[detaro]

A CoC doesn't automatically deflect responsibility. As a moderator you still need to actually moderate, and you get the feedback for doing so. As a commitment, it actually puts an extra burden on the moderator, since there's now an explicit thing people can point to when criticizing your (in-)actions.

I happen to have gained a moderator role in a community that has a pre-existing CoC. I'm not sure why I would "hide behind" or "point at" the CoC when acting in that role, I'm perfectly fine with telling people off (or more if necessary) without doing so.

And yes, if you assume the worst of everybody commitments don't have any value. But people generally attempt to actually uphold things they commit to, and thus it is seen as a positive signal, even if it's not a guarantee. (Ideally we wouldn't need CoCs because the baseline established by them would be such a universal commitment in society that you could just assume it to be valid everywhere, but experience shows that's apparently not the case) Several community members told me that it has been relevant to their decision to interact/join.

EDIT: and even if you say just a commitment is worth anything (as said above, I personally also don't think "has a CoC" is that much of a signal without seeing how mods actually act, but clearly other people do), that's quite a difference from a blanket "CoCs are always toxic".