Disinformation and misinformation surround us, and while for the most part the crypto-community has not descended into the sort of politics that we see typically in elections, I think it is only a matter of time.
I think it's already here. The actions seen within the blocksize debate would indicate active hacking is going on. E.g., DDOS of ISPs that host non-core miners.
RE: Is reputation determined merely by gossip? The incoming threat of weaponized gossip as a service