Tattle is a community project committed to improving the health of online conversation in India. It aims to empower people to critically examine the information they receive.
The guidelines here are designed to ensure that everyone at Tattle feels safe, confident and inspired enough to strive for a conversation; and propose new ideas and experiments to deal with the challenge of misinformation. This is a space for the developer who is coding the modules of the platform; the designer who is drafting the look and feel of the platform; the fact-finder who is investigating the sources and examining the causes or mechanisms of the spread of misinformation; the academic who brings context of global research methodologies and local issue; the story-teller who wants to explore new narratives; the illustrator who leverages the power of graphics to communicate ideas; the linguist who uses their expertise to think through the grammar of misinformation in various languages. This is a space for everyone to participate and engage in improving how Indians participate in online conversations.
Any disagreements with other members of the community, or even those drafting these guidelines should be taken up respectfully- do let us know if we can improve these guidelines. These guidelines like other community spaces are intended to be democratic.
Broadly this is what we strive for as a platform and a community:
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Enquiry and Investigation: We strive for a spirit of curiosity in our efforts, in suggestions and in the conversations we hold as a part of this community.
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Nonpartisan approach: We aim to be free of political interference. We recognize that everything we do will have the sense and context of politics in the granular sense of how power and politics acts through our everyday spaces of information. We believe in applying the same rigor to our work irrespective of the source of information.
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Experimental Approach: The scope of our work extends beyond one language, one region, and one ideology. We have to conceive of new approaches in a rapidly changing problem space. As a community we aim to constantly think beyond the popular ways in which news is classified and constantly develop new categories of looking and analysing online information trends.
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Transparency and Accountability: Unless absolutely needed, Tattle's work and discussions are carried out in the open (through Slack channel, GitHub Issues, GitHub Docs). Every decision is open to questioning.
The previous section lists the principles behind the specifics of the community guidelines. Following sections contain definite guiding instructions that community members are expected to follow.
The Dos and Dont's listed below are indicative of lines of acceptable/unacceptable behavior but are by no means exhaustive.
Examples of dos that can contribute to a positive environment for our community include:
- Demonstrating empathy and kindness toward other people
- Being respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences
- Encouraging and accommodating feedback gracefully
- Acknowledging mistakes, accepting responsibility and apologizing to those affected by our mistakes
- Focusing on what is best not just for us as individuals, but for the overall community
- Recognizing the different backgrounds and disciplines amongst the community members and appreciating the knowledge from those lived experiences and educational training. Therefore always be mindful of the vocabulary that is being used to accomodate acceptable common slangs, words and phrases.
Examples of don’t or unacceptable behavior include:
- The use of sexualized language or imagery, and sexual attention or advances of any kind.
- Trolling, insulting or derogatory comments, and personal or political attacks. Trolling is a nebulous and ever expanding world, thus the last responsibility will lie with our moderators who have the responsibility to look out for all the community members and identify and prohibit anything that can cause hurt or pain or even discomfort to any member.
- Publishing others' private information, such as a physical or email address, without their explicit permission.
- Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting.
To enforce this code of conduct, a few people are designated as community leaders. They have the right and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject comments, commits, code, issues, and other contributions that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct. When approriate, the reasons for moderation decisions will be communicated publicly.
This Code of Conduct applies within all community spaces, and also applies when an individual is officially representing the community in public spaces. When we say Tattle community we mean all of the places our team and users occupy and all of the ventures we are associated with. Our community means all who work with us, collaborate with us and interact with us in one way or another. Examples of representing 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.
Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be reported to the Tattle team via email ([email protected]). When reporting abuse or violations, please include a link to the post or thread being reporting. The person reporting doesn't have to be the one who suffered. Furthermore, it is especially important to report situations where the perpetrator or the wrongdoer is a community leader. In such a scenario, reach out to another community leader that you trust. In case of hesitation in being identified, please fill out this Google form to anonymously report the issue.
When unsure about a certain violation, lean towards reporting. At best, it will prevent harm to specific individuals. At worst, it will spark a healthy discussion on acceptable behavior.
All community leaders are obligated to respect the privacy and security of the reporter of any incident. All complaints will be reviewed and investigated promptly and fairly.
Community leaders will follow these Community Impact Guidelines in determining the consequences for any action they deem in violation of this Code of Conduct:
- Correction
Community Impact: Use of inappropriate language or other behavior deemed unprofessional or unwelcome in the community.
Consequence: A private, written warning from community leaders, providing clarity around the nature of the violation and an explanation of why the behavior was inappropriate. A public apology may be requested.
- Warning
Community Impact: A violation through a single incident or series of actions.
Consequence: A warning with consequences for continued behavior. No interaction with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction with those enforcing the Code of Conduct, for a specified period of time. This includes avoiding interactions in community spaces as well as external channels like social media. Violating these terms may lead to a temporary or permanent ban.
- Temporary Ban
Community Impact: A serious violation of community standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior.
Consequence: A temporary ban from any sort of interaction or public communication with the community for a specified period of time. No public or private interaction with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction with those enforcing the Code of Conduct, is allowed during this period. Violating these terms may lead to a permanent ban.
- Permanent Ban
Community Impact: Demonstrating a pattern of violation of community standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior, harassment of an individual, or aggression toward or disparagement of classes of individuals.
Consequence: A permanent ban from any sort of public interaction within the community.
Sections of these guidelines have been adapted from
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the Contributor Covenant, version 2.0, available at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/2/0/code_of_conduct.html.