Policy Discussion: Social Media and Inkscape's Presence in other spaces
Dear PLC,
The vectors team are requesting guidance on the use of social media spaces such as Twitter which have become problematic. I believe that such guidance can be made into a generalisable project wide policy and present here a draft for what this might look like.
Request for comment, since I've probably over thinking it:
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# Inkscape Community Spaces Policy
Inkscape is a project with a wide and inclusive community who participate in many places online. We do not wish to restrict what spaces people participate in as users, or even fan groups; but must be decisive about which spaces can be counted as official, use the inkscape trademark and brand identity and what rules must apply in those instances.
## Official Inkscape Community Space
A space which is run by the Inkscape project must follow these rules to be considered an official Inkscape Community Space:
1. It must be run: 1a. On an Inkscape controlled infrastructure or Virtual Private server for example the inkscape website, chat room, forum, etc. 2b. On behalf of the project by a third party running Free Software server components. For example BigBlueButton, GitLab, Mastodon etc 3c. Be given a special exception by the Project Leadership Committee.
2. It must strictly follow the Code of Conduct: https://inkscape.org/community/coc/
3. It must have a moderator, or moderator team that can respond in reasonable time to abuse.
4. If possible, it should use the Inkscape branding, mark, and domain name to associate itself with the project.
5. Should be linked directly from the Inkscape website as a core part of the community infrastructure.
6. May be private for contributors, special team members, project leads or users in general depending on the needs of the platform.
## Official Inkscape Outpost
A space that is run on some other platform, which is used for outreach, advertising, news and to connect with the wider user community in the existing spaces where they have existing accounts.
These rules apply to official outposts:
1. It must NOT be run by Inkscape, but must be in a third party website or service.
2. Must have an account or administrator which is ownable by the project where a copy of the required credentials to access the service can be maintained in the PLC accessible credentials repository.
3. Must not be used for contributions to the project: a. As a permanent store of code, merge requests, issues, graphics, or designs or canonical store of official documentation except where it is a published copy or clone for read-only accessibility. b. A singular place for user sentiment, such as polling and surveys, except where such a poll or survey is also available elsewhere AND the results are copied into the project's core spaces for record keeping once completed.
4. Must NOT act as a place where users believe they are talking with, reporting to, or filing complaints with the actual Inkscape Project. When users attempt to contact "The Inkscape Project" through an outpost service, the user should be redirected to official channels, issue trackers, website, mailing lists etc by a moderator. This redirection should be made available in the bio/profile text for clarity.
4. All participants must follow the Code of Conduct and where moderation and administration is possible, the code of conduct should supersede local rules. Where administration is not possible, blocking and block lists may be employed to moderate the spaces.
5. Must not be on a platform known for or owned by people intent on popularising, propagandising or otherwise supporting hate, fascism, terrorism, violence, sexual abuse, and other politically ideological wider communities.
6. Must NOT be linked from the Inkscape website. The outpost service is intended to support users who are already on those platforms, not encouraging new users to join them. But should include links FROM those sites or service profiles TO Inkscape and it's core community platforms such as the website and forums.
7. Should have activity at least once per three months to indicate its still in use and has interest in being maintained.
8. May use Inkscape's trademark and logo, but must try and communicate that it is for outreach, news, user community, etc and where it is a website that invites technical contributions should make it clear that the service is not being used for that an redirect people to the correct resource.
## Fan/User Run Communities
Some communities are run by users who are not involved with the Inkscape project and are not bound by our code of conduct. So our rules are generally about the appearance of being official and the use of our trademark:
1. Are encouraged to use the Inkscape Code of Conduct as a way of managing their moderation.
2. Must not use the Inkscape brand or logo unmodified, in the same ways as the trademark policy specifies for Inkscape code and binary publications.
3. Must not use the inkscape name as a domain name, or an inkscape domain with a separate country level top level domain. Except where there is sufficient differentiation that it wouldn't be confused with being run by the project itself.
4. Must not be linked from the Inkscape website, etc.
5. May copy news, announcements, and participate in discussions about outreach where necessary.
6. Must not advertise themselves as official, or create confusion that posting, commenting, or sending private messages would be the same as communicating with the Inkscape Project.
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Sorry for the long read!
Best Regards, Martin Owens
Hey everyone,
I collected together some of the comments from various people inside and outside of the project. I'll bring it up today at our PLC meeting before drafting a final version we can vote on.
