Influence Doctrine & Escalation Ladder
This doctrine governs all counter-manipulation action taken by THE RESET against actors that prey on human attention. It defines the five Counter-Op Tiers, what each one permits, who may authorize it, and the triggers that move a target up or down the ladder. No field team may exceed the tier assigned to a target without sign-off recorded here.
The Five-Tier Ladder
Every target dossier carries exactly one Counter-Op Tier. The tier is the ceiling — field teams may always act below it, never above it. The ladder is cumulative: each tier inherits everything permitted by the tiers beneath it.
Passive monitoring
Definition. Watch and record from a distance. No contact, no footprint, no signal the target could detect.
Permitted. Open-source collection, Instrumentation Mesh telemetry review, public-record research, and passive Tracker-node sampling of public surfaces.
Authorization. Field lead may open and run Observe on their own authority.
Example. Logging the default settings and buried-control depth of a billion-device platform from its public configuration and Mesh telemetry.
Surface it & build the case
Definition. Make the manipulation visible in-context and assemble a defensible, hand-off-ready body of evidence. The goal is a case a court, regulator, or the public could act on.
Permitted. In-context Pattern Disclosure that names the manipulation to the user, SDK and consent-wall fingerprinting, analyst correlation across dossiers, and evidentiary packets for Legal — including acquiring a target's own suppressed harm research.
Authorization. Field lead, with Legal & Deniability review of the evidence plan.
Example. Authenticating a platform's buried internal harm study and disclosing the consent-wall asymmetry that hides it.
Bounded obstruction of the flow
Definition. Introduce friction into the manipulation flow without destroying property or touching any individual user. Demote, slow, and inject a stopping point — never break.
Permitted. Bounded counter-patterns staged onto instrumented surfaces, demotion of inauthentic amplification, a One-Click Exit injected into a roach-motel cancellation path, and coordination with regulators — strictly holding the loop, never steering the content.
Authorization. Directorate (Field Operations director) sign-off required.
Example. Injecting a natural stopping point against an autoplay compulsion loop and quietly collapsing an astroturf network's amplification.
Active counter-pattern deployment
Definition. Direct deployment by THE UNDERTOW to neutralize a manipulation technique at its source — turning the dark pattern against itself. Reserved for active, high-harm targets.
Permitted. On-target counter-pattern delivery by Injector nodes — the Targeting Jammer that poisons non-consented profiling, corruption of stitched identity graphs — aimed strictly at the broker's product, never at an individual person.
Authorization. Directorate proposes; the Steward authorizes each Counter-Pattern action individually, with Legal in the loop.
Example. Running the Targeting Jammer against a data exchange's cohort-assignment pipeline to devalue its vulnerability profiles without reaching a single user.
Sealed — PL-4 / Steward-only
Definition. Actions whose details are sealed at the Directorate level. Existential or PL-4-class scenarios only — chiefly the black-program persuasion-AI outfits. The doctrine for this tier is held outside this document.
Permitted. Defined case-by-case under sealed annex. No standing permissions; nothing is pre-authorized. Same hard limits apply — proportionality and the absolute prohibition on harm to people are never waived.
Authorization. Steward only, under PL-4 protocol, with logged two-person concurrence. Cannot be delegated.
Example. Sealed. Recorded only in the Steward's annex; not reproduced here.
Authorization & Rules of Engagement
Authorization scales with the tier. The higher the rung, the higher the authority required and the heavier the review. No tier may be skipped to reach a higher one without explicit sign-off.
| Tier | Who authorizes | Review requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Observe | Field lead | Logged in the target dossier; periodic analyst review. |
| Nudge | Field lead | Legal & Deniability reviews the evidence plan before collection. |
| Friction | Directorate (Field Operations director) | Written Directorate authorization; Legal sign-off on each measure. |
| Counter-Pattern | Steward | Per-action Steward authorization; Legal in the loop; after-action review filed. |
| Detox-Sanction | Steward only (PL-4 protocol) | Sealed annex; logged two-person concurrence; non-delegable. |
Escalation & De-escalation
Tiers are not destinations. A target moves up only when the evidence and the threat justify it, and moves back down the moment that justification fades.
Triggers to escalate
- Documented, ongoing harm to users that lower tiers cannot stop.
- Evidence threshold met and reviewed by Legal & Deniability.
- No lawful authority is able or willing to intervene in time.
- Time-critical, high-potency manipulation reaching a vulnerable or minor population.
- Required authorization for the next tier is obtained and recorded.
Triggers to stand down
- The harm has stopped or the threat window has closed.
- A lawful authority has taken or accepted the case.
- Evidence no longer supports the assigned tier.
- Risk of reaching an individual user, a bystander, or the wider public.
- Authorization is withdrawn, expired, or was never properly recorded.
Related
Target Dossiers
Every target carries an assigned Counter-Op Tier set under this doctrine. Open the Target Dossiers →
Counter-Operation Reports
Authorized actions and after-action reviews are filed as counter-operation reports. Open Operations →
Legal & Deniability
The directorate that reviews evidence plans and signs off on each measure. Open Legal & Deniability →
Tiers & Classes
How tiers sit alongside the Potency Levels and Evidence Classes. Read the Charter framework →