Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-1450483-20191111135641/@comment-5956954-20200117052538

TheSimianKing64 wrote: (Cheeseskates) Alright, if that's true shouldn't swearing be allowed on all wikis since it's not explicitly covered under https://www.fandom.com/terms-of-use as of this date? Make up your minds, do local rules matter or not.... (I know you'll probably try to change it after this but still), Local rules matter, but they don't replace the Terms of Use (ToU) but act as a unique supplement wiki to wiki.

Some clarification: Local rules/policies are enforced by the moderation team of a wiki, and each set of local rules is unique and different on each wiki. The ToU is enforced by Fandom Staff, but the moderation team can voluntarily enforce the ToU as well (e.g. Sockpuppetry can be blocked as a ToU violation, not a local rule violation).

This description answers your question on swearing. Yes, the general swear word is allowed per the ToU, so Fandom Staff will not touch you. However, the moderation team of a wiki can make a local rule that prohibits swearing. Therefore, the moderation team will deal with the violations, not Fandom Staff. If there is no local rule that prohibits swearing, feel free to swear until it's prohibited, so long as that behaviour doesn't violate the ToU or other local rules.

We'll go back to sockpuppetry again. The ToU prohibits circumventing ways that prevent or restrict using the site, so sockpuppetry could be dealt with by Fandom Staff (there are more dramatic examples than sockpuppetry, so I haven't seen a case yet). Similarily, the moderation team of a wiki can block users for sockpuppetry, as it is a ToU violation they are voluntarily enforcing. If the team makes prohibiting sockpuppetry a local rule, then the following occurs: since it's already a ToU violation, the local rule is redundant except to serve as another reminder that circumventing restrictions is prohibited.

As such, The Lion King Wiki moderation team adding the "no sockpuppetry" rule only serves as a reminder of the ToU, but rather than blocking sockpuppetry as a ToU violation, it is now a local rule violation. The only thing that changed is the reason why sockpuppets are blocked.

Hope this helps. I don't have much else to say. Disclaimer: I'm only here to clarify information and am taking no sides.