Universal Terms of Service
These terms apply to conduct on all official social media sites and forums of the Cumberland County Greens.
We want people to use our forums in a way that centers our party — the Cumberland County Greens and Green Party of the United States — in our discussions and portrayals to the public.
Participants on our forum must strive to relate their topics to the party’s platforms, positions, goals, values, pillars, candidates, groups, organizing strategies, or business, or the role the party can serve for the public good or to increase our meaningful political influence in communities.
We expect our forum participants to connect their content in some way to the work of the Cumberland County Greens and Green Party of the United States.
Our forums must primarily be used to:
- Promote party candidates, campaigns and positions
- Plan party events
- Organize party activities
- Recruit interest and involvement in the party
- Discuss political strategies
- Share experiences related to Green campaigns
- Elevate the party’s image, democratic processes and political positions
- Celebrate our commonalities
- Allow Green-minded people to exchange ideas about the party in a safe and respectful setting
We expect people to:
- Respect others
- Engage in meaningful and constructive dialogue
- Be sensitive to others’ personal beliefs
- Respect diversity
- Practice nonviolent communication
- Take personal responsibility for actions and words
- Withdraw from debate when it is clear that continuing brings harm or damage to the party or its members
- Be encouraging and supportive of other Greens and their involvement in the party
Our public forums will not be used to:
- Make personal attacks
- Bully, insult, or intimidate other users
- Denigrate the Cumberland County Greens and/or its membership
- Post excessively or to “spam”
- Threaten or taunt the party and its members
- Perpetuate toxic anger
- Divide the party or recruit members away from the party
- Distract our audience from the party’s work
- Promote candidates that are not enrolled Greens, have not been endorsed by the party, or are not seeking or being drafted for the party’s nomination or endorsement.
- Promote Green candidates that have lost a primary, nomination or endorsement to another Green candidate for the same position.
Moderator Rights to Keep Positive Forums
Moderators of the party’s forums reserve the right to remove content at any time that does not portray the party positively or is not relevant to the party. Moderators may remove content without issuing a formal warning or notice for lighter violations (but must report removals to the communications committee).
Criticism of the party that is constructive and respectful is appreciated, but we reserve the right to remove criticism that insults or demeans the party or its members. Can you say it nicely? Be polite!
All participants of the party’s forums do so at the pleasure of the party. We infer no rights for anyone to use our forums as they wish, saying whatever they wish. We expect our forums to be used for the betterment of the party, to unify, unite and bond our membership and to produce ideas that relate to our party’s work. Participation that seeks to fragment, disengage or otherwise agitate our members is not welcome.
Our goal in our forums is to lift our members up, not to knock them down.
The Cumberland County Greens is responsible for managing the party’s forums. For forums that allow moderator approval before posting, the communications committee may decide whether to allow automatic posting or require moderator approval for posting, as it deems appropriate
Violations of Terms
There are three steps to removal or blocking from party forums:
- Official warning
- Placed on notice
- Removed or blocked
Moderators will attempt to guide all content to be positive and meaningful for the development and growth of the party.
Moderators may offer friendly reminders to users to redirect their interactions toward a positive outcome when it appears that members are participating in discourse that is negatively impacting others or the party.
Moderators have no obligation to offer friendly reminders before issuing official warnings or notices. The extent to which a participant cooperates with moderators to redirect discourse toward positive outcomes, the more likely moderators will offer friendly reminders before issuing formal actions. We are not eager to punish good players but are not obliged to tolerate bad players.
Those who, through their own interactions help us improve the quality of our sites will be appreciated.
Offenders who agitate or abuse the peaceful assembly of our forums or who participate against the spirit of our terms, may be given an official warning or notice that the offense has been recorded.
Users who ignore moderator attempts to redirect a conversation toward productive ends, will likely be given an official warning or notice.
Moderators must inform a person when they are being given an official warning.
Users who have been given an official warning may be “placed on notice” upon making a second violation. Moderators may offer friendly warnings and reminders to offenders, and attempt to redirect them toward discourse that is constructive and positive for the party, before deciding to place them on notice.
Moderators must inform a person when they are being put on notice.
If a user who has been placed on notice offends a third time, they may be removed and blocked from the party’s forums.
Moderators may offer, at their discretion, friendly warnings to those offenders in an attempt to redirect them toward positive discourse before removing them.
Anyone who is removed or blocked from a party forum will be removed for an unspecified period of time, to be determined by the communications committee, that could be days, weeks, months, years or permanent.
The Cumberland County Greens may reinstate anyone who has been removed, or remove warnings and notices, as the committee deems is warranted.
Exceptions to the three-step process
For severe violations, such as hate speech, threats of violence and spam, moderators reserve the right to delete the content or remove and block the offender immediately and will report such actions to the communications committee.
Financial Reporting / Member Fundraising
Members wishing to use our forums to promote a product for sale, or a service, with the proceeds designated to the party as a donation, must contact us in advance so we can ensure that all financial transactions are documented and reported as necessary.