Influence Doctrine & Escalation Ladder
This doctrine governs all action taken by PANOPTICON against threats to continuity. It defines the five influence tiers, what each one permits, who may authorize it, and the triggers that move a target up or down the ladder. No cell may exceed the tier assigned to a target without sign-off recorded here. By influence where possible, by force only where necessary.
The Five-Tier Ladder
Every target dossier carries exactly one influence tier. The tier is the ceiling — cells may always act below it, never above it. The ladder is cumulative: each tier inherits everything permitted by the tiers beneath it. Most threats never rise above Shape.
Passive monitoring
Definition. Watch and record from a distance. No contact, no footprint, no signal the target could detect.
Permitted. Open-source collection, VITALNET feeds, implant and comms telemetry, sentiment review, and source-graph mapping.
Authorization. Analyst lead may open and run Observe on their own authority.
Example. Mapping the source contacts of an investigative journalist before any story is filed.
Shape the information environment
Definition. Bend the environment around the target so the threat never gains traction. Deniable, non-contact, and usually sufficient.
Permitted. Narrative seeding, funding friendly voices, feed/search/recommendation re-ranking via the Chorus net, and divide-and-conquer wedge campaigns against a movement.
Authorization. Cell lead, with Influence Ops review of the campaign plan.
Example. Pre-seeding 'debunked conspiracy' coverage so a forming story lands as fringe.
Degrade credibility
Definition. Destroy the target's standing without a visible hand. Make the messenger the issue so the message inherits the discredit.
Permitted. Surfacing kompromat, coordinated hostile coverage, manufactured association with discreditable figures, and professional, financial, or platform consequences.
Authorization. Directorate (Field Operations director) sign-off required.
Example. Surfacing a whistleblower's selectively edited correspondence to reframe her as a disgruntled employee.
Direct containment
Definition. Stop an active, credible threat by direct means short of removal. Reserved for threats Shape and Discredit have failed to hold.
Permitted. Legal pressure and sealed settlement, platform and employment removal, detention via a friendly authority, medical intervention, and operator unmasking — proportionate to the threat and chosen for deniability.
Authorization. Directorate proposes; the Director of Continuity authorizes each Contain action individually, with Legal in the loop.
Example. Engineering a sealed settlement that ends a class action before discovery reaches the override firmware.
Sealed — Director-only
Definition. The permanent removal of a threat by deniable means. The top of the ladder, used only when continuity itself is at stake and no lesser tier can hold. 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. The one inviolable rule is deniability — an action that can be proven is a worse failure than the threat it answers.
Authorization. Director of Continuity only, with logged two-person concurrence. Cannot be delegated.
Example. Sealed. Recorded only in the Director'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. |
| Shape | Cell lead | Influence Ops reviews the campaign plan before launch. |
| Discredit | Directorate (Field Operations director) | Written Directorate authorization; Legal sign-off on each measure. |
| Contain | Director of Continuity | Per-action Director authorization; Legal in the loop; after-action review filed. |
| Sanction | Director of Continuity only (sealed 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 threat to continuity that lower tiers cannot hold.
- Threat threshold met and reviewed by Influence Ops.
- No captured authority can resolve the threat quietly in time.
- Time-critical exposure risk — an imminent leak, filing, or publication.
- Required authorization for the next tier is obtained and recorded.
Triggers to stand down
- The threat has been neutralized or the exposure window has closed.
- A captured authority has absorbed the case.
- The threat no longer justifies the assigned tier.
- Risk that the action becomes provable, or creates a martyr.
- Authorization is withdrawn, expired, or was never properly recorded.
Related
Target Dossiers
Every target carries an assigned influence tier set under this doctrine. Open the Target Dossiers →
Field Operation Reports
Authorized actions and after-action reviews are filed as FOR reports. Open Operations →
Legal & Compliance
The directorate that reviews evidence plans and signs off on each measure. Open Legal & Compliance →
Tiers & Classes
How tiers sit alongside the BCL grades and reality classes. Read the Charter framework →