Editorial and publication standards
Ethics And Civil Liberties
2IA applies lawful sourcing, data minimization, bystander protection, attribution, uncertainty labeling, correction, and non-operational publication boundaries to every subject it covers.
Publication information
Necessity And Proportionality
Collect only what answers a legitimate public question. Do not gather more personal data than needed, keep it longer than needed, or repurpose it without review.
Authorization Is A Bright Line
Do not probe infrastructure, bypass access controls, test vulnerabilities, impersonate, scrape behind limits, trade exploits, or treat curiosity as consent. Defensive security belongs in authorized programs and responsible disclosure channels.
Minimize Before Publication
Cut bystanders, minors, victims, private addresses, medical details, credentials, private beliefs, and unrelated identifiers unless essential and lawful. Public accountability does not require maximum exposure.
Source Protection Without False Promises
Explain what a contact channel is and is not. Do not imply secure-drop capability unless the infrastructure, process, and staffing actually support it. Ordinary contact is not safe for secrets.
Evidence Care
When material may become evidence, preserve source, date, handling history, access limits, and integrity notes at a governance level. This is not forensic instruction; it is accountable record care.