Legalities and Rules – Atheists Against Pseudoscientific Nonsense

Gavel

Updated Rules

■ Disclaimer:

www.thescientificatheist.com/legal

Due to many of our administrators and moderators being professionals in many fields, the following is information that all, of our wonderful, subscribers need to understand for legal reasons.

AAPN does not give personal and/or specific medical advice to diagnose, treat, or cure any illness or injury and will not provide that information if asked. Posts by AAPN are generalized which are presented by the explicit views and/or opinions of, but not limited to, AAPN, its members, its affiliates, and forwarded news articles. AAPN does not hold itself liable for any injuries or financial losses, due to personal blunders, that may be misinterpreted by satirical postings. AAPN maintains its rights to manage its forum, but does not endorse the opinions of any commentators on the page; those opinions are strictly those of the commentators.

■ Privacy policy:

Member details on the website are used strictly for log in purposes. No details will be shared, or sold, to any other parties.

To summarize this post:

■ Outline of Rules:

1•No personal attacks

2•No offensive content

3•No blocking of administrators or moderators

4•Screenshots must have censored names

5•Repeating of minor offenses may get you removed

6•Provide burden of proof

7•No nondescriptive posts

8•No spamming

9•No plagiarism

10•No unauthorized advertising

11•No trolling

12•Follow posted guidelines

13•Remain within Facebook criteria

14•Zero tolerance for sexual harassment

For an indepth legal disclaimer for our rules, for AAPN, please, refer to the post in the website.

Rules and guidelines for the AAPN group and Facebook page:

■ Acknowledgment:
Let’s make this as clear as possible. You can not spout out discrimination ie: hate, racism, and/or sexism, in this organization, and assert you have “free speech.” When you leave a comment in the group, page, or website, you are speaking in a privately controlled space. This means you should have no expectation that your speech is protected beyond what the group’s rules and Facebook’s terms of use allow. The group has no obligation to allow you to speak freely in this way. We hold our group members to a high standard. If you violate the rules, create posts, or post comments that promote hate, racism, sexism, or start discussions that we find aren’t up to those standards, we reserve the right to remove it, and you, from the group.

By becoming a member of AAPN you agree to abide by some common sense guidelines. Once, in a great while and out of necessity, we retain the right to ban a member from the group due to disruption, trolling and/or disregard of the terms of service. This holds especially true in the case the member has been given a previous warning. We really do not want to babysit, so follow the rules, and do not let anonymity give you permission to act inappropriately.

We have many people volunteering their time to make sure that things do not get out of hand. These people volunteer their time, so the least you can do is give them the same respect that they themselves have agreed to when they agreed to serve as an admin and/or mod.

■ Detailed information on Bannable Offenses and Rules:

1 •Personally attacking other members of our organization. (Name calling, ad hominems, defamatory statements, etc…) Disparaging remarks and posts about a member’s personal lifestyle are forbidden and are grounds for immediate removal.

2 •Offensive content: Sexist comments, rape jokes, disparaging of disabilities, racism, antisemitic, misgendering, or attempts to violate the spirit of this rule.

▪CONTENT: Inappropriate images/posts will be removed from the page. The offensive content will be explained to the member. Upon removal, the admin/moderator may decide to ban the member in question depending on the level of offense.

▪IMAGES: All Content posted to the group should be SFW (safe for work). If an image is NSFW (not safe for work), a member should post an external link, with no preview, that includes a tag NSFW. If a member is unsure about an image, ask an admin/moderator.

3 •Blocking Admins or Moderators: The Admin and Moderator names are available in the member list, if you are having problems with an admin or mod, please seek out another admin or mod. If you can not reach one, please message the AAPN main page. If you do block an admin or moderator, this will result in an automatic removal and possible ban.

4• Posting non-public content of anyone, without blocking out their names, in a post in this group, or in other locations, will result in the removal of the post and possible removal of the person who posted it (depending on the severity of the post). In accordance with Facebook’s anti-bullying/anti-doxxing policy, we may reject or delete any and all posts containing personal information, including names, at our sole discretion.

