ICANN Community Anti-Harassment Policy; Procedure to Report and Get Support

Adopted on 14 September 2025

The revised ICANN Community Anti-Harassment Policy; Procedure to Report and Get Support reflects the ICANN Board of Directors' firm commitment to a safe, respectful and dignified environment for all stakeholders participating in ICANN's multistakeholder environment.

Read the full Policy here: ICANN Community Anti-Harassment Policy; Procedure to Report and Get Support [PDF, 448 KB]

ICANN is a unique multistakeholder environment. The ICANN community's strength is that it is composed of participants from numerous and varied backgrounds, societal values, and cultural norms. In the ICANN community, all participants should feel welcomed, appreciated, and valued; all participants should interact with others without prejudice or bias, all should treat others fairly and without discrimination, and all should assume others are acting with integrity.

Participants have a right to engage in the ICANN community free from behavior that demeans, humiliates, or denigrates. Every person has the responsibility to contribute to a positive environment by treating others with dignity and respect.

Please review and refer to the full Policy, which has more detail than the information on this page. This Policy applies to all participants in the ICANN multistakeholder processes. As a condition of participation in ICANN's multistakeholder processes, those who take part must:

1. Behave in a professional manner, demonstrate appropriate behavior and treat all members of the ICANN community in a respectful and dignified manner, irrespective of Specified Characteristics so that individuals of all backgrounds and cultures are made to feel welcome. This applies in all interactions, including in face-to-face and on-line communications. Specified Characteristics means, but is not limited to: age, ancestry, ethnicity, physical or mental disability, genetic information, medical condition, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex (which includes, among other things, gender, gender identity and gender expression), sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, immigration status, socioeconomic status, pregnancy, childbirth, or medical conditions related to pregnancy.
2. Refrain from harassment of any type. Harassing conduct or commentary may take many forms, including, but not limited to, verbal acts, graphic depictions, written statements and physical conduct. Such conduct, as defined below, may be made via various methods, including, in person, over the telephone, and/or via the Internet (in any of its applications, such as via email, video conferencing software, etc.). Examples of harassment include the following (note: please view the policy for fuller examples):
• Sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, repeated requests for dates, or unwanted communications of a romantic nature, after the individual receiving them indicates that they do not wish to receive such communication or requests.
• Humiliation, ridicule or mockery, insults or put-downs.
• Repeatedly contacting someone online after being asked to stop; sending excessive or unwarranted messages or video calls.
• Discriminatory jokes; micro-aggressive or passive-aggressive remarks that reinforce stereotypes; mimicking, mocking, or dismissing cultural customs or markers of identity.
• Use or displays of offensive objects or images, including but not limited to, sexual imagery on a computer or other personal items in public settings that may be visible to others.
3. Refrain from retaliation and act in good faith. Retaliation is strictly forbidden against any person reporting conduct that they believe to be contrary to this Policy and any other person that participates in the related investigation. Should the Ombuds conclude that the alleged conduct did occur, appropriate remedial action shall be taken as outlined below. Further, this Policy is not itself to be used for the purposes of retaliation. Persons who abuse this Policy by submitting vexatious and/or spurious complaints or reports shall be dealt with in an appropriate fashion with reference both to this Policy and the Expected Standards of Behavior.

Support

Advice and guidance are always available from the ICANN Ombuds, whether someone wants to raise a complaint formally or not. It can be challenging to speak up and seek help; affected individuals can request the type of support with which they are most comfortable. 

Raising a harassment complaint

For formal complaints to the Ombuds, the process is summarized as follows:

1. Review of complaint with the following potential outcomes:
   1. Ombuds determines insufficient grounds to investigate; or
   2. Ombuds determines sufficient grounds to investigate.
2. Investigation:
   1. Respondent informed and brought into process.
   2. Evidence for allegations assessed, including, as relevant, witness statements for complainant or respondent.
   3. Determination and conclusion.
   4. Complaint substantiated; complaint substantiated in part; or complaint not substantiated.
3. Remedial action (if complaint substantiated or partially substantiated)

The reporting and complaint procedure is available to anyone in the community who believes they have identified inappropriate behavior toward themselves or others.

If the Ombuds finds a complaint to be within the jurisdiction of the Ombuds Office, the complaint will be investigated to determine whether there is a reasonable basis for believing that the alleged behavior is a violation of this Policy. Investigation may include some or all of the following steps:

1. communication with the complainant to clarify the facts and allegations giving rise to the complaint;
2. inquiries of the person who is the subject of the complaint (respondent) to obtain a response to the complaint and clarification of facts if, in the Ombuds' discretion, the complainant has provided sufficient facts to support the allegation that inappropriate and unwanted behavior has occurred; and
3. communication with other percipient witnesses, and
4. review of documentary evidence, if any, and if appropriate.

The Ombuds will determine whether a violation of this Policy has occurred based on the information collected, reviewed, and analyzed during the investigation. When the Ombuds has completed the investigation and reached a conclusion, the Ombuds will communicate their conclusion directly to the complainant and the respondent.

If the complaint is substantiated fully or in part, the Ombuds will determine what remedial action, if any, is appropriate in light of the findings of the investigation. The appropriate remedial action will depend on different factors, some of which are listed in the policy.

The reporting and complaint procedure will be handled in a manner to ensure confidentiality to the complainant as well as the respondent, as well as any witnesses who made a report or who were called upon in the reporting process, to the extent feasible. The names of the complainant and respondent shall be kept confidential and shared by the Ombuds on a need-to-know basis pursuant to the procedural steps in this Policy, or as required by other ICANN policy or applicable law.

 

You may contact the ICANN Ombuds Office confidentially at ombuds@icann.org for further information, to discuss your options or to make a complaint.

 

The former ICANN Community Anti-Harassment Policy is available here: https://itp.cdn.icann.org/en/files/governance/community-anti-harassment-policy-24mar17-en.pdf

The former Policy was revised and released for Public Comment in 2024; the redline version, reflecting changes made due to Public Comment feedback, is available here: https://itp.cdn.icann.org/en/files/governance/board-resolution-icann-community-anti-harassment-policy-redline-14-09-2025-en.pdf.