A reader asks: What should be on my ‘red line’ list?

I'm Alice Hunsberger. Trust & Safety Insider is my weekly rundown on the topics, industry trends and workplace strategies that trust and safety professionals need to know about to do their job.

This week, I'm answering a reader question about how to decide to leave an organisation that isn't aligned with your ethics, and what to do next.

Also, I'll be in NYC April 23rd for All Tech is Human's Safety by Design event – let me know if you'll be there and want to say hi!

Get in touch if you'd like your own questions answered (it really helps when I have writer's block!) or just want to share your feedback. Here we go! — Alice

An ethical framework for uncertain times

I recently received the following question from a T&S Insider reader (thank you!). They were framing the question in terms of what to do when a company has a big, public T&S failure:

1. Whilst personally subjective, what are things someone should consider before "jumping ship"?

2. Assuming that person decides they cannot continue with the org, what are steps they can take to leave without causing unnecessary turmoil? What would be helpful to add a 'last minute ' handover doc? 

3. If you have to stay with the org for whatever personal reasons, what are things you can do to push for more action or help steam roll positive changes? 

I’m going to answer below, but I’m broadening the scenario to include what happens when a company’s values stray from your own. Sometimes the failures are quiet and internal, instead of big and public, but are just as much a test of personal ethics. 

Questions to ask

When you’re at a company and you see things going south, the best thing to do is to create a list of lines you will not cross before you need it. Each list will be unique to your own set of morals and ethics, as well as the situation you’re in. 

Here are some things to consider: 

• Have you ever rationalised something you later regretted? What warning signs did you ignore?
• Which user groups do you feel especially protective of — and why?
• Are you more likely to compromise due to ambition, fear, or loyalty? How can you guard against that?
• What are things you’d refuse to do, even if it meant losing your job?
• What are some circumstances where you think taking no action (or not enough action) is harmful enough that it would cross an ethical line?
• Are you expected to rationalise decisions you disagree with others (your team, the public, press, etc)? At what point do you think this might affect your own reputation? 
• Will your decision to stay or leave send a signal to others? Is that important? 

Examples of red lines

In an interview for This American Life, Yoel Roth talks about what his list looked like:

Casey Newton: And so on a notepad by his desk, at his house, he wrote down his red lines. "I will not break the law." "I will not lie for him." "I will not undermine the integrity of an election." By the way, if you ever find yourself making a list like this, your job is insane. Then Yoel wrote down one more rule.
Yoel Roth: This was a big one. "I will not take arbitrary or unilateral content-moderation action." And--
Casey Newton: So if Elon came up to you just said, ban this person, you weren't going to do that?
Yoel Roth: That was the limit.
Casey Newton: Did people on your team show you the lists that they were making too, or talk to you about them?
Yoel Roth: We did.

Here’s another podcast on how to navigate these decisions — in this, I’m joined by Nadah Feteih to talk about her journey in tech and what led her to leave Meta.

A Hippocratic Oath for T&S?

You can also frame your decision around what you do want to stand for, rather than what you won't do. A bit like the Hippocratic Oath that medical professionals adhere to.

In a recent newsletter, I covered a report written by the 5rights Foundation, in which it suggested that the Trust & Safety industry should “codify the right and responsibility of T&S professionals to act in the best interests of society, citizens, and users – even when this duty conflicts with the business interests of the service provider.” The argument is that a codified, industry-wide oath protects professionals when they need to push back. 

I asked ChatGPT what a Hippocratic Oath for T&S might look like. It came up with a thoughtful response that I wanted to include here as something to consider when making your own list: 

I enter this work with humility and conviction, knowing that my decisions impact lives, communities, and the future of online spaces.

I pledge:

To do no harm, and to prevent harm where I can—especially to vulnerable individuals and communities.
To prioritize human dignity over metrics, growth, or convenience.
To uphold fairness, resisting pressure to discriminate, silence lawful voices, or apply rules unequally.
To protect the privacy, autonomy, and safety of users, particularly when they cannot advocate for themselves.
To stand against exploitation, whether of platform users, marginalised groups, or the hidden labor that powers online safety.
To speak truth internally, raising concerns even when uncomfortable, and refusing to normalise ethical compromise.
To continually examine my own biases, staying open to feedback, growth, and change.
To refuse complicity in manipulation, surveillance, or control disguised as safety or engagement.
To act with transparency, and to push for systems that are accountable, explainable, and just.
To leave any role, project, or company that requires me to cross my red lines or betray this oath.

I commit to these values not only as a professional, but as a participant in the world I help shape. The internet reflects who we are. I will do my part to make it worthy of trust.

What comes next

If you go: Again, this is going to depend on the severity of the situation, how influential you think you’ll be to others still inside the org, and what your reasons for leaving are. Here are some things to consider: 

• How public do you want to be? This can range from being a whistleblower and speaking out publicly, giving background information to press or people thinking of joining the org themselves, sharing your views only with people you work with, or simply letting your decision to leave speak for itself. 
• Can you recommendations can taken up by someone else? Sometimes it’s helpful to document your concerns as a risk assessment, rather than a fixed and prescriptive recommendation of actions to take. This gives flexibility for others to execute in their own way after you leave. 
• Have you captured what didn't work? Documenting what you’ve tried and what hasn’t come off can be as helpful as documenting what should be done. 

If you stay: I’ve written about this recently, so I’ll just link to these:

• How to get buy-in for T&S (part one)
• Making the best of a T&S incident (part two)

Why everyone should make a ‘red line’ list

Before I wrote my own ‘red line’ list, I was at an organisation that was going through a lot of changes. I had been filled with doubts about how I was going to navigate potential future situations, and it was incredibly stressful. Not only could I not predict what was going to happen next, I also didn’t know how I was going to react. 

My mother has given me one piece of advice that I have returned to over and over in my life: 

If you’re feeling paralysed and can’t make a decision, it’s because you don’t have enough information yet. Once you have enough information, the decision will be clear.

In the absence of knowing exactly what will happen in the future, you do have control over deciding what red lines you won’t cross. From there, you just need to wait until the red lines appear and the decision is clear.

Given the uncertain circumstances we’re in these days, I believe that everyone working in Trust & Safety should make their own list and revisit it a couple of times a year. Discuss the list out loud with someone else to make it real. In my case, I discussed with my husband, with a mentor, and with a friend who had made a similar decision recently. 

When I committed to my list, it felt like a weight had been taken off my shoulders. I had made my choice, and now I just had to stick to it. The rest (including whether I’d ever need to use the list) was out of my control. I sincerely hope that no one ever needs to use their list, but everyone should have one just in case. 

Also worth reading

Trans-Inclusive Design webinar (Prosocial Design Network)
Why? A conversation on April 24th about what designers should know in order to ensure that people who are transgender, non-binary, or gender-variant feel included and affirmed - rather than excluded or harmed - on platforms.

Podcast: A Guide to the FTC's Case Against Meta (Tech Policy Press)
Why? "On Monday, April 14, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will kick off its trial against Meta. In process for years, the case is over whether Mark Zuckerberg’s company has an illegal monopoly over social media and whether it should be forced to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp. To prepare to cover the arguments, Tech Policy Press spoke to two experts to better understand the issues at play."

The Roadmaps Hiding in Plain Sight (Anchor Change)
Why? Katie Harbath looks at where AI-driven tech is headed in the future and how we might approach our careers now to meet the moment.

Balancing Digital Safety and Innovation (Harvard Business Review)
Why? A look at safety by design in practice.