Maintaining community standards and accountability

[respecteachother]

Mingling in the diverse web3 sphere, Moonbeam stands as a notable example of a varied, vibrant and global community. There exists a Code of Conduct, accessible on GitHub GitHub - moonbeam-foundation/code-of-conduct , that stipulates agreeable and disagreeable behaviours. It mandates decorum such as the adoption of friendly language and a focus on communal well-being, while eschewing derogatory remarks and inappropriate actions, be they personal or political.

Over time, it appears that the enforcement of this Code of Conduct has not been at the forefront. This is likely be due to the lack of any notably flagrant or prolonged misconduct within the community. Regrettably, this leniency has recently been exploited. The ensuing text aims to delineate, substantiated by evidence, how a community member by the alias ‘LordGLMR’ has repeatedly disregarded this important code.

On a sombre note, it gives me no pleasure to bring this matter to this point.

Numerous individuals within the community are likely aware of LordGLMR’s former contributions as a steadfast leader and supporter. This history is probably why he has been granted a certain leeway. Unfortunately, this accumulated goodwill seems to have been exhausted, as his breaches of the community standards persist.

By publishing this account, the aim is to spur a constructive conversation among community members regarding any appropriate next steps. Additionally, it is hoped that LordGLMR will make a genuine effort to correct his course, demonstrated through ongoing positive actions.

Evidently, I have chosen to remain anonymous in crafting this document. The reason for this anonymity is to nullify LordGLMR’s tendency to use intimidation and bullying as tactics against those who oppose him. This precaution helps to focus any response solely on the content of this exposition.

A point that must be clarified is that this is not an attack on the Take Flight Alpha group. LordGLMR was previously a leading figure in this group, but recent updates suggest a shift in leadership, thereby possibly severing any assumed endorsement of his statements. A clarification from someone in the Take Flight Alpha community would be most welcomed.

Making this narrative public serves as a reference for those who might find themselves on the receiving end of LordGLMR’s objectionable actions in the future. This document may be cited in social media discussions, Telegram groups, and other platforms as a caution to newcomers that LordGLMR is not reflective of the broader community, which holds a Code of Conduct and voices concern over its infringement.

Lastly, evidence to support these claims is included, without any prioritisation, and encompasses activities over the last two months or so.

The following evidence is presented in no particular order, but spans back nearly two months.

This post was issued following a request from a community moderator asking LordGLMR to temper his remarks.

This communication asserts that a wallet funded by the foundation voted in opposition to the TFA proposal, a claim that was subsequently debunked.

This entry suggests that the efforts to enhance network decentralization are in fact a guise for an exit scam.

This post implies that Moonbeam is involved in token sales due to the proximity of its registered address to that of a third-party firm believed to be selling tokens. The shared location of their offices in Singapore is also hinted at being questionable…

This entry alleges that the teams within the Moonbeam ecosystem are parasitic and contributing to Moonbeam’s decline, particularly because they challenged him on his posts. It further claims that these teams lack integrity.

Because I am a new user to the forum I am limited to six links a a new user, the rest of the following evidence can be found here: Imgur: The magic of the Internet

• This entry alleges that the teams within the Moonbeam ecosystem are parasitic and contributing to Moonbeam’s decline, particularly because they challenged him on his posts. It further claims that these teams lack integrity.

• A post that contains derogatory remarks aimed at another team within the Polkadot ecosystem and includes an emoji intended to demean that team.

• A communication that asserts that Moonbeam is unstable and raises a red flag because a member of Moonbeam’s developer relations team provided clarification on the ecosystem grants process.

• A communication that asserts that Moonbeam is tainted with corruption.

• A post that claims that Moonbeam financially compensates scammers.

• An entry primarily concerning the repercussions of the posts made by LordGLMR, where he is discussed post, and a post by a user with a fish and heart symbol, that has previously directed attacks against members of the community in response to criticism of the grant proposal LordGLMR put forth.

• A rude reply to a moderator from an unofficial Telegram group following a ban threat.

