Ruling18: Shilling, Blackpilling, and Other Psyops.
Global Rule 4 has long contained a provision prohibiting "psyops" against the site. Out of respect for free speech, and to avoid false positives or the appearance of policing opinions, this ruling is invoked only sparingly and only when predictable patterns of disruptive activity are noticed, and not merely on the basis of one isolated event. If this ruling is invoked in matters of controversy, a general policy is held that "the truth vindicates" - meaning that objectively true information, shown in its full context and without malice or leading the reader, will be exempted so that we can err on the side of free speech, even if such content would be inconvenient to the site. Many times the malicious users to whom this ruling would apply are already breaking the rules of the site because they are spamming the disruptive content and/or evading bans, and so those rules will generally be invoked against them first. Typically when prohibited psyops are detected by themselves the content will simply be deleted, but global staff may use their own judgement in assigning bans for persistent or particularly malicious posters of it. The most common activities that constitute prohibited psyops are:
<Shilling
Meaning marketing a website, article, meme, false narrative, product or service by faking unironic community enthusiasm, favorable reviews, or public or staff support, particularly when done for profit.
<Datamining
Meaning an organized attempt to disguise the solicitation of user metadata and/or personal identifying information as ordinary posts or traffic, particularly when done for profit.
<Blackpilling
Meaning a malicious attempt to demoralize or otherwise inhibit the interests, passions, or energy of the community to discourage users from participating in the site, a board, a thread, or some other allowed activity in order to hinder or limit user participation.
<Death Memes
Meaning a malicious attempt to create a false impression among the community that a board or the site is "dying" or otherwise in some perilous or compromised state, with the intent of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy by provoking users into abandoning it.
<Derailing and Diluting
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Edited last time by Acidadmin on 08/31/2024 (Sat) 16:30:03.