Code of Conduct

This Code of Conduct (CoC) outlines the expected standards for all participants across our communication, reflecting our core commitment to inclusivity, democracy, and collective action. This Code of Conduct is in line with our community’s values, as put forward in our Constitution.

All new and existing members of MSYP are asked to agree to these principles, and take responsibility to follow and promote these in their actions. 

1. Respect and Inclusivity

We are committed to creating a multi-lensed, radically inclusive space where all human life has equal value, and every voice within it can be heard

1. Be respectful of everyone regardless of background, beliefs, skills, or experience.

2. No discrimination. We maintain zero tolerance for all forms of discrimination, including, but not limited to: racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism/disableism, Islamophobia, antisemitism, misogyny, and misandry. (Misgendering people intentionally is both harassment and discriminatory, including when not directed at a specific person e.g. “what if men claiming to be women do X”). Moreover, we encourage all members to be supportive and allies of one another.

3. Be welcoming to new people and strive for ways of working that prioritise equality, inclusivity, and diversity.

4. Respect privacy. Be mindful that not everyone will be comfortable sharing their full name in the group. However, we do appreciate transparency, and in this spirit please consider approaching admin with your pseudonym. This will help us ensure the members are kept safe from bad faith actors and spammers.

5. Doxxing and outing without informed consent will result in immediate action.

2. Responsible Sharing and Digital Trust

1. We encourage members to openly and transparently share the ideas, principles, and democratic decisions of our movement with the wider public. However, this commitment to openness does not extend to private communication. To maintain a space of trust and to prevent digital harassment:

2. It is strictly prohibited to share screenshots, or verbatim copies of any private message or group chat, without the express consent of all identifiable participants. This rule is especially critical when the intent is to air grievances, single out members, or engage in factional conflict outside of the established escalation and reporting procedures. Breaching this trust will result in immediate action.

3. Constructive and Respectful Discussion

We encourage robust democratic discussion but require that disagreement remains comradely and constructive.

1. Challenge ideas, not people: Personal attacks, bullying, intimidation, and bigoted comments will not be tolerated. Some prejudiced comments will be steeped in ignorance and misinformation, but if made with hate will not be tolerated. 

2. Embrace disagreement: Avoid viewing disagreement as personal attacks. Disagreement is natural, but bullying, disparaging an individual's or a group’s efforts, and factionalism have no place in our movement. We actively discourage debating in bad faith, and being underhanded to “pointscore” or win, for the sake of winning. This behaviour is uncivil.

3. Be constructive: Listen carefully, debate constructively, and try to support your points in good faith. Avoid using hostile or anonymous smears.  

4. Elevate quieter voices: The goal is to facilitate productive discussion; ensure all voices are heard.

5. Communicate with Clarity and Responsibility: Try to be mindful of how your message may be interpreted and take responsibility for its tone and clarity. If you receive a comment that is ambiguous or potentially inflammatory, prioritise asking for clarification over reacting defensively. 

6. Avoid angry spamming/posting in anger directed at specific members. If there is a breakdown between yourself and a fellow comrade, please consider bringing this to the attention of the Community Support Team.

7. Take care when sharing politically sensitive statements that can have consequences to bystanders. For example, showing support for a proscribed organisation can result in harmful and damaging consequences to bystanders not actively engaged in the conversation. Remember, this is a public forum, and as such all people in this community can be held responsible for a person's comments. Please be mindful in how your statements are worded.

8. Avoid putting the community into disrepute. Assume that there are bad faith actors present who will take advantage.

9. Be kind to your fellow comrades. Every individual is on their own personal journey and we request that we all take this into consideration when addressing comments and questions born from ignorance and misinformation. We all have our blind spots and prejudices, until they are explained to us. We encourage positive discourse and genuine curiosity.

10. Employ critical thinking and critical engagement to reach a common understanding or a respectful disagreement. 

4. Focused and Accessible Communication (Including Social Media)

We value participation and clarity, ensuring that everyone can contribute to shaping our direction.

1. Stay on topic: Keep contributions focused and to the point.

2. Keep your language accessible: Keep in mind that the average national reading age is between 9 and 11 years old and that English is a second language for many. Avoid using excessive political jargon and uncommon acronyms as not everyone shares the same knowledge or background. Complex topics can be, and are encouraged to be, discussed using simple language. If a member is unsure of the topic being discussed, or the terminology used, they are encouraged to seek clarification. Avoid over-intellectualising language. 

3. Keep images posted throughout the community accessible: Use Alt written communication alongside images for those using screen readers. Visually, be mindful of colours and fonts that are easy to read and engage with.

4. This is a Your Party movement building  and while we might work in alliance with other organisations on campaigns, do not use MSYP channels to recruit for other political parties or organisations that align with our values. Events may be shared once in the MSYP Open and Queer MSYP Open chats.

5. Text Channel Etiquette

This section outlines best practices for communication to prevent misinterpretation and maintain a focused, productive, and accessible text-based environment.