Best Regards, Martin Owens
On Mon, 2025-09-08 at 16:16 -0400, Martin Owens wrote:
Dear PLC,
The vectors team are requesting guidance on the use of social media spaces such as Twitter which have become problematic. I believe that such guidance can be made into a generalisable project wide policy and present here a draft for what this might look like.
Request for comment, since I've probably over thinking it:
=======
# Inkscape Community Spaces Policy
Inkscape is a project with a wide and inclusive community who participate in many places online. We do not wish to restrict what spaces people participate in as users, or even fan groups; but must be decisive about which spaces can be counted as official, use the inkscape trademark and brand identity and what rules must apply in those instances.
## Official Inkscape Community Space
A space which is run by the Inkscape project must follow these rules to be considered an official Inkscape Community Space:
1. It must be run: 1a. On an Inkscape controlled infrastructure or Virtual Private server for example the inkscape website, chat room, forum, etc. 2b. On behalf of the project by a third party running Free Software server components. For example BigBlueButton, GitLab, Mastodon etc 3c. Be given a special exception by the Project Leadership Committee.
2. It must strictly follow the Code of Conduct: https://inkscape.org/community/coc/
3. It must have a moderator, or moderator team that can respond in reasonable time to abuse.
4. If possible, it should use the Inkscape branding, mark, and domain name to associate itself with the project.
5. Should be linked directly from the Inkscape website as a core part of the community infrastructure.
6. May be private for contributors, special team members, project leads or users in general depending on the needs of the platform.
## Official Inkscape Outpost
A space that is run on some other platform, which is used for outreach, advertising, news and to connect with the wider user community in the existing spaces where they have existing accounts.
These rules apply to official outposts:
1. It must NOT be run by Inkscape, but must be in a third party website or service.
2. Must have an account or administrator which is ownable by the project where a copy of the required credentials to access the service can be maintained in the PLC accessible credentials repository.
3. Must not be used for contributions to the project: a. As a permanent store of code, merge requests, issues, graphics, or designs or canonical store of official documentation except where it is a published copy or clone for read-only accessibility. b. A singular place for user sentiment, such as polling and surveys, except where such a poll or survey is also available elsewhere AND the results are copied into the project's core spaces for record keeping once completed.
4. Must NOT act as a place where users believe they are talking with, reporting to, or filing complaints with the actual Inkscape Project. When users attempt to contact "The Inkscape Project" through an outpost service, the user should be redirected to official channels, issue trackers, website, mailing lists etc by a moderator. This redirection should be made available in the bio/profile text for clarity.
4. All participants must follow the Code of Conduct and where moderation and administration is possible, the code of conduct should supersede local rules. Where administration is not possible, blocking and block lists may be employed to moderate the spaces.
5. Must not be on a platform known for or owned by people intent on popularising, propagandising or otherwise supporting hate, fascism, terrorism, violence, sexual abuse, and other politically ideological wider communities.
6. Must NOT be linked from the Inkscape website. The outpost service is intended to support users who are already on those platforms, not encouraging new users to join them. But should include links FROM those sites or service profiles TO Inkscape and it's core community platforms such as the website and forums.
7. Should have activity at least once per three months to indicate its still in use and has interest in being maintained.
8. May use Inkscape's trademark and logo, but must try and communicate that it is for outreach, news, user community, etc and where it is a website that invites technical contributions should make it clear that the service is not being used for that an redirect people to the correct resource.
## Fan/User Run Communities
Some communities are run by users who are not involved with the Inkscape project and are not bound by our code of conduct. So our rules are generally about the appearance of being official and the use of our trademark:
1. Are encouraged to use the Inkscape Code of Conduct as a way of managing their moderation.
2. Must not use the Inkscape brand or logo unmodified, in the same ways as the trademark policy specifies for Inkscape code and binary publications.
3. Must not use the inkscape name as a domain name, or an inkscape domain with a separate country level top level domain. Except where there is sufficient differentiation that it wouldn't be confused with being run by the project itself.
4. Must not be linked from the Inkscape website, etc.
5. May copy news, announcements, and participate in discussions about outreach where necessary.
6. Must not advertise themselves as official, or create confusion that posting, commenting, or sending private messages would be the same as communicating with the Inkscape Project.
Sorry for the long read!
Best Regards, Martin Owens
participants (1)
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Martin Owens