• A claim that the ecosystem grant process is a sham and suggestion that the TFA group should manipulate votes due to their likely loss.

• An entry that alleges that collators are trading a portion of grants for votes, without providing any substantiating evidence.

• Expanding on the previous post, a message specifically naming a community collator, accusing himof participating in a scheme to exchange a share of the ecosystem grant for votes, without any supporting evidence.

• An entry that contains multiple unsubstantiated allegations directed at Beamswap .

• A post that implies that the foundation is facing difficulties and is tampering with the collator set.

• A tweet, initially retweeted by LordGLMR and later deleted, was shared without prior verification or alerting the Moonwell team. In instances of potential hacking, the ethical course of action is to inform the team for investigation. It was later revealed that the loss of tokens experienced by the user in the original tweet was due to a compromise of their keys, unrelated to Moonwell.

• A tweet claimed that The Great Escape game had security vulnerabilities, putting users at risk. The ethical approach for disclosing such issues is to first contact the concerned team. Despite LordGLMR often touting his connections within the ecosystem, the TGE team reported that he never reached out to them. Furthermore, no other teams in the ecosystem have confirmed that he contacted them about any vulnerabilities prior to tweeting about it.

• A post that directs an attack against a member of the EvrLoot team.

• A post that insinuates that fraudulent activities and manipulation are occurring within Moonbeam.

• A post that suggests that corruption was involved in HydraDX’s application for a treasury grant to fund the HydraDX Omnipool through non-custodial use of the treasury, despite the fact that the proposal was subject to an on-chain vote.

• A post that alleges that a member of the Moonbeam Foundation and a community member collaborated to vote against the TFA proposal, a claim that has been debunked.

• A post contends that the toxicity lies within the Moonbeam forum itself, serving as a concluding and fitting piece to the presented evidence.

In the light of the gathered evidence, one must ponder upon any next course of action. A prudent initial step would be to formally request LordGLMR’s removal from official community communication platforms. Considering that unofficial communication channels, such as the Unofficial Telegram group, are linked by the official channels, it would only be proper to expect adherence to the community’s Code of Conduct within these informal spaces as well. Alternatively, championing unofficial channels that do maintain proper decorum and rules would be quite justified.

Whilst there exist certain platforms over which the community has little sway such as Twitter, this post can at the very least act as a counterweight to any prospective disparagements launched by LordGLMR on those mediums.

It’s more than likely that the catalogue of community members adversely affected by LordGLMR’s actions extends beyond this document. As such, I would strongly encourage teams and individuals who’ve found themselves at the receiving end of LordGLMR’s less than savoury conduct or otherwise concerned to contribute their viewpoints on this matter and proffer suggestions for a constructive path ahead.

Let it not be misconstrued that I stand against the principle of free speech. Constructive criticism has its place and serves to nourish a robust and healthy community. However, what has transpired here clearly falls outside the bounds of such wholesome interaction. The notion of free speech should never be deployed as a shield for propagating unfounded allegations, intimidation, or other harmful tactics. Therefore, the invocation of ‘free speech’ in defence of such actions is, at best, a misunderstanding of the term’s noble underpinnings.

While it is regrettable that we must discuss these instances of misconduct, let’s also take a moment to appreciate the positive contributions from our diverse community. For every unfortunate instance, there are countless more that illuminate the path of collective progress. This is the essence of Moonbeam, a community that, at its core, rocks.

