The rule is that you can’t change the text inside of quote box because that can make it look like the other poster actually said the words you are attributing to them. Paraphrases that don’t use the quote tags - whether they are identified with single quotes, double quotes, or no quotes - are fine. I think anyone who read the thread would have understood from the quote tags and from the rest of the post that I was paraphrasing what I took to be your opinion rather than attributing a set of words directly to you.
It’s tough to find examples of posters getting away with something that isn’t against the rules because we wouldn’t moderate it in the first place - and if something is explicitly allowed I’m not sure you can reasonably say the posters got away with it. But I hope these past mod notes will illustrate that the rule says what RickJay and I told you it says.