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 # Updating the Go Code of Conduct
 23 May 2018
 Tags: conduct
 Summary: Revising the Go Code of Conduct.

 Steve Francia

 ##

 In November 2015, we introduced the Go Code of Conduct.
 It was developed in a collaboration between
 the Go team members at Google and the Go community.
 I was fortunate to be one of the community members
 invited to participate in both drafting and then enforcing
 the Go Code of Conduct.
 Since then, we have learned two lessons about
 limitations in our code of conduct that restricted us from
 being able to cultivate the safe culture
 essential to Go’s success.

 The first lesson we learned is that toxic behaviors by
 project participants in non-project spaces can have a
 negative impact on the project affecting the security and safety of
 community members. There were a few reported
 incidents where actions took place outside of project spaces
 but the impact was felt inside our community. The specific
 language in our code of conduct restricted our ability to
 respond only to actions happening “in the official
 forums operated by the Go project”. We needed a way
 to protect our community members wherever they are.

 The second lesson we learned is that the demands required
 to enforce the code
 of conduct place too heavy of a burden on volunteers.
 The initial version of the code of conduct presented the
 working group as disciplinarians. It was soon clear
 that this was too much, so in early 2017 [we changed the group’s role](https://golang.org/cl/37014)
 to that of advisors and mediators.
 Still, working group community members
 reported feeling overwhelmed, untrained, and vulnerable.
 This well-intentioned shift left us without an enforcement mechanism
 without solving the issue with overburdened volunteers.

 In mid-2017, I represented the Go project in a meeting with
 Google’s Open Source Programs Office and Open Source Strategy Team
 to address the shortcomings in our respective
 codes of conduct, particularly in their enforcement.
 It quickly became clear that our problems had a lot in common,
 and that working together on a single code of conduct for all
 of Google’s open source projects made sense.
 We started with the text from the
 Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct v1.4
 and then made changes, influenced by
 our experiences in Go community and our collective experiences in open source.
 This resulted in the Google [code of conduct template](https://opensource.google.com/docs/releasing/template/CODE_OF_CONDUCT/).

 Today the Go project is adopting this new code of conduct,
 and we’ve updated [golang.org/conduct](https://golang.org/conduct).
 This revised code of conduct retains much of the intent, structure and
 language of the original Go code of conduct while making two critical
 changes that address the shortcomings identified above.

 First, [the new code of conduct makes clear](https://golang.org/conduct/#scope) that people who
 participate in any kind of harassment or inappropriate behavior,
 even outside our project spaces, are not welcome in our project spaces.
 This means that the Code of Conduct applies outside
 the project spaces when there is a reasonable belief that
 an individual’s behavior may have a negative
 impact on the project or its community.

 Second, in the place of the working group,
 [the new code of conduct introduces a single Project Steward](https://golang.org/conduct/#reporting)
 who will have explicit training and support for this role.
 The Project Steward will receive reported violations
 and then work with a committee,
 consisting of representatives from the Open Source Programs Office
 and the Google Open Source Strategy team,
 to find a resolution.

 Our first Project Steward will be [Cassandra Salisbury](https://twitter.com/cassandraoid).
 She is well known to the Go community as a member of Go Bridge,
 an organizer of many Go meetups and conferences,
 and as a lead of the Go community outreach working group.
 Cassandra now works on the Go team at Google
 with a focus on advocating for and supporting the Go community.

 We are grateful to everyone who served on the original Code of
 Conduct Working Group. Your efforts were essential in creating an
 inclusive and safe community.

 We believe the code of conduct has contributed to the
 Go project becoming more welcoming now than it was in 2015,
 and we should all be proud of that.

 We hope that the new code of conduct will help protect our community
 members even more effectively.
	# Updating the Go Code of Conduct
	23 May 2018
	Tags: conduct
	Summary: Revising the Go Code of Conduct.

	Steve Francia

	##

	In November 2015, we introduced the Go Code of Conduct.
	It was developed in a collaboration between
	the Go team members at Google and the Go community.
	I was fortunate to be one of the community members
	invited to participate in both drafting and then enforcing
	the Go Code of Conduct.
	Since then, we have learned two lessons about
	limitations in our code of conduct that restricted us from
	being able to cultivate the safe culture
	essential to Go’s success.

	The first lesson we learned is that toxic behaviors by
	project participants in non-project spaces can have a
	negative impact on the project affecting the security and safety of
	community members. There were a few reported
	incidents where actions took place outside of project spaces
	but the impact was felt inside our community. The specific
	language in our code of conduct restricted our ability to
	respond only to actions happening “in the official
	forums operated by the Go project”. We needed a way
	to protect our community members wherever they are.

	The second lesson we learned is that the demands required
	to enforce the code
	of conduct place too heavy of a burden on volunteers.
	The initial version of the code of conduct presented the
	working group as disciplinarians. It was soon clear
	that this was too much, so in early 2017 [we changed the group’s role](https://golang.org/cl/37014)
	to that of advisors and mediators.
	Still, working group community members
	reported feeling overwhelmed, untrained, and vulnerable.
	This well-intentioned shift left us without an enforcement mechanism
	without solving the issue with overburdened volunteers.

	In mid-2017, I represented the Go project in a meeting with
	Google’s Open Source Programs Office and Open Source Strategy Team
	to address the shortcomings in our respective
	codes of conduct, particularly in their enforcement.
	It quickly became clear that our problems had a lot in common,
	and that working together on a single code of conduct for all
	of Google’s open source projects made sense.
	We started with the text from the
	Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct v1.4
	and then made changes, influenced by
	our experiences in Go community and our collective experiences in open source.
	This resulted in the Google [code of conduct template](https://opensource.google.com/docs/releasing/template/CODE_OF_CONDUCT/).

	Today the Go project is adopting this new code of conduct,
	and we’ve updated [golang.org/conduct](https://golang.org/conduct).
	This revised code of conduct retains much of the intent, structure and
	language of the original Go code of conduct while making two critical
	changes that address the shortcomings identified above.

	First, [the new code of conduct makes clear](https://golang.org/conduct/#scope) that people who
	participate in any kind of harassment or inappropriate behavior,
	even outside our project spaces, are not welcome in our project spaces.
	This means that the Code of Conduct applies outside
	the project spaces when there is a reasonable belief that
	an individual’s behavior may have a negative
	impact on the project or its community.

	Second, in the place of the working group,
	[the new code of conduct introduces a single Project Steward](https://golang.org/conduct/#reporting)
	who will have explicit training and support for this role.
	The Project Steward will receive reported violations
	and then work with a committee,
	consisting of representatives from the Open Source Programs Office
	and the Google Open Source Strategy team,
	to find a resolution.

	Our first Project Steward will be [Cassandra Salisbury](https://twitter.com/cassandraoid).
	She is well known to the Go community as a member of Go Bridge,
	an organizer of many Go meetups and conferences,
	and as a lead of the Go community outreach working group.
	Cassandra now works on the Go team at Google
	with a focus on advocating for and supporting the Go community.

	We are grateful to everyone who served on the original Code of
	Conduct Working Group. Your efforts were essential in creating an
	inclusive and safe community.

	We believe the code of conduct has contributed to the
	Go project becoming more welcoming now than it was in 2015,
	and we should all be proud of that.

	We hope that the new code of conduct will help protect our community
	members even more effectively.