“Intervening Is a Good Thing but . . .”: The Role of Social Norms in Users’ Justifications of (Non-)Intervention Against Incivility

User intervention against incivility as social enforcement of democratic norms on media platforms is considered an act “good citizenship” by citizens and scholars alike. However, between ideals behavior, multiple are at play in shaping individuals’ sense personal responsibility for intervening. This study explores the role conflicting situations requiring user online incivility. By combining perspectives expectations cultural vocabularies, we investigate users’ salient norms, how these influence justifications (non-)intervention. Based qualitative interview data from Germany ( N = 20), identified three distinct reasoning patterns employed to justify (non-)intervention: pragmatic, dismissive, aspirational. identifying fault lines, our typology points normative origins ambivalence related intervention. The findings offer insights into strategies motivate