2 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
3 SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-3.0
9 This is a :doc:`Code of Conduct<CodeOfConduct>` (CoC) incident response guide
10 used by the Code of Conduct Committee and LLVM event organizers.
12 Code of Conduct Committee
13 =========================
15 All responses to Code of Conduct reports will be managed by a Code of Conduct
18 Additional Code of Conduct Response Teams
19 =========================================
21 In-person events will have an additional response team to immediately respond
22 to an incident. For example:
24 * Each LLVM Developers' Meeting has a Code of Conduct response team.
25 * For LLVM meetups, the local organizers will be the first point of contact.
26 * Any other event funded by the LLVM Foundation or listed on the LLVM website,
27 will have a code of conduct response team or point of contact for CoC
30 These teams should determine if an :ref:`immediate response<Immediate Response
31 Checklist>` is needed before sending the report to the Code of Conduct
34 .. _Receiving a report:
39 Reports are typically received by email (conduct@llvm.org) or in person from
40 the reporter or event CoC response team.
42 When receiving a report by email, the CoC Committee should acknowledge receipt
43 within 24 hours. The acknowledgement should be understanding and compassionate
44 but no commitment should be made on whether this is a violation or which action
45 will be taken. Specific guidance is in the checklist below.
47 For in-person events that have a violation reported, the report should be sent
48 to the Code of Conduct committee within 24 hours by the on-site CoC response
52 .. _Immediate Response Checklist:
54 Immediate Response Checklist
55 ============================
57 The CoC committee generally works, decides, and communicates together. If the
58 report indicates that an immediate response is required and other committee
59 members are not available, any committee member may take the immediate action
60 they think is necessary. In-person Code of Conduct response teams should use
61 this checklist to determine if an immediate response is needed.
63 * If the incident involves physical danger, contact the appropriate law
64 enforcement or event security immediately. Ensure the reporter feels safe and
65 stay with them if possible until help arrives.
66 * If the act is ongoing and involves harassment or threats against someone in
67 any space (online or physical), any appropriate response (e.g., ban, physical
68 removal, or moderation) may be used to immediately stop it.
69 * For events that include talks, organizers should end talks early if the
70 violations include harassment or violent threats. There may be talks where
71 other types of code of conduct violations occur and organizers should do
72 their best to determine if a talk should be ended early or not.
74 When undertaking an immediate response, document the action and notify the
75 committee within 24 hours.
81 The following is a summary of the steps the committee takes when responding to
84 1. Determine if there is a need for an :ref:`immediate response<Immediate
87 2. :ref:`Acknowledge the report<Receiving a report>` within 24 hours.
89 3. :ref:`Discuss the incident report<Incident Response Assessment>`, gather
90 more information, and determine a :ref:`resolution<Resolutions>`.
92 4. During this process, the :ref:`reporter will be informed of the
93 resolution<Following Up With the Reportee>` and feedback is requested. This
94 feedback may or may not be used to re-evaluate the resolution.
96 5. Inform the reportee of the resolution. The reportee is provided options to
97 :ref:`appeal<Appeal Process>`.
99 6. The :ref:`resolution<Resolutions>` is implemented.
101 7. All reports, data, notes, and resolutions are logged in a private location
102 (e.g., Google Drive or other database).
104 The committee will never make public statements about a resolution and will
105 only publish :ref:`transparency reports<Transparency Reports>`. If a public
106 statement is necessary and requested by the committee, it will be given by the
107 LLVM Foundation Board of Directors.
109 Report Acknowledgement
110 ======================
112 When a report is received, the committee will reply to the reporter to confirm
113 receipt within 24 hours of the incident being reported.
115 This acknowledgement will contain:
117 * Acknowledgement of the incident report
118 * Next steps of the committee for responding to the incident
119 * Reminder of confidentiality policy regarding the report and parties involved
121 All incident reports should be assessed if they require immediate response and
122 acted on accordingly.
124 .. _Incident Response Assessment:
126 Incident Response Assessment
127 ============================
129 The committee will assess the incident and determine an appropriate response.
130 The assessment will be documented and retained in records. Here are some
131 guidelines for the process:
133 * Review report documentation to determine the content and context of the
136 * Request additional information if needed from the reporter.
138 * Determine if it occurred within the scope of the CoC.
139 * Determine if it violated the CoC and specifically which part.
140 * Consult documentation of past incidents for patterns of behavior (if
141 available and applicable).
142 * Follow up with the reportee to get their view or any other additional
144 * Determine appropriate resolutions to the incident when all information has
146 * Notify the reporter of the resolution and request feedback. This may or may
147 not be used to reevaluate the resolution.
149 The committee will aim to have a resolution agreed upon within two weeks of
150 receipt of the incident report. In the event that a resolution cannot be
151 determined within that time, the CoC committee will respond to the reporter(s)
152 with an updated and projected timeline for resolution.
154 .. _Following Up With the Reportee:
156 Following Up With the Reportee
157 ==============================
159 When following up with the reportee, the committee will:
161 * Explain that an incident was reported that involves the reportee.
162 * In this explanation, the focus will be on the impact of their behavior, not
164 * Reiterate the Code of Conduct and that their behavior may be deemed
166 * Give them the opportunity to state their view of the incident.
167 * Explain the possible resolutions that may be enforced should the CoC
168 committee determine there is a breach.
