EDITORIAL PROCEDURES
[ VIEW / DOWNLOAD PDF ]What precisely constitutes 'doxxing' is a contentious argument and can vary depending on application and context.
Freedom Publishers Union explicitly defines 'doxxing' as:
The release of private or personally identifiable information about an individual, individuals or group, by publication or any other means of dissemination, that has not already been made available in the public domain, prior.
Freedom Publishers Union, or any other authorized party, hereafter known as "we" or "us", does not 'dox' individuals through the release of information by publication or any other means of dissemination, that has not already been made available in the public domain, prior.
We understand and respect the sensitivities present with the release of information by publication or any other means of dissemination, which can be used by third-parties to personally identify and target individuals.
We, at all times, consider the implications of the release of information by publication or any other means of dissemination, to individuals associated with Freedom Publishers Union, or any other party, that may be affected, directly or indirectly, from its release.
Additionally - and more importantly - we, at all times, consider the implications of the release of information by publication or any other means of dissemination, to individuals attached to, or could be personally identified from, its release, that may be affected, directly or indirectly, from its release.
If information is provided to us, by any source, directly or indirectly, and we determine the information is private and it has not already been made available in the public domain, prior, we will withhold the private information and/or make necessary redaction to obfuscate identifiable portions to protect the privacy of individuals.
If information is provided to us, by any source, directly or indirectly, and we determine the information is private and has already been made available in the public domain, prior, we will assess the information to determine necessity of its publication and/or dissemination.
We will not be held liable for publication and/or dissemination of personally identifiable information that has already been made available in the public domain, prior to any publication or dissemination we have engaged, by parties that share no association with us.
If we believe personally identifiable information that has already been made available in the public domain, prior, is critical to providing accurate context, we will freely (re)publish the information only after we are satisfied it is within the constraints of our Editorial Procedures, collectively.
If we publish and/or disseminate personally identifiable information that has not already been made available in the public domain, we will make all possible and reasonable attempts to contact the individual(s) for explicit approval to do so, prior, unless a clear case has been presented to us the individual or individuals do not want unsolicited contact by us.
If explicit approval cannot be provided to us, we will make necessary redaction(s) to obfuscate identifiable portions to protect the privacy of all affected individuals.
Freedom Publishers Union, or any other authorized party, hereafter known as "we" or "us", has an obligation to adhere to our Editorial Procedures, collectively.
We have an obligation to operate within the constraints of US and international law, where jurisdictional reach shall apply.
All content removal requests submitted must be accompanied with the full legal name, country of residence, phone number and email address of the party submitting the request.
All content removal requests submitted must be accompanied with a valid reason which details why the request should be considered by us.
We assess all content removal requests, individually, and make decisions on each case based on the credibility of the request.
Any content removal requests submitted that are not accompanied with all of the required information outlined in SECTION 2B will be dismissed, without appeal.
Any content removal requests submitted on the basis the party simply 'does not like' the content will be dismissed, without appeal.
We only approve content removal requests that are accompanied with all of the required information outlined in SECTION 2B and we determine we have breached our Editorial Procedures, collectively, or we have been ordered to do so, under law.
Freedom Publishers Union, or any other authorized party, hereafter known as "we" or "us", are committed to maintaining strict editorial and publishing standards, and will always ensure our processes remain transparent.
We rely on our sources for the purposes of research, data gathering, details comparison and fact checking, while promoting source diversity. We use all of the information we pull from our sources to create a premise for our own publications, ensuring truth and accuracy remain top priority.
If a specific source is not listed it does not mean that we consider the information to be false or misleading. It means that we take additional steps to cross-check the information to ensure truth and accuracy.
We rely on our careful selection of sources as our prime basis, as many of them are among the few outlets that still employ their own reporters, so their stories aren't going to be 'rip-and-read' from a wire service or web aggregate service that simply drops the breaking headlines.
These sources are almost always guaranteed to report with an 'eye-witness' point of view, not some third-party being re-quoted repeatedly. Because of their private news teams, they tend to each pick up something different about a story - slightly different details and perspective.
Furthermore, because they aren't in 'first to print' mode full-time, they tend to publish detailed follow-up stories within 48 hours that more thoroughly sort the facts and clarify verified information from rumors.
If all sources are reporting the same core facts then it is most probable to be true, or at least perceived to be true.
We use internal editorial categorization techniques to identify liberal and conservative bias indicators for sources, to determine if these publications echo the same core facts as our master sources. Then we can make an assessment to conclude that everyone saw the same thing.
