Ignorance of the rules is not a defense.

That includes people who have read Medium rules but keep saying “but they didn’t specifically say this!”

The sense of the rules is simple: don’t try to game Medium. Don’t try to build your followers in any way but by writing stories they’ll want to read. Don’t clap on anything you don’t really like. Don’t leave a comment unless you really have something the author or other readers will want to read,