GLASS_CAFE

Introduction

It is typical for a service like GLASS_CAFE to provide its users with a Terms of Service, outlining which kinds of behaviours are deemed unacceptable and may result in executive action. However, as GLASS_CAFE aims to be not just a service but a community, we find such Terms to be insufficient. Communities are built not out of negative values but positive ones, and so GLASS_CAFE has adopted five Principles under which to handle its management.

The five Principles listed below are intended to provide a rubric for instance and community management. They exist both to provide administrators a citeable resource to use when justifying their actions, as well as to give the community-at-large something concrete to draw upon when levying criticisms or concerns. The instance owners and administrators have the final say when it comes to the interpretation of these Principles, but these Principles should take precedence over their less-substantial daily whims.

A summarized version of the five GLASS_CAFE Principles is as follows:

1. Life: Everyone has a right to a liveable life.
2. Diversity: All diversity is valuable; diversity of community is more important than diversity of thought.
3. Solidarity: The best communities look out for each other.
4. Safety: Nobody should be hurt unnecessarily.
5. Autonomy: Your life is your own.

More extensive explanations of the Principles are provided in the following sections.

Principle 1. Life

Meaning

At GLASS_CAFE we believe that everyone has a right to a liveable life. A liveable life is merely a life which can be lived. Consequently, we take a strong stance against those things which make it harder for one to live their life; these include: harrassment, stalking, doxxing, acting in a threatening manner, state violence, captialism. Similarly, we take a strong stance for things which make lives a little easier to live; these include: establishing boundaries, obtaining consent, fairly compensating labour, obtaining healthcare access for all (including, of course, abortion and contraceptive access), building communities, and giving people fair representation. We explicitly affirm the value of indigenous, black, immigrant, disabled, and trans lives. We explicitly denounce movements whose motivations originate in white-supremacy, fascism, ableism, transphobia, or misogyny.

Rationale

GLASS_CAFE is a social media platform, but moreover GLASS_CAFE aims to be a place where people can live their lives. Affirming the value of life and assuring that no lives on the platform are unliveable is of the utmost importance to making GLASS_CAFE a meaningful space for people to occupy—and it's just the right thing to do.

Principle 2. Diversity

Meaning

There are many kinds of diversity. At GLASS_CAFE, we hold that all diversity is valuable, but diversity of community is more important than diversity of thought. It is our strong belief that a culturally diverse community is necessary for the enactment of our Principles. Consequently, we strongly support new technologies and community efforts which help to make our space more accessible and inclusive. Similarly, we have little tolerance for the promotion of ideas or rhetoric which seek to exclude members from our community, or infringe on people's right to a liveable life, as above.

Rationale

Having a diverse community is important to ensuring that everyone has a place, that their concerns are able to be heard and amplified, and that GLASS_CAFE as a space remains available to everyone.

Principle 3. Solidarity

Meaning

At GLASS_CAFE we believe that the best communities look out for each other. While differences in opinion and conflicts between communities are inevitable, at the end of the day we are all stronger when we stand together. The largest and most successful communities have a responsibility to look out for smaller ones, and debate and drama between them should focus on helping us grow together, not fracture apart.

Rationale

Solidarity is a necessary component of any community. At GLASS_CAFE, solidarity works hand-in-hand with our commitment to diversity, as fractured communities tend to damage minority groups the most.

Principle 4. Safety

Meaning

It is impossible to protect everyone all the time, and oftentimes individuals knowingly choose to enter unsafe spaces in pursuit of a higher calling. However, at GLASS_CAFE, we feel that nobody should be hurt unnecessarily. We do our best to provide people with the proper tools to protect themselves and establish boundaries. Furthermore, we consider knowingly and non-consensually infringing on another's safety to be a violation of their rights to autonomy and a liveable life.

Rationale

There is an ethical responsibility for any service to look out for the safety of its users. If we have the chance to minimize harm, we will gladly take up the opportunity.

Principle 5. Autonomy

Meaning

At GLASS_CAFE, we feel that your life is your own. So long as you are not acting in violation of any of our Terms or breaking laws which endanger our community, we will try not to impose ourselves on you unnecessarily. We furthermore aim to do our best to ensure that you have full ownership and control over the content that you produce on our service, including any associated data.

Rationale

At GLASS_CAFE we feel very strongly about our principles, but we have no interest in becoming a dictatorship or panopticon. We believe everyone has a right to self-determination, and that they deserve control over the products of their labour.