Should attack ads be allowed?

[alani123]

I've noticed recently that through several ad rounds that the forum holds, some of the advertisements were bought from parties seeking not to promote a product/service but instead attack the reputation of a third party.

I'd like to pose the question to see what the forum's members thing on the issue of whether or not attack ads should be allowed.

Edit:
Dictionary.com defined an attack ad as follows

a public notice, such as a printed display or a short film on television, in which a political party criticizes or abuses an opponent

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/attack-ad

I'm using it without the political notion (ascribed to it from American politics). The phrase consists of two words.
Attack

to assail with unfriendly or bitter words

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/attack

advertisement

a picture, short film, song, etc. that tries to persuade people to buy a product or service, or a piece of text that tells people about a job, etc.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/advertisement

[S_Therapist]

I don't know which one you are talking about? Is it ChangeNow?
What theymos mentioned:

Ad text may not contain lies, misrepresentation, or inappropriate language. Ads may not link directly to any NSFW page.

From this perspective, I think it's okay to promote an attack ads as long as it contains true information.

Although forum doesn't moderate scams, I think such kinds of ads should be promoted by forum itself for protecting its users.

[mocacinno]

I personally feel like it's a gray area...

If there is a clear scam accusation with ample proof and community consensus about the validity of the scam accusation, an attack ad can actually perform a public service by warning potential victims about a proven scammer or scam tactic. In this case, i feel an attack ad to be justified, i'd even say such an attack ad would add more value to the forum than a "regular" (commercial) ad.

If it's an ad attacking a person or company on unclear grounds, i personally feel the ad should be taken down.
Like i said: it's a grey area... Who decides when there is community consesus about a certain scam? In the end it'll always be Theymos' call.

In any case, an ad should never violate the law in the jurisdiction where the forum is hosted (i believe it's hosted in the US).

[Marshall14]

I've noticed recently that through several ad rounds that the forum holds, some of the advertisements were bought from parties seeking not to promote a product/service but instead attack the reputation of a third party.

Firstly i do not know what an attack ad actually is, I don't know if you can throw more light on it, so more people would actually understand your point..

If it's an ad to warn other members off scammers or a fraudulent group of people,then I totally support it as it'll reduce the possibility of falling prey to them

But like I said earlier,i need more info about this,to be able to scribble out a valid input

[alani123]

I personally feel like it's a gray area...

If there is a clear scam accusation with ample proof and community consensus about the validity of the scam accusation, an attack ad can actually perform a public service by warning potential victims about a proven scammer or scam tactic. In this case, i feel an attack ad to be justified, i'd even say such an attack ad would add more value to the forum than a "regular" (commercial) ad.

If it's an ad attacking a person or company on unclear grounds, i personally feel the ad should be taken down.
Like i said: it's a grey area... Who decides when there is community consesus about a certain scam? In the end it'll always be Theymos' call.

In any case, an ad should never violate the law in the jurisdiction where the forum is hosted (i believe it's hosted in the US).

I'm asking the question to see what people think about such ads in general, but I noticed it from the following ads.

This time around it's this ad:
https://i.imgur.com/UDUXZds.png

In the weeks prior it was one by the same user:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5036496.msg46520165#msg46520165

I've noticed recently that through several ad rounds that the forum holds, some of the advertisements were bought from parties seeking not to promote a product/service but instead attack the reputation of a third party.

Firstly i do not know what an attack ad actually is, I don't know if you can throw more light on it, so more people would actually understand your point..

If it's an ad to warn other members off scammers or a fraudulent group of people,then I totally support it as it'll reduce the possibility of falling prey to them

But like I said earlier,i need more info about this,to be able to scribble out a valid input

Thanks for bringing this up. I've edited the OP with some definitions.