[legendnodes]

Thanks @respecteachother for sharing this here. I can’t agree more with everything you’ve mentioned

Initially I had the impression that LG has really good intentions and he cares about the Moonbeam ecosystem. I even had some personal chats with him and supported him when he was frustrated with his proposal being rejected. Since we both bought our 100k GLMR self bond in the early days for being collators, I truly believed the only thing he cares about is the project success. In addition, I also thought (and still think) like him that things can be done in a better way and there is always room for improvement

Having said that, when he started with his latest unverified accusations of collators (mentioning Daniel from True Staking for example) selling their votes for sharing grants with projects - I had enough. I want to remind you that his first accusations (where it’s all started, before all the events you shared) was blaming other community collator (StakeBaby) draining the treasury funds for his own purposes (No need to mention StakeBaby is one of the biggest collator contributor to the BeamRiver ecosystem, if not the biggest). His shameful tactic of spreading misinformation, edited private screenshots is disgusting and needs to be stopped ASAP. Free of speech isn’t Free to lie. If you have some doubts, concerns, suspicious - first contact the relevant people and verify it before you spread all of your toxic around

I’m still waiting for him to reveal the collators he claimed that sold their votes for sharing the grant reward. He obviously won’t do it because there is no such one. He just threw Daniel’s name, without even speaking to him about his accusations and at least hear what he has to say

Lastly, with all due respect, I think we can’t disconnect TFA responsibility here. LG uses TFA brand credit to gather power and supporters to himself as an individual. Statements like “We distributed more than 20k GLMR over 2 years”, “We’ve been here since day 1”, “we built in the last 2 years” emphasizing he’s talking also as a TFA representative/leader. People don’t distinguish whether he is an individual or a TFA member - they just consider him as a TFA member.

TFA isn’t just another project on the BeamRiver network, they are important and strong key figure in the ecosystem with 2 collators on Moonbeam & another 2 on Moonriver. No matter how you look at it, the BeamRiver ecosystem is ridiculously funding this misinformation (with collators rewards) coming from TFA’s members! I don’t think there is a single part of the ecosystem he didn’t attack with false accusations - team members, moderators, projects, collators - totally everyone

If I had an employee/partner who would spread FUD and fake news on a project that I’m funded by, I would get rid of him immediately and deny any connections I have with him. When there is one rotten apple in the basket - all of the apples become rotten. Hence, TFA imho should take this issue much more seriously so people will really know that any LG statements are purely under his own decision and they have nothing to do with it, especially not backing it. When they will come with such strong statement, I’m sure no one will take his expected accusations seriously

[Jim_CertHum]

I have to say this post comes as little surprise to me. In fact, I’m more surprised that it wasn’t posted earlier. I also understand the want for anonymity in your posting, and the likely hesitation of others to post their constructive views – a sure sign that there is something wrong.

It would be hard to be a member of the community and not be aware of the positive things LG has contributed, but like others’ his recent actions have left me perplexed.

He recently personalized an attack against a collator operator (which was captured in your images). This operator, in all my experiences has been someone that has only acted in the best interest of the network. I spoke out against the misinformation LG was spreading, fully expecting him to direct his attacks at me. Although we’ve always had a respectful relationship so I was curious in what form they would come. These messages are from the public, unofficial TG group.

The comment regarding insulting, well, it was meant to be descriptive. But on re-reading, I could understand how it might be interpreted as a put-down. So, I reached out to him the next day on TG private chat and apologized to him for that sentence and explained that wasn’t the intended to insult him. (Daniel’s probably worked in IT longer than I’ve been alive, too!)

But his second message regarding CertHum, this I saw as a warning shot at me. As to say, “if you disagree with me, I’m going to point my misinformation and insinuations at you, so watch yourself.”

To me, the post says that only me and a few collators passed the proposal, which would be impossible because it went to on-chain vote, and there’s no such small group that could ensure passing something like this.
And there have been months of discussion from around the community on reasons to increase the active set, as well as reasons not to. This was not some unilateral decision made by a few, in the shadows that LG is bringing to light. The last part of the post seems to say that a collator that doesn’t buy more GLMR to self-stake is somehow unworthy to stay in the active set.

Interestingly, a few days later he endorsed me for the next community grants committee, something which I thanked him for. But herein lies the challenge with the negativity of the images you posted. I think most are like me in just wanting the misinformation and attack posts to stop and get the old LG back. Constructive criticism and healthy debate are great, but the images you provided are neither constructive nor healthy – they are intended to hurt and damage. And because of that, I agree with your suggestions.

