Purpose and Scope
The Humane Interaction Standard (HIS) is a social contract designed to foster digital environments where rigorous critique of creative and technical work can occur without sacrificing the physical or mental well-being of the creator. This standard recognises that online ecosystems often suffer from systemic failures that reward outrage and normalise harassment.
By adopting this standard, a community commits to separating the evaluation of a work from the degradation of the human behind it.
Core Tenets
- Focus on the Work, Not Irrelevant Personal Attacks: Critique must be directed at the structural integrity, execution, or concepts of the work itself. Personal attacks, baseless defamation, and insults that are unrelated to the validity of the work are strictly prohibited.
- The Boundaries of Free Expression: We recognise freedom of speech as a vital tool for knowledge advancement and systemic improvement. However, harassment—defined as repeated, unwanted contact intended to intimidate or distress—is not protected expression. Doxxing and credible threats of violence are never permitted.
- Medium Agnosticism and Tool Choice: The tools a creator uses do not diminish their humanity. Whether a project relies on traditional methods, AI-assisted workflows, or AI-generated systems, the ethical obligation to treat the creator with dignity remains absolute. Equally, critics discussing the ethics or impact of these tools must also be treated with respect, provided their critique remains civil. Tool choice is never a justification for abuse.
Unacceptable Behaviours
To provide clear boundaries, the following actions are explicit violations of this standard:
- ❌ No Retaliatory Abuse: The cycle of toxicity cannot be broken by participating in it. Harassing someone under the guise of "counter-trolling" or righteous anger is still abuse and will not be tolerated.
- ❌ Discriminatory Conduct: Any conduct that leverages discriminatory rhetoric—including ableism, racism, sexism, or religious bigotry—to attack a creator or community member.
- ❌ Harassment Campaigns: Organising, encouraging, or participating in coordinated efforts to overwhelm a person's digital or physical spaces with malicious intent.
Adoption Badge
Show that your community follows the HIS by adding this badge to your README or website.
Markdown (GitHub, Forums)
[](https://git.obulou.org/kalvin0x8d0/The_Humane_Interaction_Standard)HTML (Websites)
<a href="https://git.obulou.org/kalvin0x8d0/The_Humane_Interaction_Standard" style="display:inline-block; background:#1e293b; color:#3b82f6; padding:4px 12px; border-radius:20px; font-family:sans-serif; font-size:12px; text-decoration:none;">🤝 Humane Interaction Standard</a>Plain Text
[ We follow the Humane Interaction Standard (HIS) ]
Critique the work. Respect the human. Tool choice is not abuse.
Full text: https://git.obulou.org/kalvin0x8d0/The_Humane_Interaction_StandardModerator's FAQ
Q1: What if the creator is a known bad actor—spreading hate speech or running a scam?
The standard prohibits irrelevant personal attacks. If the creator's character is directly relevant to the validity of the work (e.g., the work is hate speech, the scam is the work itself), then critique of that character is allowed. The test is: "Would a reasonable person need to know this about the creator to evaluate the work?" If yes, it's relevant. If no, it's a violation.
Q2: Someone is being harsh but civil—repeatedly pointing out flaws. Where is the line?
The line is harassment: repeated, unwanted contact intended to intimidate or distress. A single harsh critique is not harassment. Five critiques across five different threads, each time tagging the creator, after being asked to stop—that's harassment. Moderators should first issue a warning.
Q3: Does the standard protect AI-generated harmful content (e.g., deepfakes)?
No. The standard says "tool choice is never a justification for abuse" against the creator. It does not protect the content of the work. If the work itself is harmful or illegal, it should be removed. HIS governs interaction, not content legality.
Q4: He-said-she-said – both claim violations. What do we do?
Look for patterns, not single incidents. The standard explicitly bans retaliatory abuse—so if A insulted B, and B insulted back, both can be warned. The correct response to a violation is to report, not to retaliate.
Q5: Does adopting the HIS mean we have to ban people for every minor insult?
No. The standard is a framework, not a zero-tolerance mandate. Moderators have discretion. Warnings and education come first. The goal is to change culture, not to maximise bans.