It would really help if the rules were clearly stated, and then those exact rules, not some other hidden set entirely, were enforced.

ML comes to.mind, censoring anything negative about China, Russia, or North Korea (how much longer until it adds the USA to that list?), without explicitly stating that anywhere.

It's the "surprise" aspects that most often turn people away.

Another one is how Hexbears have historically been allowed to troll people all across the Threadiverse. They were explicitly asked not to do that by their own admin team, but there too the follow-up actions did not match the talk.