I've Joined The Creator Accountability Network

I've joined the Creator Accountability Network (CAN) as a provisionally credentialed creator! The provisional period is three months long, and at the end of that time I'll be fully credentialed if nothing disqualifying comes to light. 

I'll be excerpting details from their website as the best way to explain what this is and what it means for me as a content creator and for you as readers and audience members. The short version is that I've undergone ethics training as part of the credentialing process, and that if you feel my actions have harmed you (now or in the future), you can report harassment, abuse, or other harm to CAN. Quotes in the rest of this post are from CAN's website as of August 16th, 2025.

Here's the long version:

From CAN's mission and purpose statements: 

"The Creator Accountability Network empowers Community Members to build trust with Content Creators through ethical training and credentialing, victim-centered reporting of unethical behavior, and the promotion of community healing through active accountability."

"Content Creators and the Communities built around them have struggled to address harmful and unethical behavior.  The legal and social systems that currently exist offer very little accountability for those who have social, financial, physical, and/or political power over others.  Without oversight, Community Members have been forced to rely on whisper networks or the court of public opinion for any sense of justice.  We have witnessed harm fester and grow, people become ostracized, and entire Communities negatively impacted."

"The Creator Accountability Network aims to empower Community Members to address these behaviors in a restorative fashion; centering on educational resources, transparency, open dialogue,  and accountability."

CAN uses three broad phases for achieving their goals. The first step is Training and Credentialing, which is the part I'm involved in as a content creator. This is where CAN provided me with "proactive education", similar to ethics trainings I've done in my day jobs over the years, but with a focus on restorative justice. If all goes well, the next two steps won't ever be applied to me, but those are Reporting and Accountability. If someone feels that my behavior has harmed them or I've behaved unethically, they can report it to the Creator Accountability Network and they will investigate the report. From their site: "Working with teams of specialists, victim advocates, and experts, this system will give Community Members a safe, secure place to make reports. Certified victim advocates will be available to help Community Members articulate their experience and needs, to ensure that our team’s response honors their wishes. Advocates can also connect Community Members to any resources they might need."

Next is Accountability, where "After reports of misconduct are received and investigated, The Creator Accountability Network (along with panels of experts, specialists, and advocates) will collaborate with all parties to ensure that the violation is understood, further harm does not continue, and that any damage will be mitigated and, ideally, repaired."

Part of restorative justice is that it has a different goal from systems like punitive justice, which is represented by systems like the U.S. criminal justice system, where the perpetrator "pays" for their conduct by being hurt in turn through incarceration or fines. Instead, restorative justice is focused on helping the involved parties learn what was harmful or unethical in their behavior so that they can "change, grow, and learn from their mistakes." According to CAN, "This may include (but is not limited to) additional training, dialogue, oversight, and/or removal of credentialing depending on the level of harm and extent of damage done."

By joining CAN as a credentialed content creator, I'm helping keep my community safer by letting you know I care about ethical practices in my content, and by connecting you to a place to report any harm you might feel from by content or behavior, rather than relying on whisper networks. It also protects me from random or unsubstantiated accusations, because CAN as a third party is there to investigate any reports and help us navigate the process of repairing harm.

They don't police my content, and my involvement with CAN is completely voluntary. I've known about them since the organization's inception, and was just waiting for them to get to the point where their credentialing process was up and running. 

As they say in their Final Note: "Ultimately, we endeavor to give Community Members and Content Creators alike peace of mind that their interactions will result in more safe, welcoming, and respectful spaces for all."

Thank you for your attention, and for being part of safer communities.

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This content is CAN credentialed, which means you can report instances of harassment, abuse, or other harm on their hotline at (617) 249-4255, or on their website at creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org.