5 •Repeats of minor offenses, especially when the guidelines, as detailed in the guidelines section, are routinely ignored may result in removal from the AAPN organization.
(Note: The Admin team may give you a warning first or remove you from the group without notification, based on the level of offense(s).)

6 •When someone asks for burden of proof, you must be able to provide it. This is very important as you’re engaging with a group of skeptics. When making an assertion, it is a must that you have a reputable source to cite when doing so, or you are using (citing) an already well established scientific principle(s).
If an admin/mod asks you to provide the source material, and you refuse to, your post WILL be deleted. You also risk a temporary ban or mute if this is a repeat offense. If you block any admin you will be banned from the group automatically. Just like peer reviewed papers in the scientific community, if you are asked to provide proof of an outlandish statement you post, you need to provide it. Please, don’t risk having your post deleted if you believe it to be from a reliable source. Our objective is to sort through the nonsense and its source(s). If a person posts something, with good intent, don’t jump on this person for making an honest mistake. Learn from those that have backgrounds in these areas as we have many people from around the globe with various expertise.

7 •Posts of images, memes and links must have a descriptive introduction. Emoticons do not count. Failure to abide by this will result in the removal of the post and potentially the person who made it, depending on circumstances. (See Bannable offense 5.)

8 •No spam posting or excessive posting. Spam posts will be deleted on site, and the OP may be removed from the group; this may include a ban, depending on the severity of the offense.

9 •Plagiarism will not be tolerated. It is against international copyright laws, and it is grounds for immediate removal up to banning. To simplify compliance and enforcement of copyrights here on AAPN, we ask that excerpts from other sources with copywrited materials posted on AAPN be limited to a maximum of four paragraphs, and we ask that the source, of the content, be clearly identified. Those who make a good-faith effort to respect the rights of copyright holders are unlikely to have any problems, but individuals who, willfully and habitually, infringe on others’ copyrights risk being banned from AAPN. If you need additional information please see the DMCA rules below. If you are interested in writing your own original content for AAPN’s page, contact an admin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act

10 •No advertising of sites/groups/merchandise/events or self-promotion will be allowed to any extent without the explicit consent of AAPN. Failure to contact us may result in removal from the group and a potentially banning, depending on the severity of the offense.

11 •Zero tolerance for Trolling: Intentionally trolling the group will result in the immediate removal and banning of the person engaging in this activity. If you have something you want to discuss, that may aggravate other members, please make an argument in your OP explaining your position. If in doubt, tag an admin or moderator for clarification.

12 •Follow posted guidelines. Failure to do so may result in removal from the group. (See Bannable Offense 5. and the listed guidelines below)

13 •Refrain from making any posts which go against any of Facebook’s policies ie: by showing content such as nudity. These will be deleted. If unsure, here is a link to facebook’s policies. https://www.facebook.com/policies

14 •AAPN has a zero tolerance policy on sexual harassment. Sexual harassment can be defined as behavior that is characterized by the making of unwelcome, uncomfortable or inappropriate sexual remarks or physical advances. This can occur in a group, in private messages, in a chat, or anywhere on facebook in addition to in real life. Any accusations of sexual harassment will be taken seriously and the identity of the accuser will be protected. Anyone who is guilty of sexual harassment will be banned. If anyone feels they have been or are being sexually harassed please contact Carmalita Moya, Clodagh Power or Maegan Ellicott.

If you see a violation of any of the rules posted above, please notify an admin.

■ A Summary of Guidelines:

¤A. Here, at AAPN, we embrace the scientific method. We draw our evidence, hypotheses, and conclusions all by utilizing this specific process. When our admins discuss matters, we do so in a professional manner, and draw our conclusions via this method. Being an AAPN member or participant of the group, page, or website, we expect the same from you. We don’t partake in ad hominem remarks or delve into nonsense, and neither should you.

