Due to the prevalence of social media and off-site online communications within the Lakes of Fire community, the need for an off-site online Code of Conduct has become apparent for Lakes of Fire. The purpose of this document is to define the parameters of acceptable behavior with the acknowledgment that sarcastic and often mildly irritating behaviors in commenting within the greater burner community are frequently seen as integral to the culture of the community. As a group,it has become apparent that the need exists to define the difference between unacceptable harassing behaviors and comments not intended to cause harm. We intend to create an enumerated response of escalation and outcomes which will aid the community in defining boundaries of acceptable interpersonal communications outside of the event location and timeframe.

In an online community, it is essential to distinguish between harassment, which is a violation of the Code of Conduct, and subjective behavior that, while unpleasant, may not cross the line into harassment.

Harassment is defined in this document to be a continued pattern of unwelcome and unwanted behavior that targets an individual or group by means of creating a hostile, intimidating, and/or offensive environment with the intent to cause emotional, mental, and/or physical harm. Harassment extends beyond a one-time interaction or personal annoyance. Harassment includes but is not limited to:

• • • Repeated Behavior: Persistent actions or communications after being asked to stop.
    • Targeted Actions: Directly aimed at an individual or group with the intent to demean, intimidate, or harm
    • Violation of Boundaries: Ignoring clear boundaries, such as continued communications or tagging an individual after being asked to stop.
    • Content-Based Offenses: Sharing or promoting hateful, violent, and/or explicit materials aimed at specific individuals or groups.
    • Discriminatory Language: Attacks or slurs based on age, race, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, relationship style, religion, disability, education, career, and/or other protected characteristics.
    • Threats or Doxxing: Threatening physical harm, cyberbullying, and/or sharing private or personal information without consent. This includes publicly sharing screenshots from a person’s private social media page.  
    • Slanderous/Libelous Communication: The intent to alter the reputation or standing of a person or group within the community through false or misleading information; including rumors.

Examples of Harassment:

• • • Sending repeated, unwanted messages or emails after being asked to stop. This would include sending private messages after conversing on our social media where a cease request was made. 
    • Making derogatory comments and/or personal attacks directed at someone based on their identity
    • Using slurs, hate speech, and/or discriminatory language
    • Threatening someone directly (“I will harm you in this way”) or indirectly (“You will regret this”)
    • Sharing someone’s personal information (address/phone number) without their permission (Doxxing)
    • Creating or sharing content meant to humiliate or intimidate someone

Intent:

Intent shall be determined by moderators and leads as the purposeful writing of known derogatory or inflammatory words and comments. In addition, the use of knowledge that targets an individual group. An example of the use of personal knowledge would be if Person A knows Person B has difficult feelings regarding rabbits and intentionally uses that knowledge to cause negative or difficult feelings by commenting “You are a scared little rabbit.”

Subjective Behavior “Being a jerk”; While someone “being a jerk” may involve rude or inconsiderate actions it does not always constitute an escalation to the level of harassment, this includes:

• • • General Disrespect: Sarcastic or dismissive comments which are not targeted or sustained
    • Disagreeable Behavior: Strongly expressing opinions that others find offensive or irritating, but do not cross into hate speech or personal attacks
    • Occasional Abrasiveness: One-time rude remarks or thoughtless jokes without a pattern of behavior
    • Personality Conflicts: Situations where individuals clash due to differences in communication styles or perspectives.

Key Differences between “being a jerk” and harassment

• • • Targeted and repetitive behavior vs one-time or occasional rude comments
    • Intent to cause harm, intimidate, or demean vs. lack of intent to create harm to an individual. Lakes of Fire recognizes that unintentional harm exists and encourages amends be completed, however, lack of intent to cause harm is recognized as not harassing in nature.  
    • Violates boundaries or community guidelines vs unpleasant behavior
    • Discriminatory or personal in nature vs generally impersonal or in relation to the tone of the post

Code of Conduct for Online Communities and Communications:

To ensure a welcoming, safe, and respectful environment for all members of our online community, the following Code of Conduct must be adhered to by all participants. Areas covered by this code of conduct include, but is not limited to social media spaces, direct messaging applications, servers, drives, and/or email.

