Our rules are built above Discord's TOS and Discord's Community Guidelines. Every rule below has this TOS as its basis. When we say that something is allowed, we mean that it is allowed only if it follows the TOS.
We are an educational server and we therefore adopt a strict stance against misconduct in order to maintain a healthy learning environment. While we enjoy good-humoured jokes and some dank memes, we will not tolerate any media or behaviour that insults, threatens, or otherwise reasonably makes other users uncomfortable, or actions that disrupt the server organisation and administration. If you ever have any doubts over whether something is appropriate, feel free to contact any staff about it. Staff are anyone with the @Moderator or @Administrator role.
A. Good to Do
These are rules that you should observe at all times. Repeated negligence may be punishable.Some rule breakers will be banned instantly. This takes into account for account age in server, message count, and obvious trollish behaviors.
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Respect all Discord Terms of Service and Guidelines. This includes all the basics, including but not limited to: be respectful of one another, don't harass, don't spam, don't post inappropriate or malicious content.
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Respect all lawful staff instructions and decisions. DO NOT try and pick a fight with staff (at least in public), no matter how wrong you think they may be. Our first priority is to resolve the immediate issue and restore server order, and we cannot do that if there are people openly arguing and disobeying us. We can address further concerns once the issue is settled. If you suspect a staff member is acting out of line, you may report them (see the Reporting section below). We are only human, so we seek your understanding. Harassment and abuse of staff will not be tolerated.
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Post in the appropriate channel. e.g Do not initiate non-STEM conversations in the STEM channels. Each channel has a purpose, which is described in the channel description (at the top of your window).
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Refer to
#how-to-askfor detailed question-asking etiquette. -
Do not engage in academically dishonest behavior. This includes:
- Asking for help for tests/exams. That's cheating.
- Offering to pay others for doing your work, or offering to do work in exchange for pay. We won't be responsible if you get scammed.
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English must be the only language used to communicate in all channels, except those labelled 'other languages'.
B. Toxic Behaviour
"Toxic Behaviour" is the antithesis of respect. It is any behavior that, when exposed to others, threatens their mental health and well-being, usually by being unnaturally hostile and aggressive. "Harassment" is a type of toxic behaviour that targets specific people or groups of people, with the intent to badmouth, offend, provoke, intimidate, harm, or otherwise make them uncomfortable.-
Toxic behaviour and especially harassment is forbidden in this server. Such actions include (but are not limited to) derogatory remarks, discriminatory (e.g racist, sexist, homophobic, ageist, or ableist) remarks, and hate speech. Toxic behaviour is highly variable in intensity, and may range anywhere from being acceptable after all (e.g. casual criticism), to getting banned straight away in extreme cases. We will do our best to review each case and mete out the most appropriate measure. See the Punishment section below for our guidelines.
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If someone adopts a toxic behavior, be proactive and report that user to us and block them. Do not retaliate, or you may possibly be punished as well for aggravation of the situation.
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In arguments, be civil and open-minded: understand that no one (including yourself) knows everything or interprets issues the same way. If the discussion devolves into immature shit-flinging, staff have the right to step in and demand cessation of the "debate".
C. Spam
"Spam" is a loose category of actions, characterised by annoying other users by needlessly drawing attention, usually by creating notifications and/or taking up a lot of space. Naturally, spam is not allowed in this server. Some examples of spam are described below, though these may not be the only types.-
Off-topic spam is the posting of a lot of messages or other media that add little to no value to the channel or ongoing conversation.
- Spam-pinging is the unnecessary and especially repeated pinging (using `@`) of other users.
- Ghost pinging is pinging someone and then deleting the message containing the ping, giving the person nothing to reply to.
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Direct-message (DM) spam is the unwanted private-messaging of other users, especially regarding advertising or soliciting. Do not DM users without their permission.
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Advertising is posting a link to another server or website with the intention of getting more exposure for that server or website. This includes any kind of affiliate links. If you want to advertise something, propose it to us, and we will review it and give it the right exposure. Otherwise, it will be treated as spam.
