The Provincial Grand Lodge of Cumberland & Westmorland

Online Forum Policy

Date of issue: 12th August 2009

Preface

The Provincial Grand Lodge of Cumberland & Westmorland provides the Forum facility to encourage Brethren to communicate with each other in order to learn about and to gain a daily advancement in Freemasonry, and as a means for social interaction, by means of a bulletin board system, in the future referred to simply as the Forum. Due to the open nature of a Forum, occasionally Members may inadvertently or deliberately damage a positive collaborative environment or conduct themselves in a manner unacceptable for a Freemason. Provincial Grand Lodge is instituting this policy to assist Forum Members, Administrators and Moderators to get the most benefit from the Forum and to provide general instruction regarding unacceptable conduct on the Forum.

Statement

It is the policy of the Forum that Members and visitors use the Forum to communicate with each other in a respectful and positive manner. The Forum is not to be used by any Member or visitor to make personal or disparaging remarks about another Member or Brother in this or any other Province. Matters relating to disputes, disagreements, policies or decisions by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Cumberland & Westmorland or the United Grand Lodge of England are not to be voiced within the Forum and Brethren are advised to consult the Book of Constitutions with regards to dealing with such matters in the appropriate way. Administrators and moderators of the Forum have an obligation to promote the use of the Forum in accordance with the above statement and to promote a respectful collaborative environment for Members to communicate, where unacceptable, unlawful and un-Masonic activities are not permitted. They also have an obligation to deal quickly, proportionately and decisively with any violation of this policy or UK law.

Registered and guest users are liable and responsible for providing helpful information and respectful dialog with other registered users and guest visitors. They are also responsible for reporting any unlawful or unacceptable behaviour to an administrator or moderator, for the good of the Forum and in the best interests of the Members and Freemasonry in general.

Moderators and Administrators of the Forum carry out their obligations with the support, guidance and authority granted to them by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Cumberland & Westmorland.

Unacceptable or Unlawful Conduct

It is unacceptable or unlawful to post messages that contain, imply or provide access to any of the following:

• Pornography:  The uploading or sharing of any material that is of a sexual nature.

• Copyrighted Material:  The distribution, possession or sale of any material that would knowingly infringe upon another person’s copyright without legal excuse. This includes but is not limited to; illegal copies of licensed software, transcripts of another authors work, copyrighted music, copyrighted films, etc.

• Harassment:  The use of any form of communication with the express intent to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, embarrass, or cause people to fear for their safety or the safety of anyone known to them, either publicly or privately.

• Hate Propaganda: The use of abusive, indecent, profane, vulgar, or confrontational language that by its very utterance tends to be looked upon by a reasonable and prudent person as hateful and racially motivated.

• Interception of Private Conversations:  The interception, viewing, distribution or possession of any personal messages of a Member that is not expressly intended to be viewed by all Members, except where as necessary to uphold the policy of the Forum by a Member of the Administrative team.

• Disorderly Conduct:  The use of abusive, indecent, profane, vulgar, or confrontational language that by its very utterance tends to incite a breach of the peace. The instigation or continuation of fights, confrontations, or verbal disputes, that by its very nature tends to incite a breach of the peace.

• Political or Religious comments:  Posting comments or discussions in the Forum which are or may be considered to be of political or religious nature is strictly prohibited in accordance with item 7, Basic Principles for Grand Lodge Recognition, Book of Constitutions.

Disciplinary Measures

Any user who unintentionally or intentionally violates this policy will be subject to disciplinary measures.

Disciplinary measures may include and are not limited to; alteration of posted content, warning, temporary suspension of account, permanent suspension of account, or charges of such a serious nature that disciplinary action from  your Lodge, Provincial Grand Lodge or the United Grand Lodge of England may be sought.

Appeals

Any Member may appeal any disciplinary action taken, in private and in writing, within 14 days of the action, to the Forum Administrator who may present the details of the disciplinary action and appeal to the Provincial Grand Lodge for adjudication. The decision of the Forum Administrator or Provincial Grand Lodge will be deemed final and no further appeals will be entered into.

