The Market’s Moderation

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As a curated online community we hope for everyone to get along well, but sometimes it is only natural that tempers flare and a degree of toxicity makes its way to the surface. Moderators are Citizens that have been entrusted by the community with Discord’s moderation tools to be able to contain and defuse such situations before they become unmanageable.

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## Moderation Guidelines

To moderate effectively it is important to keep in mind one’s own biases and work towards minimizing their impact on one’s judgment calls. Indeed, while a moderator is entrusted with powers over others, these are strictly to be used in the aim to contain and defuse problematic situations before they devolve further, and never to prove a point or favor any party.

When Moderating, it should be made clear that the Moderator is speaking as such and not as a Citizen. To do so, a Tupper will be made available to make the distinction clear. In the case that the Tupper is unavailable, the Moderator can preface his messages with “**Moderator :**” to the same effect.

## Disciplinary Measures

Here is a panel of the disciplinary measures that Moderators can use to their avail, the conditions needed to call upon them, and examples of situations where they can be useful.

When dealing with delicate situations, the ideal process to give the best chance of a positive resolution is a progressive escalation in these measures

## What the heck are Popular Moderation Votes ?

Popular Moderation votes are a way for the community to give their input about a Kick, a Permanent Banishment, or an Appeal. Due to the sensible nature of those matters, the vote is structured in a way that permits as much of a productive exchange as possible.

### Process

#### Initiating

A new channel is created under the name “[Name] - Popular Moderation vote” in the “Voting and Discussions” category. It’s configuration should only allow for the accused and Moderation staff to write in it and it’s subthread.

The very first messages should detail what the vote is about objectively, such as what/who initiated it, the kind of sentence being considered, and any further relevant information.

The message should then be pinned, and a thread created as ”Documents”.

#### Documents

This step is about presenting what the accused is being judged upon and why. The moderation team has a day to gather up their documents and set up a time at which both a Moderator and the accused are available to proceed.

Once both parties are ready to proceed, the process to present Documents begins. In the appropriate Thread, the Moderation submit their gathered Documents one by one, and the accused can comment on each piece before the next is presented. Both have only one message at a time.

#### Questions and Discussions

A new thread is created named “Questions,”, and the rights to write to the channel are extended to every Citizen. The main channel will be used to naturally host exchanges and discussions, while the “Questions” thread is a space where the Citizens will be able to ask questions and receive clean answers from the Moderation or accused party.

#### Time to vote

After a week of deliberation, a vote will be created and the Citizens will be directed to vote. Once a week of voting has passed, it comes the time for Moderation to apply the sentence, or not depending on results of the vote.

## Appeals

Even the most diligent and careful of Moderators are bound to make mistakes or wrong calls on occasion. Appeals exist to ensure that the sentences are consistent, the processes followed, and offer a chance to the accused to convince the community to give them a new chance through Popular Moderation vote.

Formal Warnings, Server Mutes, Temporary Banishments, Server Kicks, and Permanent Banishments can all be Appealed.

It should be noted that in the case of someone abusing the appeal system, moderators can vote to apply a delay or remove someone’s ability to appeal. This should be only used in cases of clear cut abuse.

## Electing Moderators

The Moderation team is composed of volunteers elected by the Community, this is in the aim to ensure that it stays representative of the Citizens they preside over. Any Citizen can volunteer to the Moderation team at any time, the Community then proceed to vote on whether or not they accept the new volunteer to Moderate. A good rule of thumb is to keep the team at a minimum size of three, and a maximum size of 25% of the active community.

### Election Vote

As soon as a Citizen volunteers to the Moderation team, a vote is created for the community to confirm or deny their request. The vote should take the following form :

> 1/ [Citizen’s tag] is volunteering to become our [n° of Moderator + 1]th Moderator, please vote on this matter :
>
>

> 1a/ Yes, they should join the Moderation team.
>
>

> 1b/ No, they should not join the Moderation team.
>
>

After a week passes, the vote can be read and the result applied.

### Demotion Vote

Sometimes, the need to Demote a Moderator can be felt. The process to do so is thankfully simple and very similar to how we elect Moderators, except the other way around. Anyone can trigger a Demotion vote regarding a Moderator, and the same process takes place :

> 1/ A Citizen wishes for Moderator [Moderator’s Tag] to be demoted from their position, please vote on this matter :
>
>

> 1a/ Yes, they should be demoted.
>
>

> 1b/ No, they should not be demoted.
>
>

After a week passes, the vote can be read and the result applied.

If a Moderator is demoted, they still can be reelected through a normal successful election.