Dear colleagues, As Hisham noted in his earlier mail, the RIPE NCC last night decided to put the RIPE list into moderation, following a mail containing highly offensive racist language. I fully support this decision. The RIPE Community is open and inclusive, and I am sad that we have to take such a serious step. Over time, the community demonstrated its ability to self-govern and ensure appropriate tone and behaviour in discussions. However, in this situation, given the gravity of the violation of the RIPE Code of Conduct, I feel that temporary moderation of the list is necessary in order to protect our community. We will watch the situation closely over the next days to determine any further steps. In the meantime, I would like to encourage you all to continue to engage, and to do so in the manner and spirit that I know reflects RIPE. I would like to sincerely thank Hisham and his colleagues at the RIPE NCC who took immediate action and who did not hesitate to sacrifice their weekend. Kind regards, Mirjam Kühne RIPE Chair