¤B. Humorous posts, including memes, are always more than welcome through our connected page: AAPN dank meme stash!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1734093793296826/
When posting humorous or satirical postings, you don’t need to abide by the previously mentioned guidelines, but don’t take it too seriously. Have fun with it.

– If you are submitting from a satirical source please say that it’s satire in your accompanying commentary.

Example – “Shared from The National Report/The Daily Mash/Waterford Whisper News – A Satirical News Page.”

AAPN is international and many of our member’s first language is not English. We also have members who are not neuro-typical and perceive the content as literal. The ensuing misunderstanding and mod/admin intervention to clear it up can often take up quite a lot of our time. Adding a line or two for context should (*should) see the post viewed as intended, i.e. for humour, and not marginalise anyone in the process.

¤C. Be willing to have your mind changed. None of us have all the answers.

¤D. Keep posts and comments coherent: If there’s a language barrier, please make sure to announce that to avoid any confusion.

¤E. Be aware of the difference between a hypothesis and theory, especially when talking about scientific matters. A classic theory and a scientific theory are two different things.

¤F. Keep copying and pasting to a minimum. Use your own words. If we think you’re a robot, we may remove you.

¤G. Respond to new assertions and questions. Don’t rephrase the same comment while ignoring the response. You are not a broken record. Avoid coming across as having a self-righteous outrage.

¤H. Please, avoid logical fallacies. It presents a poor argument, even if you’re correct.

Special Considerations

¤I. THEIST ACCUSATIONS: Please, do not accuse fellow members of being a theist. If you have suspicions that someone is a theist, then contact an admin/mod or tag an admin/mod in the post. We may occasionally have theists that aree lurking to discuss the common things we agree on, that has to do with science; but we will NOT remove anything that points out the ridiculous nature of religion because you believe it insults your religion. We are ATHEISTS against pseudoscientific nonsense.

¤J. Please, remain on topic when posting and commenting. When you reply to thread arguments, you must respond as you would if doing a peer review. Include supporting evidence and its philosophy, if applicable. Ad hominem remarks will draw discredit, and obscene, vulgar, woo supporting, conspiracy supporting (without supporting evidence), quackery supporting, religious apologetics, etc, are grounds for permanent removal. If it becomes a problem, with a member, they may be banned.

■ Policy on Rules, Guidelines, and Group activities:

ADMIN PROMISE TO OUR MEMBERS: We will evaluate every suspected rule violation without ideological bias and make decisions, as an admin team, prior to removing or banning any member of the group. We do discuss every ban and the reason for it, and a consensus of admins is the final word on whether a member is banned. We would rather not lose members, so we will delete any post that goes against any of our common decency rules before we ban you, unless otherwise noted. If you feel you were unjustly banned, you may request a review by the admins by messaging the AAPN main page.

POSTS: AAPN asks that you please moderate your own posts for these rule infractions. We encourage members to tag an Admin if there are any rule violations that you can not handle.

SUBJECT MATTER: AAPN is international and, generally, non political. We do allow specific exceptions for the separation of church and state and political topics that are within our area of subject manner. Examples include: science/science denial, and religious promotion/secular persecution as being on topic. The general focus is debunking of pseudoscience, but posting scientific advancements and subject matters are also encouraged.

DISCUSSIONS: should be related to the subject of the original post. Please, do not “hi-jack” threads. When you find that you feel antagonized by an individual, it may help to take a break, or find common ground, on the subject. We are here to learn from each other, find common ground, and to be part of a community.

REPORTING: Please tag an admin/moderator or private message an admin. You can also report a post to the admin team instead of to Facebook, and all of the admins will see the post. Messaging the AAPN main page is an option as well.

■ Public Opinion
AAPN IS INTERNATIONAL: AAPN holds no political affiliations itself, and can’t hold one, due to the nature of this organization. We are, never the less, actively advocating for the separation of church and state, promoting science, and critical thinking.

■ AAPN maintains its rights to net neutrality, and its rights to libel laws.

www.thescientificatheist.com/legal

Last updated: January 18, 2019

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