This is to decide on the submission of the below text to the Code of Conduct Council.
The voting deadline is one week after the opening of the vote.
CODE OF CONDUCT COUNCIL
The PPEU board hereby forwards the following complaint to the Code of Conduct Council
Summary
A member of the PPGR is suspected of engaging in improper conduct while seeking support for a proposal presented to the PPEU council. Ahead of, during, and following the submission of the proposal to the PPEU board, this individual posted material in social media that accused individuals from other pirate parties of unethical conduct and of being a threat to the movement. Some of this material included posts that listed individual members of PPNL, PPDE and PPI by name.
This conduct appears to be in violation of the following principles of the PPEU code of conduct:
- Respect Freedom of Expression
- Support Positive Interactions Among members
- Commitment to Non-Violence
- Respect for Privacy
- Facilitate Participation & Collaboration
Therefore, we ask the code of conduct council to investigate the case to determine:
- Whether this is a private conflict or whether it is a case of systematic harassment or targeted attempts at intimidating or silencing members with dissenting views
- Whether and which (if any) principles in the code of conduct have been violated
- Whether the conduct has also been damaging to the PPEU, member parties or the European pirate movement as a whole
We also ask that the Code of Conduct Council do the following:
- Mediate between conflicting individuals or parties
- Offer guidance to the offending party to prevent further issues
- Recommend a stronger remedy/course of action if mediation and guidance is not deemed sufficient by the code of conduct council
What has occurred
Comments and various actions ahead of Council Meetings, during Council Meetings, and on social media.
How the code of conduct has been violated
For reference, the PPEU code of conduct can be found here.
The conduct identified in this complaint appears to violate the following elements of the code of conduct:
- Respect Freedom of Expression
- Support Positive Interactions Among members
- Commitment to Non-Violence
- Respect for Privacy
- Facilitate Participation & Collaboration
Respect Freedom of Expression
This principle states that āWe support an individualās freedom of expression and will strive to better understand each other by not assuming experiences or beliefs, clarifying meanings, and making an effort to speak clearly, avoiding jargon and acronyms.ā The conduct has involved making claims about the beliefs of specific individuals and posting names in social media together with statements about the implications of these beliefs. There does not appear to have been any attempts to better understand the individuals concerned or to seek clarification.
Commitment to Non-Violence
This principle states that āWe will not engage in any type of violence or aggression, including verbal threats or complaints, intimidation, stalking or harassment, whether physically or psychologicallyā. What constitutes violence is often scary and difficult to determine if one does not actively work with it. For this reason, Iāve provided a few simple definitions below. They are originally from the book āAlternativ til voldā by Per Isdal, but can be commonly found on many websites that work with violence prevention.
Physical violence
Classic, often intuitive forms of violence, such as punching or pushing.
Emotional violence
Hurting or intimidating by manipulating peopleās feelings, such as by inducing feelings of guilt or shame.
Sexual violence
Violence related to sex, including sexual harassment
Psychological violence
Causing harm, intimidation, etc. through verbal threats, derogatory names or false accusations.
Latent/hidden violence
When the potential for violence has been established and only words, looks or someoneās presence is enough to silence dissent or control someoneās movements and choices.
These definitions are used professionally throughout Europe by organisations such as WWP Europe, the Norwegian foundation Alternativ til vold, the Icelandic organisation Heimilisfriāur along with menās crisis centres and womenās shelters throughout Europe. They are also discussed in multilateral agreements, such as the Istanbul convention. Organisations such as WWP Europe (www.work-with-perpetrators.eu) provide good information about how to identify when conduct constitutes violence. Systematically posting untrue information or accusations about a memberās beliefs and their validity or lack thereof constitutes the use of emotional, psychological and, possibly, hidden/latent violence when the subject of the violence starts to avoid confrontation.
Respect for Privacy
This states that we, as members, āSafeguard the privacy of members, individuals and participants in PPEU events.ā This is a core value of European pirates and the PPEU. Posting memberās names in a post in social media without their consent fails to safeguard the privacy of those members.
Facilitate Participation & Collaboration
This means that we will not āengage in sustained disruption of sessions or events, interrupt conversations in a way that negatively impacts collaboration, or engage in toxic behaviours to attract negative attention to an attendeeā . Posting memberās names in social media posts where they are accused of unethical conduct without their consent can constitute engaging in a behaviour that āattracts negative attention to an attendeeā.
Support Positive Interactions Among members
This principle is about engaging constructively with others. It states that āWe will not tolerate bullying, including requesting or mobilizing others, either in person or online, to bully others.ā
The repeated actions of online violence or harassment and the green lighting of attacks on members may constitute bullying and even the mobilisation of people to bully others.
Next steps by the Code of Conduct Council
- Establish the facts, in particular if the conflict is between private individuals or involves representatives of an Ordinary Member
- Contact the parties involved and offer mediation
- Provide recommendations of actions or measures (possibly disciplinary) which could be taken by the PPEU Board to remedy to the situation.
- In favour
- Against
- Abstain