David

Moderation may submit questions and proposals regarding moderation policy, voting policy, and the code of conduct to Moderation Engagement and Enactment Processes (MEEPs). MEEPs are binding referenda and comment periods on the questions and proposals submitted. Moderation has full discretion on which questions and proposals are submitted to MEEPs, though no substantive change to the COC may be made without either the consent of the site owner(s) or ratification via a MEEP. In order for a submitted question or proposal to be ratified, at least 10 users must have voted in the MEEP, and more than a majority of all those voting must have voted for the question or proposal. That means, in practice, that in a MEEP with 10 total voters, the minimum threshold for a binding result is 7 votes in favor of the proposal or question. MEEPs must be open for voting for at least 48 hours, and may be extended (at the mod's discretion) by no more than 12 hours. To be eligible to vote in a MEEP, the voter must be a user on DART, must have an account that is more than 24 hours old, and must not be banned during the voting window. If a MEEP fails to produce a binding result, moderation will maintain the pre-MEEP status quo, unless doing so is entirely untenable.

1. Use of racial slurs

Currently the code of conduct is quite clear on hateful conduct, but there is no guidance in the COC on the use of slurs. Here is the current COC on hateful conduct:

• You may not use hateful, harassing, or obscene language or imagery in your username or avatar.
  
• You may not threaten or promote violence against any person or persons, barring hyperbole against public figures (e.g., “all politicians should be shot”). Advocacy in favor of terrorism and/or violent extremism, especially as related to hate groups as generally defined by the SPLC, is likewise prohibited.
  
• Unwarranted systemic vulgarity and invectives, which may include off topic personal attacks and/or hate speech, are subject to disciplinary actions.
  

If a user has hateful, harassing, or obscene language or imagery in their username or avatar, moderation will:

a) FIRST, request the hateful, harassing, or obscene language or imagery in the username or avatar be removed and instruct the user on how to do so.

b) IF adequate time passes and A is ignored by the user, OR IF the user complied initially after A but again introduces hateful, harassing, or obscene language or imagery in their username or avatar at some later date unapologetically, moderation shall issue a 14 day ban and then repeat A.

c) IF the user continues to defy moderation after the 14 day ban, moderation will issue a 60 day ban and then repeat A.

d) ALL additional infractions after C shall be met with bans according the formula y=4(x2)y=4(x2)where "y" equals ban time in months and "x" equals the number of infractions after C.

If a user promotes violence against any person or persons (barring hyperbole against public figures) or advocates in favor of terrorism and/or violent extremism, especially as related to hate groups as generally defined by the SPLC, moderation will:a) FIRST, issue a 90 day ban and request the user cease & desist such behavior.

b) IF the user again promotes violence against any person or persons (barring hyperbole against public figures) or advocates in favor of terrorism and/or violent extremism, said user will receive a permanent ban from the site.

If a user’s content includes unwarranted (or excessively toxic) systemic vulgarity and invectives, which may include off topic personal attacks and/or hate speech, moderation shall:

a) FIRST, request the user cease & desist such behavior.

b) IF adequate time passes and A is ignored by the user, OR IF the user complied initially after A but again unapologetically engages in unwarranted (or excessively toxic) systemic vulgarity and invectives, which may include off topic personal attacks and/or hate speech, moderation shall issue a 30 day ban and repeat A.

c) IF the user continues to defy moderation after the 30 day ban, moderation shall issue a 90 day ban and then repeat A.

d) ALL additional infractions after C shall be met with bans according the formula y=6(x2)y=6(x2)where "y" equals ban time in months and "x" equals the number of infractions after C.

Proposed language:

The use of racial slurs or slurs against any other protected group of any type is not allowed. If a user uses any type of slur, the moderation team will:

• Edit the post and remove the slurs 
  
• Send a warning to the user 
  

If a user continues to use a slur the ban will include a 30 day site ban. Continuing such conduct will result in a permanent ban. 

Depending on the severity of the statement the moderation reserves the right to jump to either a 30 day ban immediately or a permanent ban. 

Let's focus on community size.

What's the total member rate that this site could handle right now? Think of a range.

We don't have enough mods at the moment to handle rapid user growth.

TikTok is either letting outrageous content pass or banning good content for no reason. I follow so many people on TikTok whose videos are randomly taken down for violations that have nothing to do with the content of the video. Dylan Page recently had every video of his taken down at once and then his account locked, for... drumroll... no reason. And it's a pain in the ass getting it undone, too. A science teacher I follow regularly has his educational vids pulled because a rando makes a complaint that they're anti-religion or something, and easy as that they're gone.

