Originally published at: Fedora Code of Conduct Report 2023 – Fedora Community Blog
The Fedora Project’s Code of Conduct and its reports are managed by the Fedora Code of Conduct Committee, the Fedora Community Architect, and the Fedora Project Leader. We publish this summary to demonstrate our commitment to community safety and our project’s social fabric.
This post covers the year of reports received in the 2023 calendar year. The 2023 and 2024 annual report posts are published with delays due to changes in membership in the Code of Conduct Committee and rebalancing existing work. The purpose of publishing the reports now is to provide transparency, insight, and awareness into the health signs of the community.
How’d it go in 2023
Reflecting on the 17 reports opened in 2023, the Fedora community saw a shift in incidents landscape compared to 2022. While the total number of reports decreased by approximately 19% (17 in 2023 vs. 21 in 2022), the severity of actions taken suggests a year focused on addressing persistent friction and high-impact behavioral issues.
The most notable trend in 2023 was the departure from the “zero-ban” status of 2022. The Committee moved toward more decisive actions including a permanent account closure for a slur and a suspension for aggressive ban evasion. Indicating a lower tolerance for behavior that directly threatens the safety and inclusivity of the community.
| Year | Reports Opened | Reports Closed | Warnings Issued | Moderations Issued | Suspensions Issued | Bans Issued |
| 2023 | 17 | 17 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 2022 | 21 | 24 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 23 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2020 | 20 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
While the volume of reports from 2020 to 2022 were usually stabilized around 20 a year, there is a wide range to the level of severity for every case investigated by the Code of Conduct Committee. Some persistent challenges continue to underline the importance of soft skills like communication and collaboration. However, global world affairs, politics, and international conflicts often see a correlation between community conflicts. These cases often require more care and consideration than other reports.
Overall, the report shows a community safe enough for people to report incidents, including those involving high-profile members. The Code of Conduct Committee aims to humbly protect an environment and community culture where anyone can feel a part of the Friends Foundation of the Four Foundations, and feel safe to be their authentic and genuine self in the community. However, it is also showing that this is the first time since several years when reports went below 20 reports. This might show a sign of some stabilizing as years of backlog and process debt were improved and fixed in 2021, and the intense online pressure-cooker period of the global pandemic finally relents.
Looking forward to 2024
If you witness or are part of a situation that violates Fedora’s Code of Conduct, please open a private report on the [Code of Conduct repo] or email codeofconduct@fedoraproject.org. As always, your reports are confidential and only visible to the Code of Conduct Committee.
Remember that opening a CoC report does not automatically mean action will be taken. Sometimes things can be clarified, improved, or resolved entirely. Or, it could be something pretty small, but it definitely wasn’t okay, and you don’t want to make a big deal… open that report anyway, because it could show a pattern of behavior that is negatively impacting more people than yourself.
Here is a reminder to our Fedora community to be kind and considerate to each other in all our interactions. We all depend on each other to create a community that is healthy, safe, and happy. Most of all, we love seeing folks self-moderate and stand up for the right thing day-to-day in our community. Keep it up, and keep being awesome Fedora, we <3 you!
About the Committee
Fedora Project’s Code of Conduct and reports are managed by the Fedora Code of Conduct Committee (CoCC). The Fedora CoCC is made up of the Fedora Project Leader, Matthew Miller; the Fedora Community Architect, Justin Wheeler; the Red Hat legal team, as appropriate; and community nominated members.