1. Manage volume and presence: To prevent overwhelming the channel and maintain clarity, consolidate your thoughts into one or two longer posts rather than sending multiple short messages in rapid succession, especially in channels where more than 20 people are present. However when sending longer posts please make best endeavours to be as concise as possible to accommodate those of us who struggle reading large volumes of text or who are catching up on a lot of messages.

2. Be mindful of tone and sarcasm: Recognise that tone, humor, and sarcasm do not translate well in written communication and are a frequent source of misunderstanding. Use simple, explicit language in sensitive discussions to ensure your meaning is clear.

3. Use threads (where available) and designated channels: For lengthy, detailed, or tangential discussions, utilise platform-specific features (like reply threads) or move the conversation to designated "off-topic" or "heated debate" channels to keep the main channel clear for core business.

4. Step away when heated: If a debate becomes emotionally intense, any participant (or the moderator/admin) should feel empowered to call for a mandatory cooling-off period for all involved. Participants must respect this break to allow for de-escalation

5. Private / Direct messages (PM/ DM) must not be used to circumvent the public communication rules. Specifically, members must not send excessive, repetitive, or mass PM/DM to individuals. This includes persistent contact after a member has clearly indicated they do not wish to receive further private communication. 

6. Avoid forwarding messages that have been forwarded “many times”. If such a message is deemed as spam, you will be asked to delete it.

7. When forwarding content to the community, the onus is on you to fact check it. Misinformation is dangerous and can spread fast. Please be vigilant!

6. Accountability and Democratic Process

We uphold transparency, justice, and democratic agency as the core foundations of our movement.

1. Respect democracy: Respect the democratic process and collective decision-making, even if the outcome isn't your first choice.

2. Be open and transparent: We are committed to a culture of openness in all decisions and processes.

3. Everyone takes responsibility for a healthy community: We each share responsibility for addressing issues early, supporting one another, and fostering an inclusive, accountable culture. 

4. Use the escalation and reporting procedure: If tensions or breaches arise, admins or members of the Community Support Team (CST) will do their best to step in to mediate fairly and respectfully. Also see escalation and reporting procedure.

5. Accountability: All participants will be held to account for upholding these principles. Repeated breaches of this code may result in action, and designated leadership reserves the right to exclude people for the benefit of all members.

6. Admins: Avoid over controlling conversations within group chats. Instead guide the conversation towards the subject matter, or give members gentle reminders to keep their messages to the topic at hand. Avoid deleting inappropriate messages, instead ask the writer to do so. Admins should delete messages as a last resort, or for ensuring the community’s safety.

7. Community Support Team (CST)

1. The team responsible for upholding the guidelines. 

2. They will be a group of volunteers from the MSYP community who are then approved by vote from the members of the community. Groups of more than 10 members should have at least one CST member.

3. The team will have their posts for a period of 3 months after which they may stay on or be replaced as per the desires of themselves and the community.

4. If a member of the team is found to be in serious breach of these guidelines they should be replaced at the earliest opportunity.

8. Escalation and Reporting

Below is the procedure for escalating a dispute or grievance.

1. Contact the CST: When a situation cannot be resolved in discussion, it may be formally escalated to a designated Admin or member of the CST. When escalating, please send a single, comprehensive report of the issue. Do not follow up with a lot of further messages, as the Panel member may not be in a position to help immediately. 

2. CST to assess: They will acknowledge the issue, discuss it with whoever else is empowered to determine resolution and reply within a suitable timeframe. 

3. Discussion with involved parties: The CST will likely need to discuss with the individuals involved in the dispute to hear their perspective in a private channel.

4. Determine action: The CST will determine the appropriate actions to be taken, hopefully this will result in those concerned being able to coexist in the group. Consequences can include:

   1. Immediate removal for hateful comments.

   2. Encourage individuals to remove their own comments if they are disruptive. If they disagree, admins retain the right to do so. 

   3. In situations where comments are made out of ignorance and misinformation, allow space for that member’s personal growth. Explain where their behaviour has been inappropriate and/or misinformed and give a warning. 

   4. Warnings will be given to members who are engaging in disruptive behaviour. Admins will take the responsibility to give a warning, and get acknowledgement from the individual that they understand how their behaviour has been disruptive.

   5. Repeated disruptive behaviour can result in a temporary or permanent ban.

5. Other deescalation actions: Admins may at times need to use the tools available on the platform being used to deescalate the situation. This includes actions such as temporarily pausing a chat channel or temporarily reducing member(s) ability to post, these restrictions would be lifted once enough time has passed for cooler heads to prevail or the situation is resolved. We aim for comrades to agree to disagree and encourage parties to walk away from a conflict. 

9. Review of Code of Conduct

1. The CST or any meeting of MSYP may initiate a review of this document or these terms. 

2. This document is agreed by majority vote at any meeting of MSYP, advertised to all members in MSYP. 

3. The Code of Conduct must be reviewed and agreed to by majority vote at least once a year.