N.B. This version of the CoC has been replaced. You can find the new one here.

To maintain the civility of the Ricochet site, we urge you to assume fellow members are arguing in good faith and that they assume the same for you. We reserve the right, at the discretion of the editors, to delete posts, disable member promotions, suspend members, and, in extraordinary cases, permanently block members who violate our Terms & Conditions. Infractions include, but are not limited to, the use of the following:

• Obscenities and vulgarities, even using various symbols for letters, or shorthand (e.g., text messaging abbreviations). Ricochet style is to use “[expletive].”
• Personal attacks and ad hominem arguments against people, groups, or classes. Public figures may be exempt from this rule, provided the comment otherwise adheres to the CoC.
• Anything that makes the Ricochet Community look like a bunch of radical fruitcakes. This includes 99% of conspiracy theories.
• Spam, advertising, or off-topic comments. This can include posting a link to a website, even if it’s non-commercial, that isn’t related to the post.
• Copyright violations or plagiarism, including, and especially, of images. Citations of others’ writing in a conversation-starter should be accompanied by the poster’s own original commentary, and quotations should clearly be marked as such.
• All caps. Online, it’s yelling.
• Defamatory, gossipy, or rude comments. Imagine you’re a guest at a dinner party with a group of seemingly nice people you don’t know… how would you handle yourself?
• Confidential information you don’t have a right to post. If the information isn’t publicly known, then it’s best kept to yourself.
• Misinformation, particularly if it appears intentional or is a recurring problem.

These examples are illustrative, not exhaustive. In our judgment, Ricochet’s code of conduct serves as a conversation facilitator, not a conversation stopper.