Proposal
Don’t allow any vouch/review removals on an account that is a defender in a current slash. Removals can continue before or after slashes.
Background
We’ve seen a number of slashes of more popular accounts. During these slashes, a common behavior has been exhibited by Ethos members:
Once the slash goes live, those who have vouched or posted positive reviews for the "defender" (account being slashed) remove those contributions mid-slash. They do this in order to remove the downside (losing credibility score) they may incur if the account they previously vouched/positively reviewed is slashed.
Rationale for Change
I don't blame those for taking this action. The current mechanism is actually built to allow them to remove their personal downside. They desire to keep a high score, so they take this action. But if we're truly focused on reputation and credibility, you can't remove downside and purely capture the upside.
The current mechanism that allows this is the opposite of true skin in the game. Skin in the game requires downside, it’s not just about upside. When you positively review or vouch for an account, you are putting your name next to theirs. The recipient in turn gains credibility due to your positive review/vouch. You should only perform these activities if you believe in what you’re saying.
I understand the argument that “I didn’t know they’d do something bad. If I knew what they’d done (or were going to do), I wouldn’t have positively reviewed or vouched.”
But it does not change the fact that when you vouch/positively review, you are putting your name next to this person. This whole protocol is based on reputation and credibility.
In the course of positively reviewing or vouching, you also gain (XP at a minimum). If you get upside by connecting yourself with this person via vouch/review, you should also be exposed to the corresponding downside.