Charter of the Micropolitan Lounge (2020)

Charter of Micropolitan@Discord

Preamble

The Micropolitan Bar and Lounge has long rested on the principle of being a more calm, collected and respectful space than other venues for micronational discussion. In part, this has been managed historically, on Skype, by two mechanisms: the free voting on the admission of new members, and the presence of a clear charter for members and admins to follow, to hold one another to account. This tradition has been broken since the departure from Skype. Additionally, the Micropolitan has been folded in to the general use Microwiki@Discord server because of which, for reasons which should be obvious, is open to all comers, being the default server for the Microwiki.

As an original founding member of the Micropolitan Lounge in 2009, and with the blessing of the Founder of Founders, William Soergel, in this charter I seek to restore to the community that which was lost: a functional Micropolitan Lounge which preserves the ambience and activity of its predecessors.

Article 0 – Amendments

• a. Amendments to this charter may be made in three cases
  • a. Strong consensus (80% or more) of the staff team
  • b. An amendment referendum being approved
  • c. Small changes to reflect changes in the structure of the server, the purposes of channels or the names of named entities
• b. Amendment referenda may be triggered when over 25% of both patrons and staff express support for an amendment suggestion placed into the suggestions channel.
  • a. Amendment referenda will then be put to popular vote for 7 days, and must be won by a two-thirds supermajority.

Article I – Admissions

• a. Admissions to the Micropolitan have always required two things: that a suitable number of votes be counted, and that the simple majority of those votes be to the affirmative.
• b. As such, admissions to Micropolitan are valid if, and only if, at least 24 hours have elapsed OR 75% of active members of the chat (where active members are members having contributed in the last month) have voted AND 60% have voted FOR (not including abstentions in either FOR or TOTAL vote counts).
• c. Applicants may apply by approaching any member of the Club, and any member may advance an application.
  • a. Applications may be made only once per 3 months.

Article II – Staff

• a. Staff, here defined as the combination of admins (pub-coop) and moderators (barstaff), have one key function: to maintain the atmosphere and good flow of the venue.
• b. This includes enforcing the rules of this charter, but also to warning patrons who veer close to misconduct and preventing prolonged off-topic conversation in unsuitable channels.
• c. Staff will be elevated to positions based on experience in the community, server need, community demand and activity. Whilst community urging will be taken seriously, staff will not be entirely elected.
• d. Staff will be dismissed from these positions should they commit violations to this Charter which would earn patrons a kick or ban.
• e. Staff agree to maintain a transparent process for moderation and administration, with patrons able to see into all staff channels though they cannot post.

Article III – Patrons

• a. Patrons, hereby defined as not only the patrons permissions class but also staff roles, agree to the following code of conduct:
  • a. No homophobic, racist, sexist or otherwise discriminatory statements (on the basis of a person’s inborn characteristic, rather than character or actions) or insults are to be made. No use of slurs will be tolerated.
    • i. Statements of this kind made outside the Lounge and brought to the attention of staff will be treated identically to those occurring under direct scrutiny.
  • b. To take in good humour that which is intended humorously.
  • c. To not partake in prolonged and malicious insulting. Moderate infractions will be tolerated in some venues (for instance, the Speakeasy, which is designed for a more rough and ready sort of dialog) within the confines of robust discussion.
    • i. Staff will need give one, and only one, warning. Any further insulting which occurs after a noticeable period (to allow for any ongoing typing to cease of be posted) will be considered an infraction.
  • d. To use the preferred name and pronoun of any and all members once notified of what these are.
    • i. Whilst minor slip-ups may occur, staff will judge whether infractions of this rule are innocent or malicious.
  • e.To not make micronationalism a kind of childish contest; competition is fine, comparisons in specifics are fine, but the wholesale ranking or belittling of other micronational projects is not acceptable.
  • f. No threats of violence may be made.
  • g. No NSFW attachments or links may be posted in any channel. Admins rule on what is or is not NSFW.
    • i. NSFW discussion of sensitive issues adults may wish to discuss is limited to a single venue, the-hookah-bar. NSFW images, videos or other attachments are still not permitted here.
  • h. In the interests of efficient moderation, English is the exclusive language of conversation.
  • i. No spam, no flashing gifs, no general mischief. Whilst this seems vague, and will be at staff discretion, there is no reasonable way to ensure this charter covers any and all ways a malicious actor might attempt to evade the rules as written.
• b. In return for observing these responsibilities in conduct, staff and patrons will work together to guarantee all members the following rights.
  • a. Free and equal participation in all discussions and on-going social activity on the server.
  • b. Freedom to critique the conduct of admin staff.
  • c. Equal opportunity to ascend the ranks of staff when such opportunity is available.
  • d. The right to both a fair hearing at the initial application of disciplinary action (though informal, the accused has a right to attempt to justify themselves in the short period before action is taken) and to arbitrated appeal of any disciplinary action taken, after the incident (by at least 24 hours, so that tensions and tempers may subside).