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Soliciting is harrassing someone to get them to do something they otherwise wouldn't want to do, such as answering questions or visiting links.
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Any sort of loud, disruptive sound in voice chat (e.g screaming, ear-rape, soundboard or playing music through your microphone) is prohibited.
D. Inappropriate Content
"Content" refers to all forms of media, including text, emojis, usernames/nicknames, statuses, profile pictures, images, links, etc.-
Cursing is okay, unless it is excessive (spam) or directed at another user (harassment). SFW content is content that can be safely viewed at school or work without getting you in trouble. We strive to make all content SFW. Conversely, NSFW content is content that touches on sensitive/uncomfortable topics. This most commonly refers to, but is not limited to, pornography or violence.
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Questionable content is content where the topic is clearly NSFW or approaches NSFW territory, but nothing explicit is shown/written. Alternatively, it may be explicit if it is for medical purposes. Such content is allowed in NSFW channels, but NOT ALLOWED in SFW channels.
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Explicit content deals with NSFW topics and has direct and/or graphic terms, descriptions, and/or imagery, and may be described as disgusting or disturbing. Such content is NOT ALLOWED IN THE SERVER AT ALL, NOT EVEN IN the NSFW channels. You will likely get instantly-banned, no excuses.
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In all cases, express promotion of hate, harm, and sociopathy is forbidden.
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Malicious content is content that threatens a user's online (and possibly offline) privacy and security. e.g. Links to scams and phising websites. Viruses and malware. Such content is very serious and will likely result in an instant ban.
Allowed cases:
Self promotion such as Instagram or Facebook ID, Discord server invite, general affiliate links, and non-extremist political opinions are all allowed in your Discord status, about me, and profile picture.
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Anything that makes you uncomfortable or which you suspect is a rule break, and you want a staff to review and/or take action against it.
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A staff member abusing their power.
Note: It would be benefical if you have evidence (e.g screenshots) to go with your report.
- Reporting someone simply because you don't like them or disagree with their opinions (unless said opinion is toxic or inappropriate).
- Server feedback and suggestions, and opinions on staff decisions. Those go in
#issues-and-suggestions. - Non-administrative issues, such as asking for STEM help.
- False or troll reports.
- Send a message in
#contact-mods. Further details are written in#contact-mods. - DM a staff member.
- If you are reporting a staff member, DM an
@Administrator(in the case that you are reporting an admin, DM a different admin). - Ping us at the scene, by name or by role (
@Administratorand/or@Moderator).
Infractions are judged by their level of severity, and punished accordingly. Severity is determined by how much malice the infraction expresses towards people and how much it disrupts the server system. Simply because an action isn't listed doesn't mean it won't be punished (staff may punish at their discretion); there are always creative people finding loopholes. Repeat offenders will be punished more harshly (punishment progression), but we will be understanding if the infractions are unrelated to each other. As a catch-all, staff may (rarely) deviate from these guidelines as the circumstances demand. Every case is unique, and we will do our best to review each case and mete out the most appropriate measure. If you are punished, @STEM will DM you the reason, and how long the punishment will last, in minutes.
Severity
Low Severity:
- One-off incidents that disrupt server order or may reasonably insult another user. e.g. One-off generic insults.
- Light spam.
- Posting in an inappropriate channel.
- Unapproved advertising.
- Abusing the report system.
- Progression: Verbal or official warn → Medium Severity
Medium Severity:
- Deliberate malice towards another user or the server. (e.g Aggressive and toxic behaviour towards other users over several messages.)
- Encouraging suicide or violence.
- Hate speech and discriminatory insults.
- Multiple spam messages.
- Posting questionable content outside of NSFW channels.
- Ignoring/defying lawful staff instructions.
- Progresssion: 1 hour mute (60 mins)
High Severity:
- Discord ToS/Guidelines violations.
- A concerted effort to harm one or multiple users or the server as a whole, especially if it results in consequences.
- Underground activities. (e.g. Intense harassment or threatening, especially with discriminatory elements.)
- Posting explicit content.
- Staging DM spams.
