[Revised] GOC-0018 Moderation Guidelines and Conflict Resolution Protocol

poptones · August 17, 2022, 7:52pm

1. Meta Info

Author(s): Lorena (Lorena#8959) & Darby

Code: 18

Title: Moderation Guidelines and Conflicts Resolution Protocol

Stage: Proposal

Creation Date: 07/29/2022

Last Modified Date: 08/23/2022

Target Live Date: 09/01/2022

Live Date:

Last Version Date:

Last Version Author(s):

Version: 1

Organization: Ops Committee

Tag(s): Moderation Guidelines, Conflicts Resolution, Procedure

Commit Hash Log:

2. Summary

This GOC is intended to describe the procedures involved in managing and moderating guidelines and conflict resolution of Graph AdvocatesDAO. The attached guidelines also serve to maintain the brand and integrity of the DAO.

3. Motivation

The AdvocatesDAO requires Rules and Moderation Guidelines as a tool for fulfilling the AdvocatesDAO’s mission and ethos. In addition, it requires tools to solve resolutions in case of conflicts. In order to preserve the integrity of the DAO, rules and policies in regard to moderation and conflict resolution must be agreed upon and established.

4. Prior Art

Many DAOs have moderation guidelines and conflict resolutions. This GOC has been highly influenced by the guidelines and prior work of the ENS DAO Moderation and Conflict Resolution guidelines.

5. Mission/Vision/Ethos

The mission of the Graph AdvocatesDAO is to drive greater participation in building a decentralized web3 and grow The Graph ecosystem by supporting community-based initiatives and through the contributions of Graph Advocates.

The Graph’s vision is to build a decentralized network of public data with a decentralized ecosystem of contributors. The Graph Advocates is another major step forward in this vision by empowering individuals all across the world to actively participate in web3 and make lasting contributions.

Graph Advocates aim to foster a welcoming and productive environment to sustain a thriving community. Advocates contribute to The Graph community, grow network adoption, and develop the ecosystem. They make regular, high-quality, and meaningful contributions based on their interests and expertise.

Because the Graph Advocates’ program is intended to support The Graph ecosystem through the development of high-quality content and community contributions, Advocates do not participate in communications, discussions, or promotion of anything related to the price of the GRT token.

Advocates are kind and supportive and seek out opportunities to help others, including fellow Advocates, subgraph users, protocol participants, and other community members. They have integrity, behave professionally, encourage collaboration, and take pride in being a resource to the ecosystem.

The Graph community is the heart and soul that drives the protocol, and Graph Advocates are community leaders. Advocates are critical to The Graph ecosystem and have the opportunity to make contributions that will shape the future of web3.

6. Specification

6.1 Moderator Responsibilities and Conflict Management

This section contains details of the responsibilities for moderators as well as guidelines for approaching conflict management.

6.1.1 Enforcement Responsibilities

DAO members are responsible for clarifying and enforcing standards of acceptable behavior and will take appropriate and fair corrective action in response to any behavior deemed inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful.

DAO members have the right and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject comments, commits, code, wiki edits, issues, and other contributions that are not aligned with the ethos and vision of Graph AdvocatesDAO, and will communicate reasons for moderation decisions when appropriate.

6.1.2 Conflict Management & Resolution

Despite best efforts to create a safe space for community members to thrive in, there remains a possibility for conflict that can endanger the health of the community. In anticipation of this, guidelines have been developed to prevent and manage conflict. The approach is outlined below:

Maintaining Trust through Transparency and Accessibility
- Conflict can be prevented by maintaining a high level of trust within the community. DAO members are responsible for maintaining this trust by communicating the values described herein.
- It is the responsibility of each member of the Community to hold each other accountable for violations to the Code of Conduct.
Escalation and Community Involvement
- Incidents and conflicts that require special attention are to be brought to the attention of the DAO. DAO members will meet to discuss the issue and work to resolve it through a process of consensus. The DAO is responsible for leading the discussion with the community on how best to resolve the issue through public discourse when applicable and deemed necessary.
Transformational Approach to Conflict Resolution
- Sanctions are a more appropriate measure for conflict resolution. Outright punishment (banning) tends to create resentment which rots community sentiment. Instead, DAO members should learn from the experience and create a use case that can be used to help improve the overall Community experience.

6.1.3 Guidelines

This space is a public good; treat it with as much respect as one would one’s own space.
Pro social discussions help to grow the community; think about how one can add to an existing conversation.
Open dialogue and constructive criticism are encouraged.
Don’t dignify bad behavior with a response; simply flag it.
This is a place for civil discussion; be thoughtful
Keep discussion orderly. No spamming, double posting, or divergent replies.

6.1.4 Scope

This Code of Conduct applies within all community spaces and also applies when an individual is officially representing the community in public spaces. Examples of representing the community include using an official e-mail address, posting via an official social media account, or acting as an appointed representative at an online or offline event.

6.2 Conflict Resolution Protocols (for all conflicts)

6.2.1 Protocol 1

DAO members contact community member(s) involved in the concern or complaint in order to discuss the issue privately.
DAO members discuss the issue with community member(s) in a timely manner.
Boundaries of the discussion are addressed; meeting time for conflict resolution is focused on the incident that raised concern.
The meeting will be recorded, for the purpose of transparency and accessibility.
DAO members will work to resolve the issue within the first meeting; if a second meeting is requested by a community member, DAO members will decide through consensus whether or not to escalate the issue.
If the issue was resolved, address to rest of community and communicate lessons learned if and when deemed necessary.

6.2.2 Protocol 2

DAO members will review notes/evidence and discuss the issue.
DAO members will commission a member of the DAO to investigate the circumstances surrounding the dispute and conduct an impartial review.
DAO members will review and discuss the incident report and prepare solutions to the issues that raised concern.
A meeting will then be arranged with the community member(s) to discuss the issue and offer solutions.
If a resolution has yet to be reached, the issue will then be brought up to the entire DAO via the forum to discuss the issue.

6.2.3 Protocol 3

DAO members will prepare a forum post that offers the following information:

Date of incident
Members involved
Summary of incident
How the issue has been addressed so far
Commentary from each member involved in the incident
Solutions that the DAO members have offered

A forum post’s purpose is to allow the broader community to offer their opinion on the situation. DAO members will read the community sentiment and discuss the issue on a public forum (Twitter Spaces, Discord, etc) to reach a final resolution.

Graph AdvocatesDAO