# Community Etiquette

ToS;DR strives to be an all-inclusive community for all ages, ethnicities, and genders. To achieve this goal, we maintain a set of ground rules split into **requirements** and **suggestions**.

## Rules

### Requirements

1. **Treat others with respect.** Always remember you are talking to another person.
2. **Respect other people's opinions.** Differing views are welcome, and it is fine to point out when someone is being extreme.
3. **Do not push your narrative.** Opinions are accepted, but making others feel bad or forcing your view on them will be penalized.
4. **Anything that is illegal in your country is illegal here.** Severe violations can be reported to authorities.
5. **Spam is not okay.** Multiple messages are fine when they are essential to the topic, but repeating the same message is not.
6. **Do not DM others without permission.** Exceptions apply to moderators or team members if they are online and not set to “Do not Disturb”.
7. **Hate speech is not tolerated.** Keep harmful opinions—especially those targeting minorities—out of our spaces.
8. **Do not impersonate anyone.** Even joking impersonations can be harmful.
9. **Follow the Discord** [**Community Guidelines**](https://discord.com/guidelines) when you are on Discord.

### Suggestions

1. **Avoid texting when you have had a really bad day.** It is easy to sound agitated and make others uncomfortable.
2. **Stay open to new opinions.**
3. **Be kind.**

## Appealing

Follow these steps if you believe a ban should be reconsidered:

* **Mistreatment / disrespecting opinions:** Apologise to the people involved. A reinstatement is not guaranteed if moderators consider the apology insincere or you are a repeat offender.
* **DMing without permission:** Apologise to the recipient and explain what you will do differently in the future.
* **Spam:**
  * Automated spam will remain banned.
  * For human mistakes, a simple “sorry, it will not happen again” is usually enough.