- Doxxing. Raiding. Hacking. Posting malicious content. Recruitment/oraganization of for such activities.
- Punishment evasion.
- Progression: 1-7 day mute (1440-10,080 mins), or permanent ban (per staff discretion).
The appeal system is for those who feel they have been wrongly or disproportionately punished. It lets you defend your side and argue for a lesser punishment, or even void the punishment altogether. As a guideline, you should appeal only if you think the staff made a mistake regarding the situation or rules, or if what you did was accidental and you're fully repentant. Note the How to Appeal Successfully section below. Each infraction may be appealed ONCE.
Punishment are otherwise FINAL; no complaints will be entertained. We aren't interested in wasting time on salty trolls. You may only appeal for yourself, and not another user. It is possible for the appeal to backfire and aggravate your punishment, if deemed appropriate. If your punishment spans multiple days, we suggest (although it's not required) that you wait at least 1 day before appealing, to clear the heads of both sides and thus achieve a fairer and more successful assessment and appeal.
If you are muted, there is a #mute-chat in this server for you to make your case. If you are banned, please reach out to a staff member indicating your intent to appeal. We will follow up.
You are entitled to know all the reasons contributing to your punishment, along with all the evidence, the server rules, and information about the appeal process. The actual appeal involves you presenting your best arguments to the staff team. Your appeal will be visible to the whole staff team. Not everyone may feel like reading or replying, but typically the one who punished you will reply. It is completely up to the staff's discretion whether further discussion (of a point, or the appeal as a whole) is helpful.
Highlight these things in your appeal:
- Whether there was something we overlooked or misunderstood, that undermines the reason(s) for the punishment.
- Whether you will cause more trouble if you come back in - typically refers to your character/attitude.
DO
- Be civil
- Use clear English in your appeal, even if you may feel wronged. (Staff may reject your appeal purely because they do not judge your attitude appropriate to expose to the rest of the server, or they simply cannot understand you.)
- Understand the rules and respect their underlying purpose. We aim to create a healthy community for everyone. Our rules are a promise to the server to maintain that standard, and we won't bend the rules for someone who just wants to do whatever they like.
- Own up to / take responsibility for your own actions and their repercussions. If you don't understand the consequences, what's stopping you from doing it again?
- Respect your fellow STEM members. We want to know if you will healthily re-integrate back into the server, instead of picking more fights.
DON'T
We will NOT ACCEPT these as responsible justifications and therefore valid reasons for appeal, even if they contributed:
- Sociocultural differences. e.g. "What I did is normal (elsewhere)" / "The rules are ridiculous and should be changed" → Unadaptable to the local rules/culture.
- Self-righteous Humorous intent. e.g. "It's just a joke" → Irresponsibility
- Mental/emotional state. e.g. "I was panicking because it was due soon" → Irresponsibility
- Blaming someone/something else. e.g. "They started it" → You still contributed, and chances are, there were better options you could have taken, such as simply blocking and reporting them.
- Downplaying severity. e.g. "No one was harmed" → Inviting greater consequences to happen before you regret it. We already assigned a punishment appropriate for the severity.
- Proof by assertion won't do you any favours. The following (non-exhaustive) list of behaviours during an appeal is grounds for immediate appeal denial or even punishment aggravation, at staff discretion: Verbal abuse, spam-pinging, or other contempt of staff.
- Trolling or otherwise uncooperative behaviour.
The venting channel shall be primarily for venting academic frustration or anything that can be handled within a student community. Once you acknowledge this rule, you must contact a mod if you see a suicidal person.
Extra Rules
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If something goes out of hand, please contact a mod first.
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Provide only academic help since we are an academic server. For individuals with chronic/acute depression, the crisis helplines are available.
Suicide/Crisis Hotlines
- Australia: 1300 659 467
- Canada: 1833 456 4566
- China( Beijing suicide research and prevention centre): 800 810 1117
- France: 0145 394 000
- Germany: 0800 181 0771
- India: 9152 987 821
- Russia: (495) 625 3101
- United Kingdom: 0800 689 5652
- United States: 1-800 273 8255
- Argentina: 5275 1135