We then look for the starkest differences between the baseline, liberal and conservative sources, and are what we call bias indicators.
Sometimes we use or adapt information from sources or individuals not formally associated with any of the sources listed, calling these outside sources. When we use outside sources we take the information and attempt to support it with information from our master sources.
The entire process is not strict as we must allow for flexibility. We are confident at the time of going to press all information that we publish remains accurate to the best of our abilities and our Editorial Procedures, collectively, permit.
We are always open to challenge and scrutiny from our readers. If you believe we have published inaccurate or defamatory information we recommend that you contact us so we can rectify any issues we determine to be legitimate.
Where Artificial Intelligence (AI) services and tools are utilized in our research or publishing workflows, such use is strictly governed by the standards and restrictions set forth in SECTION 5.
SECTION 1, SECTION 2, and SECTION 5 apply to all content linked through the "Publications" section; all content published as "Editorial", "Analysis" and "Opinion"; all content published in Archive Streams #1 and #2; all content linked through the "Cicada 3301 Related" section; all content linked through the "Featured Stories" section; limited to the Freedom Publishers Union website on the domain name freedompublishersunion.net.
SECTION 3 applies to all content published, generally, by Freedom Publishers Union, or any other authorized party.
All content published outside of the parameters outlined in SECTION 4A is not subjected to SECTION 1, SECTION 2, and SECTION 5 of the Editorial Procedures, being only subjected to SECTION 3 and to the limitations of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license, which is applicable to all content published to the Freedom Publishers Union website on the domain name freedompublishersunion.net, including its source code which is open-source and available in the public domain.
All content published to an official authorized third-party server or hosting service associated with Freedom Publishers Union, or any other authorized party, is not subjected to SECTION 1 and SECTION 2, being only subjected to SECTION 3, if applicable, and to the limitations of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license, unless otherwise published with the Public Domain mark, therefore making it free of known copyright restrictions.
All content published to the "free-media" [directory]; the "global" [directory]; the "Q" section; the "Q Notes" section; the "Q drops" analysis section; are exempt from all Editorial Procedures, collectively.
All content published to an official authorized social network associated with Freedom Publishers Union, or any other authorized party, are exempt from all Editorial Procedures, collectively, limited only to the rules of the social network platform(s) the content is hosted.
The Administration Blog and Press Statements are exempt from all Editorial Procedures, collectively.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to computational systems, including Large Language Models (LLMs), generative image synthesisers, and automated data processing tools, used to assist in the creation, research, or distribution of content.
This section governs the use of AI by Freedom Publishers Union, or any other authorized party, hereafter known as "we" or "us", to ensure technological integration does not compromise our commitment to truth, accuracy, and privacy.
We maintain that AI is a service and a tool, not an author or a publisher.
All content published under the parameters of SECTION 4A remains the sole responsibility of human editors and contributors.
AI shall not be credited as an author, and no editorial decisions prior to publication shall be made solely by an automated system without human review and final approval.
Information generated or summarized by AI is treated as an "outside source" under SECTION 3.
We do not accept AI-generated claims as factually accurate until they have been cross-checked and supported by our [1] Trusted or [2] Always reliable master sources.
If AI-generated information cannot be verified through our established source hierarchy, it will be withheld from publication to ensure truth and accuracy remain top priority.
We prohibit the use of AI to create "deepfakes," fabricated quotes, or synthetic audiovisual media intended to mislead readers or simulate the likeness of individuals without explicit disclosure.
AI may be used for technical enhancements (e.g. noise reduction in audio, image sharpening, or grammatical correction) provided the original context and evidentiary value of the material remain unaltered.
In adherence to SECTION 1, we prohibit the input of private or personally identifiable information into third-party AI systems if that information has not already been made available in the public domain, prior.
We recognize that data submitted to AI models may be retained by third parties; therefore, we treat AI interfaces as non-secure environments to protect the safety and anonymity of our sources and associated individuals.
We are committed to maintaining transparent processes.
If AI has been used to substantially draft, structure, or generate the core substance of a publication, we will provide a clear disclosure to the reader.
Minor use of AI for brainstorming, copy-editing, or translation of verified text does not require specific disclosure, provided the final output meets all standards outlined in SECTION 3.
All AI-assisted content remains subject to the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.
We ensure that our use of AI services and tools does not infringe upon the copyright of third parties and remains consistent with our open-source principles.