity.
A temporary or permanent removal of special permissions (e.g. Gerrit's +2 permission) or from positions of responsibility in Wikimedia technical spaces.
An imposed break (e.g. asking someone to "take a week off" from a technical mailing list or technical IRC channel). The group chair will communicate this imposed break to the individual(s). They'll be asked to take this break voluntarily, but if they don't agree then a temporary ban may be imposed to enforce this break.
A temporary or permanent ban from some or all Wikimedia technical spaces. The group will maintain records of all such bans so that they may be reviewed in the future, extended to new Wikimedia technical forums, or otherwise maintained.
A request for a public or private apology, if wanted and approved by the potential recipient. The chair will deliver this request.

After the initial outcome, the reporter will be notified.

In some cases the Committee may determine that a public statement will need to be made. If that is the case, the identities of all victims and reporters will be treated confidentially. This information will not be included in the public statement, unless those individuals instruct the Committee otherwise.

The Committee publishes anonymous quarterly statistics about the outcomes of cases should the number of reports be high enough such statistics can be shared while preserving anonymity. Those statistics can be found at Code of Conduct/Committee/Tenure April2017 April2018#Responses and Resolutions.

Appealing a resolution

After being notified of the outcome, the reporter or any people sanctioned may raise objections to the resolution. These will be considered by the Committee, which may alter the outcome. If the outcome is altered, the new outcome will be logged. When the Committee begins enforcing a decision, that is also logged.