Moderation & Discipline

Section 1: Purpose

Thronos shall maintain reasonable systems for addressing conduct that violates this Constitution, the Community Covenant, Community Guidelines, Safeguarding requirements, or other legitimate rules established by Thronos.

The purpose of moderation and discipline is to protect people, preserve trust, correct harmful conduct where possible, and maintain the conditions necessary for people to belong, learn, build, serve, and grow.

Discipline shall not exist for humiliation, retaliation, personal vengeance, or the arbitrary exercise of power.

Section 2: Fairness and Proportionality

Thronos shall seek to respond to misconduct in a manner proportionate to its seriousness, circumstances, frequency, impact, and risk of continued harm.

Not every violation requires the same response.

Where appropriate, Thronos should prefer correction and restoration over punishment.

However, serious misconduct, safeguarding concerns, threats, abuse, or circumstances presenting significant risk may require immediate protective action without following every stage of the ordinary disciplinary process.

Section 3: The Ordinary Process

Where circumstances permit, disciplinary matters may proceed through the following progression:

Conversation → Warning → Restriction → Suspension → Removal

These stages are not required to occur in every case.

A conversation may be sufficient for minor or unintentional misconduct.

A warning may be given when conduct needs to stop or be corrected.

Restrictions may limit a person's access to particular Spaces, features, Projects, or activities.

Suspension may temporarily remove a person's ability to participate in some or all of Thronos.

Removal may permanently end a person's membership or participation where continued involvement is no longer compatible with the safety, trust, or purposes of the community.

Section 4: Immediate Protective Action

Thronos may take immediate action where reasonably necessary to protect a person, preserve evidence, prevent ongoing misconduct, protect organizational resources, or address a serious safeguarding or safety concern.

Such action may include restricting access, removing content, separating participants, suspending an account or role, or temporarily removing a person from a Space or activity.

Protective action is not necessarily a final determination that misconduct occurred.

Where appropriate, the underlying matter should still be reviewed through a fair process.

Section 5: Notice of Concern

Where disciplinary action is being considered and circumstances permit, the person concerned should be informed of the nature of the concern and the rule, principle, or responsibility that may have been violated.

The person should be given a reasonable opportunity to provide relevant information, explanation, context, or evidence before a final decision is made.

This requirement may be limited where prior notice would create a significant risk of harm, retaliation, evidence destruction, or other legitimate interference with safeguarding or investigation.

Section 6: Right to Respond

A person accused of misconduct shall have an opportunity to respond to the allegations against them before significant disciplinary action is finalized, where reasonably possible.

A person shall not be treated as having admitted wrongdoing merely because they disagree with a moderator, fail to explain themselves immediately, or are unable to provide a complete response.

The person may identify relevant evidence, witnesses, context, or other information that they believe should be considered.

Section 7: Evidence and Good-Faith Reporting

Moderation decisions should be based on relevant information reasonably available to those responsible for the decision.

Reports made in good faith shall not be treated as misconduct merely because they cannot ultimately be substantiated.

At the same time, deliberately fabricated allegations, malicious reporting, or manipulation of the disciplinary process may themselves constitute misconduct.

Thronos shall seek to distinguish between being mistaken, making a good-faith report, and deliberately deceiving the organization.

Section 8: Decision-Making Authority

Moderation and disciplinary authority shall be exercised only by persons or bodies authorized by Thronos.

Different levels of authority may be established for different matters.

Minor community matters may be handled by moderators or designated administrators.

Serious disciplinary matters may require review by a designated leadership body or other appropriate authority.

The detailed allocation of authority shall be established through bylaws and policies.

Section 9: Conflicts of Interest

No person should ordinarily make a final disciplinary decision concerning a matter in which they are personally involved or have a significant conflict of interest.

Where a moderator, administrator, leader, mentor, Project leader, founder, or other person with authority is involved in a complaint, the matter should be transferred to an appropriate independent or higher authority where reasonably possible.

The person whose conduct is being reviewed should not control the process concerning their own conduct.

Section 10: Complaints Against Leadership

A person's position within Thronos shall not place them beyond the Community Covenant, Community Guidelines, or disciplinary process.

Where a complaint concerns a leader, moderator, administrator, mentor, or other person exercising authority, appropriate alternative reporting and review mechanisms should be available.

Where the Founder is the subject of a complaint, the matter shall not be controlled solely by the Founder.

Thronos shall establish appropriate procedures for handling such matters as its governance structure develops.

Section 11: Appeals

A person subject to significant disciplinary action may appeal the decision through an established appeal process.

An appeal may consider whether:

the relevant rule or principle was correctly applied;

the process was reasonably fair;

relevant information was overlooked;

the response was proportionate;

or a conflict of interest affected the decision.

An appeal does not necessarily require the entire matter to be reconsidered from the beginning.

The appeal process may result in confirmation, modification, reversal, or referral of the original decision.

Section 12: Appeals and Immediate Safety Measures

An appeal does not automatically restore access where continued access could reasonably create a risk to another person, the community, or organizational resources.

Temporary protective restrictions may remain in place while an appeal or review is conducted.

Where possible, such restrictions should be distinguished from the final disciplinary determination.

Section 13: Confidentiality

Disciplinary and safeguarding matters should be handled with appropriate confidentiality.

Information should be shared only with persons who have a legitimate reason to receive it.

Thronos shall not use disciplinary processes as public entertainment, humiliation, or a means of damaging a person's reputation beyond what is reasonably necessary to protect the community.

This does not prevent appropriate communication of decisions where necessary for safety, accountability, or organizational operation.

Section 14: Restoration

Where misconduct has been corrected and continued participation can reasonably occur without compromising the safety or trust of others, Thronos may provide appropriate pathways for restoration.

Restoration may involve acknowledgement of harm, correction of conduct, repaired relationships, changed responsibilities, completion of conditions, or a period of restricted participation.

Restoration is not always appropriate, particularly where serious or repeated misconduct creates an ongoing risk.

Section 15: Removal

Removal from Thronos may occur where a person's continued participation is incompatible with the safety, trust, integrity, or purposes of the community.

Removal should be treated as a serious measure rather than an ordinary response to disagreement, criticism, personality differences, or unpopular opinions.

Where reasonably possible, the person should receive notice of the decision and information about any applicable appeal process.

Section 16: No Retaliation

No person shall be punished, threatened, harassed, excluded, or disadvantaged merely for making a good-faith report, participating honestly in an investigation, providing relevant information, or appealing a disciplinary decision.

This protection does not extend to deliberately fabricated allegations, intimidation, manipulation, or abuse of the reporting process.

Section 17: Records and Accountability

Thronos may maintain appropriate records of significant moderation and disciplinary decisions.

Such records shall be handled consistently with the organization's privacy commitments.

The organization should maintain enough documentation to support accountability, consistency, appeals, safeguarding, and organizational learning without retaining or exposing information unnecessarily.

Section 18: The Principle

Thronos seeks to hold together two responsibilities:

People should be protected from harmful conduct. People should be treated fairly when accused of harmful conduct.

Neither responsibility should be sacrificed for the other.

Thronos therefore seeks to correct where correction is possible, protect where protection is necessary, restrict where restriction is appropriate, restore where restoration is possible, and remove where continued participation is incompatible with the community.

Authority within Thronos is exercised for the protection and flourishing of the community, not for the personal control of its members.