• • • Respect for Others: All members shall be treated with kindness, respect, and empathy. Harassment, discrimination, and personal attacks of any kind will not be tolerated. Lakes of Fire encourages all parties in conflict situations and/or miscommunications to seek to understand the other party and assume the best of their intent. 
    • No Hate Speech or Harmful Content: Content that promotes violence, hate speech, and/or discriminatory behavior based on the individual identifying characteristics described above.
    • Protect Privacy: Do not share personal information, images, and/or video of another individual or their personal creations. Personal creations may include costuming and radical self-expressions of an individual’s person such as hair and make-up. without explicit consent. Respect the confidentiality of private communications. Should an individual receive explicit permission to share a photograph of an individual or their art they should state in their post that permissions were granted. The only exceptions are the Effigy,  Art Grant, and honorarium-funded art which was photographed at the Lakes of Fire event as it was provided as a gift to the community. No person(s) should be included in the photograph without their permission. 
    • Follow Platform Rules: all individuals must adhere to the terms of service and rules of the platform hosting the community. Lack of adherence not only creates a potentially hostile environment but jeopardizes the existence of the community within the platform.  
    • Use Appropriate Communication Etiquette
      • Use clear and professional language in official community-related communications
      • Avoid sending unsolicited or excessive communication to members
      • Do not use community lists or spaces for personal or commercial gain

Enforcement of Community Policies:

To maintain the policies enumerated for a safe community, guidelines for enforcement, routes of escalation, and consequences must be defined.

Location of occurrence: with the diversity of online activities within the Lakes of Fire Community violations shall be considered as occurrences that may encompass various platforms.

• • • Bans from social media platforms do not constitute a ban from the physical event of Lakes of Fire without outside review of Code of Conduct Committee and/or Board involvement.
    • An ongoing argument/point of contention may be viewed as one incident
      • If an argument on a post is taken to direct messaging services, email, or other interpersonal communication, it may be viewed as a whole rather than separate events. For example, if Person 1 asks Person 2 to stop commenting on Social Media platform A and Person 2 moves the conversation to Social Media platform B, it will be reviewed as one incident. 

External-Facing Outcomes and Reporting:

The methods by which community members shall report and view outcomes of disputes and violations witnessed within the community. It is important to note that online communications may result in removal from online platforms and access to social media groups; however, most outcomes will affect only user access but do not necessarily constitute a ban from the physical event(s) included in Lakes of Fire.

Reporting

• • • Any community member may tag or message a moderator, lead, EC, and/or board member with concerns about ongoing communications or actions.
    • If an individual witnesses or experiences a violation of the Code of Conduct they may report it to a member of leadership of their choice via email. The individual should include all relevant information and/or evidence and should include as much detail as reasonable 

Confidentiality:

• • • Reports shall be handled with an appropriate amount of privacy commensurate with the method of reporting. If a situation is escalated to the Code of Conduct Team all further inquiries will be handled by the Board of Directors or Code of Conduct Committee. Online Code of Conduct issues will always default to the privacy of the individuals involved over the needs of the community. While generic information such as “A comment has been removed” or “a person was removed” the details may remain private as the situation requires. 
    • Consequences or outcomes of disputes will not be publicized to the greater community.

Consequences:

First Offense: Warning

• • • The violator will receive either an immediate public warning or a private warning outlining the specific issue, the relevant guideline(s) breached, and expectations for future behavior.

Secondary Offence: Temporary Suspension

• • • A violator may be temporarily restricted from participating in the community in part or in whole for a set period of time including but not limited to:
      • Restrictions from creating posts
      • Restrictions on commenting
      • Restrictions from specific groups or platforms
    • A violator may be reinstated to the community in whole or in part at the discretion of the Moderator Team depending on the violation.

Third and Final Step: Permanent Ban

• • • Continued violations or severe breaches of the Code of Conduct including but not limited to threats of physical violence and/or hate speech may result in a permanent ban from the community including social media platforms, forums, and/or physical events.

Internal Email Escalation Policy: for volunteers receiving official Lakes of Fire email addresses

• • • A volunteer who is engaged in an email exchange with a participant of the community may report a CoC violation by first informing their department’s Co-Lead(s). If the violation is extreme they may file a CoC report on the participant following the typical routes available. 
    • Once a lead has been introduced to the situation, they should follow the process as outlined in the Lead’s Handbook. 

Amendments

• The Online Code of Conduct represents a living document and will be amended as deemed appropriate.