There’s a quote from Maya Angelou, “When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.” And while I believe there is truth in this saying, people also have an incredibly ability to grow, learn, and improve themselves. I hope that LG looks at all of this as an opportunity to do such things.

[Daniel_TrueStaking]

Thank you for this thoughtful and well written post! I agree whole heartedly with your concerns and the points you have made. I greatly appreciate those who know me and their public support in response to the false accusation of selling votes.

Regarding the accusation of selling votes in return for a % of the grant rewards, I can absolutely say that is false and I have no idea how anyone could have come to that conclusion.

I do not know LG, but it isn’t hard to see his energetic influence in the community and I like how Jim puts it, “…just wanting the misinformation and attack posts to stop and get the old LG back.” We want passionate and engaged people like LG in this community. Hopefully we can support each other through times of disappointment and frustration instead of lashing out and attacking each other.

–Daniel

[deckardonchain]

Thank you for this well-written piece. For documentation’s sake, I want to show our experience with @Lordglmr.

His friend Mr. Madara, a seemingly good technical guy applied for the grant committee. In his first comment below his application, he reacted very passive-aggressively and called @0xTaylor stupid.

Source: Grant Committee Candidacy - Mr. Madara aka Mr. P - #2 by 0xTaylor

@KingLuuu from Evrloot (who also applied) asked for a history between the two because of the undertone. That’s when “LG” jumped in defensively and wanted to steer the conversation towards only the technical side by calling Luuu’s comments inaprorpriate.

Here comes the thing now. Because Luuu spoke up to what also got Mr.Madara a Moonbeam Forum Policy warning, he was now in the crosshairs of “LG” who launched various attacks at him personally and Evrloot as a project in retaliation.

#1) He advertised to vote for anyone but Luuu and tried to get his followers to punish Luuu for speaking up in a passive-aggressive tone. I thought it was a joke at first, because it felt like the reaction of a teenager. But he continued to convince people of Luuu’s bad behaviour “on the forum”.

Edit: Mr. Madara got disqualified due to a missed deadline. Ismael B. is another (good) contender for the Technical Expert Role. LG just wanted anyone but Luuu

#2 After this didn’t work, “LG” called Beamswap corrupt, because they voted for Luuu.

#3 When it was apparent that his plan would not work out he claimed Luuu (Lucas) just did it for the money and implied him leeching from the community.

#4 Then he called our project failed (we are all talking public posts on X).

To his defense, I believe he thinks he is doing the ecosystem a genuine favor. And this post shows his other side. But the switch from “I will destroy you” to “let’s collaborate” is in an instant, and that’s what should be remembered if anyone decides to place responsibility in his hands.

I believe you will always have actors like this in an ecosystem. We just need an effective way to demask their ad hominem strategies and not be afraid to speak up.

@Lordglmr if you portray yourself as the white knight of Polkadot, stop throwing mud left and right. It’s never too late to change.

– Deckard from Evrloot

[majin_moonwell]

I don’t really love the fact that an anonymous, smurf account started this discussion out of fear of retribution. You should be able to say what you want to say from your main account - especially as OP is expecting other community members to do just that. The timing is also, frankly, a bit late. LG could have used a stern code of conduct warning a month or two ago before he burned every bridge in sight.

Prior to this latest round of ecosystem grants, I had a friendly DM going with Lord GLMR. On Twitter, he used to post a lot of “bullish” Moonbeam content and kept the TFA community informed of fun events and airdrops. He’s obviously done a full 180 following this latest round of grant funding. Moonbeam is still a relatively small ecosystem and LG has an outsized influence here. To turn his energy toward constant fudding/attacks on other ecosystem projects and people has been very unfortunate to see. This sort of “mob boss” mentality can’t fly going forward. We’ve had to deal with it from Donnie and now LG.

