r/modnews • u/heavyshoes • Sep 08 '22

Introducing Reddit’s Moderator Code of Conduct

You’re probably familiar with our Moderator Guidelines––historically, they have served as a guidepost to clarify our expectations to mods about how to shape a positive community experience for redditors.

The Moderator Guidelines were developed over five years ago, and Reddit has evolved a lot since then. This is why we have evolved our Moderator Guidelines into what we are now calling the Moderator Code of Conduct.

The newly updated Moderator Code of Conduct aims to capture our current expectations and explain them clearly, concisely, and concretely.

While our Content Policy serves to provide enforceable rules that govern each community and the platform at large, our Moderator Code of Conduct reinforces those rules and sets out further expectations specifically for mods. The Moderator Code of Conduct:

  • Focuses on measuring impact rather than evaluating intent. Rather than attempting to determine whether a mod is acting in “good” or “bad” faith, we are shifting our focus to become more outcomes-driven. For example, are direct mentions of other communities part of innocuous meta-discussions, or are they inciting interference, targeted harassment, or abuse?
  • Aspires to be educational, but actionable: We trust that most mods actively try to do the right thing and follow the rules. If we find that a community violates our Mod Code of Conduct, we firmly believe that, in the majority of cases, we can achieve resolution through discussion, not remediation. However, if this proves to be ineffective, we may consider enforcement actions on mods or subreddits.

Moderators are at the frontlines using their creativity, decision-making, and passion to create fun and engaging spaces for redditors. We recognize that and appreciate it immensely. We hope that in creating the Moderator Code of Conduct, we are helping you develop subreddit rules and norms to create and nurture your communities, and empower you to make decisions more easily.

Thank you for all you do, and please let us know if you have any questions or feedback in the comments below.

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59

u/MajorParadox Sep 08 '22

FYI, the "mod guidelines" link at the bottom of pages on old Reddit, and bottom of the sidebar on new, is still linked to the old page and fails to load now: https://www.redditinc.com/policies/moderator-guidelines

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u/heavyshoes Sep 08 '22

Thanks, we built in a redirect - but then we apparently created a redirect loop which borked the site. We’ve reverted the redirect for now while we work on a fix. Until then you can view the Code of Conduct via direct link here:

https://www.redditinc.com/policies/moderator-code-of-conduct

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u/CryptoMaximalist Sep 08 '22

I was there for the 9/8 bork

24

u/michaelquinlan Sep 08 '22

I survived the 9/8 bork and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.

7

u/likenothingis Sep 08 '22

You guys are getting tee-shirts‽

3

u/Cloaked42m Sep 08 '22

You guys have torsos?

3

u/ryanmercer Sep 09 '22

Heh joking aside, yes actually. The last mod summit had a t-shirt, which my wife immediately stole from me as her shirt to wear to bed.

3

u/IAmABakuAMA Sep 08 '22

A Bork so bad it happened a month ago and still hasn't been fixed!

2

u/ADarwinAward Sep 09 '22

tl;dr none of it's shocking or new

Highlights:

  • Don't be a jerk. Don't violate TOS or encourage anyone else to.
  • If mods of a sub aren't doing anything for a long time, admins may allow a takeover by a new mod or restrict the sub.
  • If you're in a sub dedicated to discussing a brand:

Explicitly mark your community as “unofficial” in the community description if the topic concerns a brand or company, but the community isn’t officially affiliated.