Editorial Policy

Deceit is not in the truth business. It is in the pattern business. We name the shapes of manipulation — how propaganda is constructed, how it spreads, and why it lands — rather than adjudicating every claim's veracity.

The project serves two audiences: people who have been deceived and are trying to understand what happened, and people who want to recognize manipulation before it works on them.

All content is published under the pseudonymous byline Deceit. The organization is the author, not an individual. This is a deliberate choice: the subject matter involves cults, fraud, and political manipulation, and individual bylines would create targets.

The organization maintains editorial control over all published content. No content is auto-generated or published without human review.

We select content for review when it meets one or more of these criteria:

• A social media post is spreading rapidly and contains a verifiable falsehood or manipulation.
• An AI-generated image, video, or text is being presented as real.
• An institution or public figure is using rhetoric that matches a documented manipulation pattern.
• A coercive group is operating with documented harm and insufficient public scrutiny.
• A case illustrates a pattern that helps readers recognize similar manipulation in their own experience.

We do not publish content to harass, doxx, or target private individuals. We analyze rhetoric, not character. The subject of every claim is the message, not the person.

Every analysis post follows this process:

1. Locate the source. Identify the original post, video, or image being analyzed. Archive a screenshot or embed before it can be deleted.
2. Trace the claim. Find the fact-check, primary source, or evidence that confirms, refutes, or contextualizes the claim.
3. Identify the pattern. Connect the case to a documented manipulation pattern — love bombing, future faking, crisis cycling, authority laundering, or others.
4. Assign a verdict. Use a controlled vocabulary: True, Mostly True, Mixed, Misleading, Mostly False, False, Fake, Suspicious / Consumer warning, Institutional deception, Documented pattern, Analysis.
5. Cite every source. Every factual claim links to its source. Sources are listed at the bottom of each post.

Deceit publishes across three domains, each with a distinct reading mode:

• deceit.site (Analysis): Evidence-first, structured reviews with verdicts and sourced claims.
• deceit.media (Satire): Comedic commentary that uses the diegetic language of the ARG. Satire posts are labeled as such and include a disclaimer.
• deceit.blog (Essay): Longer-form writing on methodology, pattern recognition, and how propaganda works.

Deceit operates as commentary, criticism, and media literacy under fair use. We reproduce small portions of third-party posts to review and analyze them. We are not affiliated with the original posters or platforms.

We use clinical framing (such as the BITE model) instead of labels like "cult" when describing coercive groups. We analyze rhetoric, not intent. We attribute claims to their sources. When naming individuals, we use "allegedly," "according to," and similar qualifiers when the claims have not been adjudicated.

When we name a company or institution, we document whether they were contacted for comment. If they were not contacted, we say so.