# Anonymous and $cientology face off again, this time on Craigslist
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-and-cientology-face-off-again-this-time-on-craigslist/670159
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [October 2, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-and-cientology-face-off-again-this-time-on-craigslist/670159 "2013-10-02T03:05:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-and-cientology-face-off-again-this-time-on-craigslist/670159/1 "2013-10-02T03:05:24Z")
Good for Anonymous for keeping up on these things.
[The Latest Clash Between Anonymous And Scientology Is Happening On Craigslist Right Now](http://finance.yahoo.com/news/latest-clash-between-anonymous-scientology-145732610.html)
> [@](#):
>
> Our tipster writes that “Anonymous has attempted to use Craigslist’s flagging system to take down their ads, as they are constantly violating terms of use with ridiculous amounts of postings in a number of cities across the United States and Canada. In New York City, San Francisco, and Houston, over 100 ads are posted in a single day… sometimes over 200…Repeated e-mails to Craigslist about the constant violations of their terms of use had gone unanswered, so we started thinking out of the box and posting ‘counter ads’. We posted hundreds of ads across the U.S., using the same or similar titles to the Scientology ads, warning of the true nature of the ads in as many humorous or noticeable ways as we could.”
Anonymous’s counter-ads (images at the link) are hilarious: “How to Rid Your Body of Invisible Dead Alien Spirits Course.”
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### Author:  [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-and-cientology-face-off-again-this-time-on-craigslist/670159/2 "2013-10-02T15:55:24Z")
According to comments further down the article, they don’t seem to be very effective in this case. Anonymous’ ads are being flagged down while Scientology ads remain up. Craigslist is suspected of complicity or of simply not caring.
Roddy
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### Author:  [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2013, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-and-cientology-face-off-again-this-time-on-craigslist/670159/3 "2013-10-02T16:09:49Z")
From Anonymous:
> [@](#):
>
> ‘We are outraged that this continues to happen under the supervision of Craigslist, and they have seemingly chosen to do nothing.’
when they are also breaking Craigslist’s rules. Pot, meet kettle.
StG
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### Author:  [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-and-cientology-face-off-again-this-time-on-craigslist/670159/4 "2013-10-02T16:20:05Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#):
>
> Craigslist is suspected of complicity or of simply not caring.
Not caring, is my opinion as an occasional Craigslister. They’ve got a flagging system in place, and it works well enough.
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### Author:  [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-and-cientology-face-off-again-this-time-on-craigslist/670159/5 "2013-10-02T16:34:58Z")
> [@](#):
>
> We are outraged that this continues to happen under the supervision of Craigslist, and they have seemingly chosen to do nothing
I don’t really see any reason for outrage. If Craigslist doesn’t want to stop Scientology from posting a lot of ads, they don’t have to. Its their website. “Terms and Conditions” are binding on users, not Craigslist.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-and-cientology-face-off-again-this-time-on-craigslist/670159/6 "2013-10-10T14:07:38Z")
> [@Simplicio](#):
>
> I don’t really see any reason for outrage. If Craigslist doesn’t want to stop Scientology from posting a lot of ads, they don’t have to. Its their website. “Terms and Conditions” are binding on users, not Craigslist.
Because that means that, if they are supporting Scientology, and you don’t, you can’t support them.
I don’t understand this prevalent attitude that, because someone has the right to do something, we lose all right to care whether it is right or wrong.
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### Author:  [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2013, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-and-cientology-face-off-again-this-time-on-craigslist/670159/7 "2013-10-10T14:26:08Z")
> [@BigT](#):
>
> Because that means that, if they are supporting Scientology, and you don’t, you can’t support them.
Only in your world of absolute black and white, with strict adherence to a manufactured and tortured transitive property rule of morality.
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-and-cientology-face-off-again-this-time-on-craigslist/670159/8 "2013-10-10T14:28:00Z")
> [@Simplicio](#):
>
> “Terms and Conditions” are binding on users, not Craigslist.
This, if true, is wrong. Contracts should be binding on all parties.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-and-cientology-face-off-again-this-time-on-craigslist/670159/9 "2013-10-10T14:29:47Z")
> [@StGermain](#):
>
> From Anonymous: when they are also breaking Craigslist’s rules. Pot, meet kettle.
>
> StG
The pot calling the kettle black refers to actions you’ve taken before the claim, not actions you take during the claim. When you are doing the same action specifically because someone else is doing it, in a form of protest, the epithet doesn’t make sense.
That’s the type of mistake I would expect in Yahoo! comments, not the SDMB. Your argument is like saying that Rosa Parks should have went to the back of the bus instead of violating the law. You can’t condemn someone for performing the entire point of the protest.
Scientology is breaking the rules of Craigslist and getting away with it. Anonymous does the exact same thing as a form of protest against this. But then only Anonymous gets in trouble. Obviously, for some reason, Scientology is getting special treatment.
When you would willingly risk having your entire website taken down, depriving you of revenue, just to allow Scientologists to break the rules, there’s something nefarious going on. Either you support Scientology, or you are getting some benefit from them. Either that, or you’re more scared of Scientology than Anonymous, which is a scary thought.
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### Author:  [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-and-cientology-face-off-again-this-time-on-craigslist/670159/10 "2013-10-10T14:36:59Z")
Well that seems to be the question. Who is scarier Tom Cruise or Guy Fawkes?
**Capt**
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### Author:  [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-and-cientology-face-off-again-this-time-on-craigslist/670159/11 "2013-10-11T19:16:05Z")
> [@Sunspace](#):
>
> This, if true, is wrong. Contracts should be binding on all parties.
It’s not a contract. A contract involves an exchange. Craigslist isn’t asking anything of its users in exchange for its promise to host the ads (presuming these are free ads we’re talking about). It’s making a one-sided offer of “We’ll host the ads as long as they meet these guidelines and we feel like it.”