Terms of Service

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Here are the Universal Terms of Service for all Maine Green Independent Party web presence. These terms apply to conduct on all official social media sites and forums of the Maine Green Independent Party.

 

UNIVERSAL TERMS of SERVICE

 
Here are the Universal Terms of Service for all Maine Green Independent Party web presence. These terms apply to conduct on all official social media sites and forums of the Maine Green Independent Party.
 
We want people to use our forums in a way that centers our party -- the Maine Green Independent Party 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 Maine Green Independent Party 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 Maine Green Independent Party 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 FOR PARTY
 
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).
 
CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM 
 
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!  
 
LIMITATION OF SPEECH AND INTENT
 
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 Maine Green Independent Party's communications committee 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 OUR TERMS:
 
There are three steps to removal or blocking from party forums:
 
1. Official warning
2. Placed on notice
3. Removed or blocked
 
EXCEPTION TO 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.
 
AVERTING DISCIPLINE
 
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.
 
OFFICIAL WARNING/STEP ONE
 
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.
 
PLACED ON NOTICE/STEP TWO
 
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.
 
REMOVAL OR BLOCKING FROM FORUM/STEP THREE
 
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.
 
MODERATORS TO REPORT ACTIONS
 
Moderators will report all warnings, notices, removals and content deletions to the communications committee.
 
APPEALS/REINSTATEMENT
 
The communications committee may reinstate anyone who has been removed, or remove warnings and notices, as the committee deems is warranted. Users who wish to appeal a warning, notice or removal may do so by emailing the communications committee at mgip-comcom [at] googlegroups [dot] com .
 
FINANCIAL REPORTING/MEMBER FUNDRAISING FOR PARTY
 
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.