by Bannnananabshdnf August 27, 2023
Get the Banoptious mug.A form of goalpost manipulation where the ultimate objective is to get a user banned—from a server, community, or platform. The banpost is the moving standard of rule-breaking, the shifting target that the user can never quite avoid. First, they're warned for tone. They adjust; now they're warned for content. They adjust again; now they're warned for frequency. Each warning moves the post, each adjustment is insufficient, until finally—inevitably—they cross a line that wasn't there before and are banned. The banpost is maintained by those who want someone gone but need the appearance of justification. It's rule-enforcement as weapon, standards as traps.
Example: "They wanted him out of the server, but he hadn't broken any rules. So they created the banpost: a new rule about 'tone,' applied retroactively to his old messages. He appealed; they created another rule about 'community fit.' He asked for specifics; they created another about 'vibes.' Eventually, he was banned for 'continued failure to meet community standards'—standards that had been created specifically to fail him."
by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal February 18, 2026
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