Moderation may submit questions and proposals regarding moderation policy, voting policy, and the code of conduct to Moderation Engagement and Enactment Processes (MEEPs). MEEPs are binding referenda and comment periods on the questions and proposals submitted. Moderation has full discretion on which questions and proposals are submitted to MEEPs, though no substantive change to the COC may be made without either the consent of the site owner(s) or ratification via a MEEP. In order for a submitted question or proposal to be ratified, at least 10 users must have voted in the MEEP, and more than a majority of all those voting must have voted for the question or proposal. That means, in practice, that in a MEEP with 10 total voters, the minimum threshold for a binding result is 7 votes in favor of the proposal or question. MEEPs must be open for voting for at least 48 hours, and may be extended (at the mod's discretion) by no more than 12 hours. To be eligible to vote in a MEEP, the voter must be a user on DART, must have an account that is more than 24 hours old, and must not be banned during the voting window. If a MEEP fails to produce a binding result, moderation will maintain the pre-MEEP status quo, unless doing so is entirely untenable.

• You may not use hateful, harassing, or obscene language or imagery in your username or avatar.
  
• You may not threaten or promote violence against any person or persons, barring hyperbole against public figures (e.g., “all politicians should be shot”). Advocacy in favor of terrorism and/or violent extremism, especially as related to hate groups as generally defined by the SPLC, is likewise prohibited.
  
• Unwarranted systemic vulgarity and invectives, which may include off topic personal attacks and/or hate speech, are subject to disciplinary actions.
  

If a user has hateful, harassing, or obscene language or imagery in their username or avatar, moderation will:

a) FIRST, request the hateful, harassing, or obscene language or imagery in the username or avatar be removed and instruct the user on how to do so.

b) IF adequate time passes and A is ignored by the user, OR IF the user complied initially after A but again introduces hateful, harassing, or obscene language or imagery in their username or avatar at some later date unapologetically, moderation shall issue a 14 day ban and then repeat A.

c) IF the user continues to defy moderation after the 14 day ban, moderation will issue a 60 day ban and then repeat A.

d) ALL additional infractions after C shall be met with bans according the formula y=4(x2)y=4(x2)where "y" equals ban time in months and "x" equals the number of infractions after C.

If a user promotes violence against any person or persons (barring hyperbole against public figures) or advocates in favor of terrorism and/or violent extremism, especially as related to hate groups as generally defined by the SPLC, moderation will:a) FIRST, issue a 90 day ban and request the user cease & desist such behavior.
b) IF the user again promotes violence against any person or persons (barring hyperbole against public figures) or advocates in favor of terrorism and/or violent extremism, said user will receive a permanent ban from the site.

If a user’s content includes unwarranted (or excessively toxic) systemic vulgarity and invectives, which may include off topic personal attacks and/or hate speech, moderation shall:
a) FIRST, request the user cease & desist such behavior.
b) IF adequate time passes and A is ignored by the user, OR IF the user complied initially after A but again unapologetically engages in unwarranted (or excessively toxic) systemic vulgarity and invectives, which may include off topic personal attacks and/or hate speech, moderation shall issue a 30 day ban and repeat A.
c) IF the user continues to defy moderation after the 30 day ban, moderation shall issue a 90 day ban and then repeat A.
d) ALL additional infractions after C shall be met with bans according the formula y=6(x2)y=6(x2)where "y" equals ban time in months and "x" equals the number of infractions after C.

• A complete redesign 
  
• Adding groups  
  
• Creating a blog / articles section 
  
• Creating a debate podcast to discuss the Lincoln Douglas and policy debate topics 
  
• Creating automated tournaments that can randomly assign a topic and a side, along with other features 
  
• Possibly rebranding the site completely 
  
• Adding in live debates 

Why not close it the second you publish it? 

You can start a discussion thread about it if you want. Tbh this thread wasn’t even needed cause it was announced

DebateArena

DebateOnline

Fuck it

Debate.com

Full circle

Hoping we can avoid that with the newer site by not relying on one owner. Gonna give multiple people access to the code. If you are willing to devote an hour or two to learning Node.js, plz join us. I can send you the discord link.

I repeat: Do not let it become the personal project of a single (unpaid) volunteer. That kind of thing destroys friendships. It's thousands of man hours of work.