Cases — Contributor Instructions
Overview
Cases.Template is the starting point for every new case page. Copy it, fill in all fields, and follow the guidelines below. Sources are mandatory. No case is published without at least one.
Step 1 — Copy the template
- Open Cases.Template
- Click Edit
- Select all and copy the full content
- Open a new page named Cases.YourCaseName
- Paste and fill in every field
Use short but descriptive page names. Examples: Cases.MicrosoftNHSLockIn, Cases.GoogleSearchSuppression2024
Step 2 — Classification
Every case is classified on three axes. These axes will power pagelist filtering on Cases.HomePage as the archive grows — readers will be able to filter by domain, actor, and severity to find relevant cases. Consistent classification is what makes the archive searchable and citable.
Axis 1 — Domain
Which sphere of life was harmed? List the primary domain first. A case may affect more than one — add a secondary if clearly applicable.
- Philosophy
- Foundational rights, digital freedoms, surveillance as a concept
- Society
- Democracy, civic life, political discourse, freedom of association
- Economy
- Business, commerce, finance, banking, markets, trade
- Media
- Information, journalism, publishing, search, censorship, shadow-banning
- Health
- Hospitals, patient data, medical systems, public health infrastructure
- Education
- Schools, universities, student data, academic platforms
- Labour
- Workers, employment, gig economy, workplace surveillance, individual rights
- Infrastructure
- Physical networks, telecoms, energy, water, transport systems
Axis 2 — Actor
Who caused the harm?
- Corporate
- Private companies, platforms, vendors
- State
- Governments, public agencies, military
- Institutional
- NGOs, standards bodies, courts, international organisations
Axis 3 — Severity
How serious was the harm? Choose one level.
- 1 — Minor inconvenience
- Friction, cost increase, loss of time or features.
Example: forced software update breaking a workflow. - 2 — Measurable harm
- Documented financial, operational or personal loss.
Example: vendor lock-in causing quantifiable costs to a business. - 3 — Significant damage
- Affects a sector, institution or large group of people.
Example: proprietary hospital system failing during a critical period, delaying patient care. - 4 — Systemic damage
- Structural harm to democratic, civic or economic systems.
Example: algorithmic suppression of political opposition across a platform. - 5 — Rights-level threat
- Fundamental freedoms, sovereignty or democracy at stake.
Example: government using corporate surveillance infrastructure to identify and suppress dissidents.
Step 3 — Sources
At least one source is required for every case. No case is published without it.
Format each source as:
- <nowiki>Source title — Publication name, YYYY-MM-DD</nowiki>
Submit the source URL to Wayback Machine at the moment of documenting the case — not after. Once content is removed it may be too late to capture it.
Step 4 — Source preservation
Proprietary platforms remove, alter, and shadow-ban inconvenient content. This archive exists precisely because that happens. Attach a preserved copy whenever the source has been or may be suppressed.
This is especially important when the source is:
- Removed or altered after publication
- Published on a platform known to suppress this content
- A social media post, which can disappear without notice
Attach at least one of the following per source, using the Attach: directive:
- Attach:screenshot-sourcename-YYYYMMDD.png Δ
Screenshot of the original page (PNG or JPG) - Attach:saved-sourcename-YYYYMMDD.html Δ
Page saved as a single HTML file — instructions below - Attach:raw-sourcename-YYYYMMDD.txt Δ
Raw text in ANSI encoding if the source is a document or terminal output
Also record the removal status in the template field:
- Not removed
- Source still accessible at time of publication
- Removed
- Record the date if known
- Altered
- Content changed after original documentation
- Shadow-banned
- Page exists but is suppressed in search results
- Unknown
- Status not verified
How to save a page as a single HTML file
- Firefox
- File > Save as > Webpage, HTML only (.html)
- Chrome
- File > Save as > Webpage, single file (.mhtml)
Do not use "Webpage, complete" — it produces multiple files and cannot be attached as a single file.
How pagelist filtering will work
Once page text variables are configured in PmWiki, Cases.HomePage will be able to generate filtered lists from the classification fields automatically.
Examples of what will be possible:
All Society domain cases, severity 4 and above, newest first:
All Corporate actor cases in Health:
All cases involving a specific entity:
This is why the classification fields matter. Every case you document with care becomes a data point in an archive that grows more useful with each addition.