170 The reportee will be given a week to respond with the option to request
171 additional time if needed and subject to approval of the CoC Committee.
178 The committee should agree unanimously on a resolution. In the event that the
179 committee cannot reach a unanimous resolution, the LLVM Foundation Board of
180 Directors will help resolve the situation and determine if the resolution can
181 proceed without a unanimous vote.
183 When deciding on a resolution, the goal is to address the report in an
184 appropriate way, while also looking to prevent or reduce the risk of continuing
185 harm in the future. Any action deemed necessary by the committee will be
186 taken, but below is a list of possible resolutions:
188 * Taking no further action as the incident was determined not to be a
190 * A private verbal warning and/or reprimand from the committee to the
191 individual(s) involved and request to stop this behavior. This conversation
192 may happen in person, email, by phone, video chat, or IRC.
193 * Request that the reportee avoid any interaction with, and physical proximity
194 to, another person for the remainder of the event.
195 * Refusal of alcoholic beverage purchases by the reportee at LLVM events.
196 * Ending a talk/tutorial/etc at an LLVM event early. See immediate response
197 checklist for further clarification.
198 * Not publishing the video or slides of a talk.
199 * Not allowing a speaker to give (further) talks at LLVM events for a specified
200 amount of time or ever.
201 * Requiring that the reportee immediately leave an event and not return.
202 * Immediately ending any volunteer responsibilities and privileges the reportee
204 * An imposed suspension (e.g., asking someone to "take a week off" from mailing
205 lists, bug tracker, IRC, Discord, repositories, or other communication
207 * A permanent or temporary ban from some or all LLVM Project spaces (online or
210 Once a resolution is agreed upon, but before it is enacted, the committee will
211 contact the reporter and any other affected parties to explain the proposed
212 resolution. They will ask if this resolution is acceptable and must note
213 feedback for the record. However, the committee is not required to act on this
221 Any individual(s) determined to have violated the CoC have the right to appeal
222 a decision. An appeal can be made directly to the committee by sending an email
223 to conduct@llvm.org with subject line Code of Conduct Incident Appeal.
225 The email should include documentation related to the incident to support the
226 appeal. The said documentation may include, but does not have to be limited to:
228 * Information from the reportee justifying reasoning for the appeal.
229 * Statements from other individuals involved in the incident to support the
232 Appeals can be requested up to 30 days after a resolution has been communicated
233 to the individual(s). The committee will aim to evaluate appeals within two weeks of receipt. In the event that appeal can not be evaluated within that time, the CoC committee will respond with an updated and projected timeline.
236 Conflicts of Interest
237 =====================
239 Committee members should declare any conflicts of interest as soon as possible
240 and before any official committee meetings. This can mean being friends with
241 one of the involved parties, or anything else that may make it harder to remain
244 A conflict of interest does not inherently mean the committee member can no
245 longer participate in the process, as that would make it very hard for the team
246 to act on reports involving well-known people in the community. However, if a
247 report concerns a team member or someone they work directly with, they probably
248 should not take part in the process. The team will decide together on where to
249 draw this line in individual cases. Where possible, any conversations with
250 offenders should not be done by people who know them, as it can be very
251 unpleasant for everyone involved.
253 If a report is received concerning a committee member, that member must not be
254 involved in the response process. The rest of the committee will meet and
255 decide on the report without the reported committee member being present, and
256 will not share more information than they would have with a non-member. If a
257 member of the committee is found to have violated the CoC, they may no longer
258 be able to keep serving on the committee.
263 All reports will be kept confidential with details shared only with the Code of
264 Conduct committee members. However, the Code of Conduct Committee will always
265 comply with law enforcement when directed. In the case that a CoC committee
266 member is involved in a report, the member will be asked to recuse themselves
267 from ongoing conversations, and they will not have access to reports after the
268 enforcement decision has been made.
270 In the event of a temporary suspension or ban, the appropriate people must be
271 notified of the ban in order to restrict access to infrastructure or events.
272 These individuals will only be notified of the person's name and the
273 restrictions imposed. They will be under a confidentiality clause and not
274 allowed to respond to questions regarding the ban and should direct all
275 questions to the CoC committee.
277 .. _Transparency Reports:
282 Lack of transparency in the outcomes of our Code of Conduct incidents leaves
283 our community without an understanding of how or if the organizers worked to
284 resolve incidents. The CoC committee should aim to publish transparency
285 reports, if reports are received, after major events (such as the LLVM
286 Developers' meetings) and on the following dates: Jan 15, April 15, July 15,
289 A transparency report consists of 2 parts:
291 * An overview of the reports received, and resolutions.
292 * A more detailed summary of each reported incident and the resolution while
293 maintaining confidentiality.
295 These reports will be published on the LLVM website.
301 This guide was created and inspired by the following: the `Django Project`_,
302 `Carpentries Response Guide`_, and the `Write The Docs Response Guide`_.
307 All content on this page is licensed under a `Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
311 .. _Django Project: https://www.djangoproject.com/conduct/
312 .. _Carpentries Response Guide: https://docs.carpentries.org/topic_folders/policies/enforcement-guidelines.html
313 .. _Write The Docs Response Guide: https://www.writethedocs.org/code-of-conduct/#guidelines-for-reporting-incidents
314 .. _Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/