Membership

Brethren may take up Membership of the Forum at the discretion of the Forum Administrators or Moderators and proof of Masonic membership may be required. Upon acceptance, Forum Members may be restricted from certain areas of the Forum. Additional levels of access may be granted from time to time depending on the Member’s requirements and eligibility to access certain Forum areas.

Brethren from Provinces other than Cumberland & Westmorland may have their access restricted to a Guest Membership and as such may not have access to Forum areas enjoyed by Brethren from the Province of Cumberland & Westmorland.  Changes to access rights of Members outside of Cumberland & Westmorland will be at the discretion of the Forum Administrators and Moderators.

How to use the Forum

Be respectful of everyone you meet in the Forum. It's very important for you to remember that each of the Forum Members is a Brother in Freemasonry;  this is all about fun, understanding and knowledge. Don't spoil other people's fun. Your comments are open to viewing by everyone, be considerate, tolerant and tempered. Remember, you represent Freemasonry in the Forum as well as in your Lodge room.

Closed topics

Forum Administrators or Moderators may from time to time close a topic to further posts. This may be due to the post having run its natural course, or it is deemed to be in the best interest of the Membership as a whole to close the topic. Closed topics should be regarded as just that, closed. No further posts regarding the same matter are permissible. New posts opened under another topic, which is disguised as or latterly picks up on a closed post may be removed from the Forum and action may be taken against the Member as outlined in the section ‘Disciplinary Measures’ above.

How to comment or post

It is important that you are courteous when commenting or replying to another Member’s posts. If you don't like the post it is perfectly acceptable to not agree with another Member’s comments, but there is a right way and a wrong way for you to express and share your feelings. Try to be tactful, polite and try not to over complicate an issue when outlining or discussing things that might be perceived as negative.

The Forum is open to all Members and you should therefore use your discretion in your choice of words and terminology. The Forum makes use of a swear filter, but use your own judgement. Using a star, hash or other character to replace letters in a swear word is the same as writing the word out. Express yourself without resorting to such practices.

Name calling, insulting or intentional derogatory remarks are unacceptable and do nothing but detract from the aims of the Fraternity. If you're angry, you probably shouldn't post. Before submitting your comments, take a moment or two to review what you have typed. You may regret for a long time submitting a post in haste.

Be legible. On a message board the idea is to have a conversation. It is impossible to do so without good communication skills. In the same way that you talk you wouldn't mumble, speak without syntax or structure, you wouldn't mispronounce words or shout when not appropriate. Your posts should follow the same rules.

Promoting events

The correct means for promoting a Masonic event online is on the Provincial Website. If you notify the Webmaster of the details once your event is approved by Provincial Grand Lodge, the details will appear on the Website for all to see. You may however post a reminder about the event on the Forum one week before the event date ONLY if the event appears on the Provincial Website and has been approved by Provincial Grand Lodge. Posts relating to private or unauthorised events or those which have not previously been approved and posted on the Provincial Website will be liable to removal from the Forum by the Administrators or Moderators.

Do not spoil things

Due to the nature of a Forum, it's possible to spoil something for others who haven't had the opportunity that you have. Many Members enjoy the benefits of communicating with and meeting with Brethren from around the Province and beyond. The Provincial Grand Lodge of Cumberland & Westmorland is committed to supporting the Forum for the Masonic advancement and social pleasure of the Brethren of this Province, and will continue to ensure that the high standards expected by Forum Members is maintained.

Updates

The continual development of the Internet and associated online facilities requires that policies keep pace with change. Therefore it is the intention of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Cumberland & Westmorland to issue appropriate updates to this policy from time to time. Forum Members will be advised of any future changes to this policy either by way of a post on the Forum or by direct email to each individual Member.

©2009 Provincial Grand Lodge of Cumberland & Westmorland