Like Donnie before him, It seems like LG is organically moving on from Moonbeam now. I think the focus of this discussion should be less of a prosecution of LG, and more a conversation on how we can avoid such a situation in the future. Without more strict and timely enforcement of the Moonbeam Code of Conduct, we leave the door open for someone else to take a page out of the Donnie/LG playbook and wreak further havoc on our ecosystem and community.

[Big_Smok3y_TFA-Dao_M]

If LG has such a significant presence in Moonbeam without any funding, it means you all are doing really poorly. Instead of pushing away talent, perhaps you should start focusing on how to improve yourselves. At least we come correct not anonymously, we don’t just throw rocks and hide our hands. If accusations were brought up only clarification what was what we were asking for. This is my opinion as one of the dao member not the dao as a whole. Gotta be clear for those that get easily confused and stay stuck on one part of the subject. Got any more questions just ask on our TG chat don’t just have it on read only.

[majin_moonwell]

OP is anonymous, but others here like myself have attached our names, saying clearly that enough is enough and this behavior is childish, toxic, and detrimental to our ecosystem.

[Big_Smok3y_TFA-Dao_M]

Thank you for pointing out the open secret of why they would rather hide than show face clearly stated on the post above, worry about being put under the microscope? LG reports the good and bad of many things even till this day, as much FUD as some want to call it. Everything is backed with actual facts not hear say or half of a full conversation where you can pick parts out to make your point valid. Best thing about crypto everything is on chain just like one of dao member Madara demonstrated with the bug he found. Which he never even got properly thanked for just a hush hush pat in the back.

[turrizt]

hey guys! Thank you for your steadfast support and involvement in the Moonbeam community. the unity and positive spirit within our community are crucial, especially during challenging market conditions

recently, concerns have been raised about disruptive and negative behavior by a LG, across Moonbeam’s channels. many are questioning why LG, known for spreading negativity and FUD within our community, hasn’t been restricted from Moonbeam’s channels

LG has consistently utilized social platforms to amplify negativity and conflict, particularly during a bear market where emotions run high. LG has seized these moments to adhere to speculative and baseless claims, sowing discord and directing unfounded accusations towards the Moonbeam Foundation. moreover, any community member or project, particularly those in the DotSama ecosystem, that opposes LG’s views, has encountered deliberate harmful actions

I think if LG has decided to go this way, it’s not a good idea to let him keep acting like this, causing conflict in our community and spreading more rumors and negative info. so, IMO, we should probably remove him from all official and also unofficial Moonbeam channels

preserving a positive community atmosphere is a top priority. I’m considering the necessary steps to effectively tackle this issue, ensuring that our channels continue to be a place for healthy and respectful discussions

while I value open dialogue, it’s also vital to establish boundaries to protect the integrity of our communication spaces. In light of LG’s repeated violations of our code of conduct, I’m considering implementing restrictions to avert further disruptions

community thoughts and feedback are vital to ensuring we handle this situation properly. I welcome any suggestions and insights to guide our next steps

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in preserving a supportive and positive community environment!

[deckardonchain]

@Big_Smok3y_TFA-Dao_M

If LG has such a significant presence in Moonbeam without any funding, it means you all are doing really poorly.

Thank you for proving my point with ad-hominem attacks.

@turrizt

while I value open dialogue, it’s also vital to establish boundaries to protect the integrity of our communication spaces.

+1

[seppybaal]

Sometimes is really hard not to reply or comment to silly things but couple things can be done:

1. Ignore everything come out from him. Any credibility have been lost so unfortunately any good intent will be flushed down with everything else.

2. Keep the positive vibes and atmosphere. Being news or partnerships, general market chats, memes etc (unofficial TG), good discussions have been poped here and there.
   Criticism and feedback is always crucial but the tone and intentions are important too.

[KingLuuu]

This is sadly exactly where I see the biggest problem. LGs reports may have been backed by actual facts in the past, but what we are now witnessing is mostly hear say attacks, emotional intimidation or straight up bending of the truth to borderline lying.

And if you call him out about it, he will either indirectly threaten you or wind up another attack to distract from it.

Looking through the posted pictures shows proof of this over and over again.

