The basic rule
Talk to other people as neighbours and fellow participants in public life. You can criticise ideas, decisions, institutions and public conduct strongly. Do not use the service to target, threaten, harass or expose private people.
What belongs here
Commons Chat is for discussion, questions, first-hand local knowledge, corrections, links, disagreement and context connected with civic life in Ealing. You do not have to agree with Civic Commons, its sources, other contributors or each other.
Robust criticism of political parties, councillors, public bodies, developers, campaign groups, publishers and other actors in civic life is not, by itself, a moderation issue. Moderation is about behaviour and safety, not enforcing a political viewpoint.
What may be moderated
- credible threats, intimidation or encouragement of violence;
- targeted harassment or sustained abuse of another participant;
- hateful or discriminatory attacks directed at people because of protected or personal characteristics;
- publishing private personal information without a legitimate public-interest reason;
- impersonation, coordinated spam, automated flooding or deceptive manipulation;
- content that is unlawful or creates an immediate and serious safety risk.
Reporting a post
Every post has a Report control. A report enters the Civic Commons moderation queue for human review. Reporting does not automatically hide or delete a post, and a report is not a vote against an opinion.
If something appears to involve an immediate threat to life or safety, use the appropriate emergency service rather than relying on a moderation report.
How moderation decisions work
Moderation should use the least intervention necessary. Depending on the circumstances, that can mean taking no action, asking for clarification, removing a post, or restricting an account. Decisions should be based on the published rules and available context rather than popularity.
Where practical, moderation actions should leave an auditable record. Civic Commons should not quietly rewrite disputed conversation to make it look as though nothing happened.
Conversation and the civic record
Commons Chat is conversational. A comment does not become evidence in the Civic Commons merely because somebody posted it. Material that is useful as evidence, a correction or durable local context should go through the Commons contribution and review process before it becomes part of the civic record.
Privacy
Public profile names, profile descriptions and posts are intended to be public. Sign-in email addresses are private account information and are not displayed publicly. Do not publish somebody else's private contact details, home address or similarly sensitive personal information unless there is a clear and defensible public-interest reason. For a plain-language explanation of accounts and sign-in, see How Commons Chat works.
These rules can evolve
This is an early public-interest community service, not a finished social network. The guidelines will be revised as real moderation cases reveal gaps. Significant changes should be documented rather than silently introduced.