In early May 2025, the AsyncAPI community experienced a disruptive incident on Slack, involving a GSoC-related discussion that escalated into targeted accusations, hostility, and violations of our community Code of Conduct. This report outlines our findings, the actions taken, and the steps we will take moving forward.
What Happened?
A conversation started in our #mentorship channel, where certain community members raised concerns about the GSoC selection process for mentees. What initially appeared to be a heated discussion soon evolved into a coordinated effort involving multiple fake and impersonated Slack accounts.
These accounts were used to:
- Harass selected mentees and accused them of unfair selection.
- Manipulate the discussion
- Create confusion and break trust within the community.
Investigation & Findings
The Code of Conduct Committee, composed of Maya, Ace, Thulie, and Łukasz, convened multiple times to review messages, examine account metadata, and speak with both mentors and mentees affected by the incident.
Through our investigation, we confirmed that:
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Several of the accounts involved were not authentic and had been created for the sole purpose of disruption.
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Two individuals, already known members of the community, created separate identities to carry out harassment and impersonation. These accounts were used to post inflammatory messages and manipulate conversations anonymously. After investigation and outreach, both individuals confirmed ownership of the accounts.
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A mentor unintentionally contributed to the confusion by communicating about GSoC selection independently from the organizing team, which fueled speculation and misinformation.
Action Taken
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Account Bans: The fake accounts were permanently removed from the Slack workspace. One individual, after being identified, issued an apology and remains in the community. The other did not respond to outreach and has been banned from the platform. We have also recommended their removal from the GSoC program.
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Mentor Accountability: The CoC team has formally warned the mentor involved in the off-platform communications. While they intended to support and onboard contributors, their actions unintentionally contributed to confusion within the community. The CoC emphasized that future concerns regarding mentorship and selection processes should be directed to the official mentorship lead, Ace, to ensure transparency and consistency. Given the circumstances and the mentor’s good intentions, the committee has decided to handle this matter with leniency while providing clear guidance moving forward.
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Support for Affected Individuals: All mentees and mentors affected were contacted directly by the CoC team to ensure they felt safe, supported, and heard.
What We Learned
This incident highlighted the importance of better CoC visibility and process clarity. It also underscored how easily trust can be shaken when communication is fragmented or unofficial.
Next Steps
To prevent similar incidents from happening in the future, we are taking the following measures:
- The CoC committee plans to establish monthly sync meetings to address community needs and improve coordination proactively.
- Assigning platform-specific CoC leads (Slack, GitHub, Events, and Socials).
- Introducing onboarding and awareness sessions for mentors and mentees.
Postponed CoC Committee Nominations
CoC Committee nominations were temporarily postponed while the incident was being resolved. We now recommend that future nominations be limited to TSC members to ensure all candidates have a verified and trusted presence within the community.
We are committed to upholding the values of openness, inclusion, and integrity. While this incident was difficult, we view it as an opportunity for growth, to strengthen our systems, enhance our culture, and protect what we’re building together.
Thank you to everyone who supported us during this investigation. If you have any concerns or additional information, please contact the CoC team privately.
— The AsyncAPI Code of Conduct Committee