[chris.casini]

@turrizt

while I value open dialogue, it’s also vital to establish boundaries to protect the integrity of our communication spaces.

I have to agree with this statement. Everyone should be allowed to speak their mind. But, there should be a “red line” to establish boundaries. The integrity of the overall community should be of top priority ( in my opinion).

[majin_moonwell]

He’s trying to spin this as “Moonbeam doesn’t want anyone to say anything negative” and “I’m being persecuted for speaking the truth”.

I think everyone here is 100% for constructive criticism. This isn’t what LG is providing. He’s lusting for conflict and drama. He spouts vile nonsense on Twitter and MB unofficial all day, everyday. If you question him or push back at all, he and his crew attack you and/or your project.

Open dialogue is vitally important, but that can’t take place without all parties showing each other at least some base level of respect + one of the parties using “mob tactics” to threaten and discourage others from speaking out.

[0xTaylor]

The things he says are not backed by facts. Here is a recent example. https://x.com/0xTaylor_/status/1709282030742372635

The things he says are not honest or correct either. He made claims in his Treasury proposal that were not honest. One example was where he states, “That is why we have implemented weekly LIVE discourse in our telegram channel and educate users on stringent security protocols and measures to safeguard our ecosystem.” (source: TFA DAO: Ecosystem Grant Proposal). I could not find one reference to this ever happening in the TFA DAO TG group and I challenge anyone from TFA to show me proof that it does.

There are also far less than 1000 active members in TFA. It is more like 10-20 people. Feel free to disclose how many people are in your token gated chat. I’m sure it is than even 50 people.

[superdupont44]

Exactly.
He’s mixing fair criticism & conspiracy/negative/FUD criticism.

Moonbeam doesn’t belong to only 1 person.

[superdupont44]

I was myself recently targeted by one of his crusade for an emoji (a i agree lol) on the unofficial TG channel .

And so began public personal attacks, harassment of people in the Bifrost team behind the scenes etc etc…
I’m a GLMR holder and am in the ecosystem since Moonriver is live, so i have the same rights to speak out of loud and reply on him no matter i’m belonging to a parachain team or not.

He’s always talking about “fair criticsm” (from his POV), but if anyone dare to not agree with him, OMG… There it comes Hell on Earth.

There is no discussion anymore with LG. Only intimidation.

As discussed above, just never reply to him, ignore him, block him: “Don’t feed the troll” has never been so effective.

I’m in favor of the proposed solution to shut him down once for all.
I don’t understand how a single person can spend so much energy AGAINST an ecosystem. Why can’t he just leave and spend positive energy somewhere else ?

He recently started crusades or did in the past against:
Moonbeam
HydraDX
Bifrost
The Great Escape
Evrloot
Moonwell
…

I can’t name all projects. Sad.

We all regret the former LG, we are all sad for this. We would like to have him back as he was before.
But gov is gov, you need to accept the results and turn a negative result into a positive experience, you need to listen feedbacks and come back with an improved proposal.
That’s what smart people do on Polkadot gov.

[Jim_CertHum]

Now, I have to add antisemitism and racism to the list.

Two days ago, I made the decision to change CertHum’s logo for 3 days to the Israeli flag, because I believe that companies must speak out and reject abhorrent acts of terrorism, antisemitism, racism, and widescale social injustice.

He has taken this as an opportunity to launch an attack against me and CertHum.

In looking into this after I was made aware, I see he also does not hold back when it comes to racism, either (from another post directed at someone else).

I also point out that it’s clear he still labels himself as the owner of the TFA collators on Moonbeam.

and the community guidelines state the following as forbidden offences:

I think it’s really time the leadership of TFA state if this behavior is inline with their values, and if they accept LG as a representative of their community of reject him and his views.

I’ll have nothing more to say on this matter, primarily because his actions and words speak much louder about this issue than anything else I can say.

[dev0_sik]

I am beyond shocked by this and it makes me sad and angry.
So sorry for this BS