Are there "rules" on Steemit?

To the question in your title, my Magic 8-Ball says:

It is decidedly so

WOW Thats harsh !!
Offcourse There is freedom off speech and everything is allowed, the introduceyourself is the one that is abused the most because it generaties the most money. But it was just a warning because the bots can flag you.
I think it Sucks to hear that you are one hand in .... can i help?

There are some rules and while it is extremely open and free there has been at least one case I'm aware of where someone's content was pulled down and censored because it was illegal. It involved child porn, so it is possible to censor people if they do something extremely horrible, you just need a super majority of the top 20 witnesses which I think is 17 out 20.

But.. For the most part the community polices itself, if people are doing wrong other people in the community will point it out or try to use flags if they can, so.. Generally you can do whatever you want for the most part as long as it's not extremely illegal! Though, just like in the real world if you go disrespecting certain people they might take issue with you, so.. You're much more likely to get some other general users trying to intervene as opposed to the top 20 witnesses or steemit inc.

Thanks @Brittandjosie - there is a steep learning curve here. I know my intentions and they have quite literally nothing to do with money. I understand that this platform can create an income for people and that is great for them. If I was lucky enough to make a few bucks that would be great also. What I am having difficulty adjusting to is the prevalence of bot interaction with posts, and the presence of porn, I thought I was vetting my followers well, then I went to my "feed" and there was hardcore porn on it. I had not searched for porn so this jumped out and go me by surprise. I myself am not really concerned with this, I do however dislike the idea of my wife being exposed to it and also worry about children. I note 13 year old children and above can access this platform legally and also note that simply searching for the Hollywood film XXX would expose them to an abundance of porn. There is also the army of people and bots saying if you follow me I will follow you. Having come from a FB that at one time had 4000 "friends" I am not looking for an army of associates, I am looking to connect with like minds and share and grow. For me I am a blockchain junkie and investor of many cryptocurrencies, I know the blockchain world well. I also understand that first and even second generation blockchain based social media platforms will not be perfect and perhaps have teething issues. I get that. What I mostly disliked was being told to not do things when in my judgement I was not abusing a function. I was simply sharing my thoughts. I have since discovered that the introduceyourself tag is being abused as a money grab. I feel a solution here could be programmed into the platform but that would then become a form of censorship. I will continue with this platform for now and see where it all go for me personally. I also sense that early addopters have a bit of an attitude to those that are new, but that is my opinion and its not confirmed, it is just a gut feeling. Can you help? I am not to be honest, but I thank you for asking. Peace

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I have an unnatural want to understand things extremely deeply so here are the "rules"... The "rules" that we all must abide by on this platform are outlined, and they constitute "terms of service" (tos) within the steemit tos we agree by using the platform to be subject to the "rules" of JAMS https://www.jamsadr.com/jamsfoundation/ and any escalated (legal) dispute will be heard in courts (filed only in the state and federal courts located in New York County) - this of course is not a common scenario (as far as I can tell) and most disputes (if any) will be resolved by "whitnesses". In terms of steemit inc having the ability to censor content that does not strictly break a "law", this is clearly possible and can be done with no reason expressed or otherwise, meaning that if pressure was placed on steemit to say censor "news" regarding a geopolitical event than steemit would have absolute power to revoke access to steemit for any reason it saw fit. The general idea is to have witnesses take care of disputes, and if witnesses make an "error" of judgement, this would again be resolved by arbitration by JAMS and failing that the courts of NY county. The issue that arises on any social media platform (especially one set up like steemit) is who decides to intervene and regarding what content. FB for example has a very pro western approach to content censorship, as will steemit in time. Do I see a more "free" platform here, no. In fact I see the exact same degree of ability of censorship as with any other social media platform owned and operated by a US corporation. Is this a big deal, no not yet. And it may possibly emerge as a more "free" platform. It is of course too early to determine whether or not it will.

ALSO to quote steemit:

"Is there an Etiquette Guide for Steemit?
There are no official rules for participating on steemit.com, but one of the users @thecryptofiend has created an Etiquette Guide for the community. While it is not required to follow the suggestions in the guide, they are standards that many users in the community choose to follow."

Original posted edited. FYI

Some resources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAMS_(organization)

https://www.jamsadr.com/principal-benefactors

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_County_Court

As I mentioned before it takes a super majority of top 20 witnesses which is like 17 out of 20, these people are accountable to the community and voted in like politicians. If they abuse their power they can be voted out. Show me another major social media like Facebook or instagram or twitter that does that?

Every time I got censored it was likely some random anonymous employee. Not 17 out of 20 votes from an elected community with names and faces who can be held accountable.

You say it's not more free. I disagree. I've never been censored here and I've been censored countless times elsewhere. I have pragmatic experiental knowledge that tells me it is much more free.

This place was created by a Ron Paul liberty type and designed to be more free than it's mainstream competitors which it is. Will it always be? Maybe, maybe not and it's not perfect either. But it's a good step in the right direction which has been my argument since the beginning.

Not meaning to butt in. I noticed the conversation and agree with a good amount of what you said.
Though any kid can go to google.com and type in the same stuff and find porn. I came across it sometimes on Facebook as well but rarely. I think though ultimately.. That's the job of parents to make sure their kids are not exposed to such things. We shouldn't prevent free speech for that in my opinion.

The bots are an issue but also free speech as long as they are not malicious.

I actually created bots back on mIRC in the 90's and.. I see the benefits and the cons.

I do believe steemit had said bots are against the rules, but enforcing that is sorta of like banning marijuana.. It's just so overwhelming they would have to be like totalitarian Hitler style almost to clamp down on it.

And.. Since there are a lot of good and helpful bots I doubt they will. BUT.. It is a major complaint. Maybe some day they will get strict about it.

Voted in like politicians lol :P Time will tell brother. Either way happy to be here for now. Hope you are well!

Heh. I actually found out that Steemit inc can bypass the votes of witnesses which seems really uhh.. Not good in my opinion. However, I still don't see anything better yet and will continue to use this until something does a better job and may continue to use it even after something else comes along as long as there's still value and a community here.

Glad to here you're happy to be here, though I see you haven't posted in a while. I wonder if you lost faith in steem again or if you're just dealing with a lot in your personal life? I hope things are going alright for you! Much love bud.