Sometimes they are not just there out of fear, but also not for your benefit. For instance at one corporation I worked for they made a policy against communica

Sometimes they are not just there out of fear, but also not for your benefit. For instance at one corporation I worked for they made a policy against communicating with other departments outside of jira tickets, in order to clamp down on any union organizing that might take place. And also to prevent us from spreading rumors about an imminent wave of layoffs. Of course they said it was for “security reasons”. So I would assume malice rather than just fear of risk for any seemingly strange policy measures. The management is not your friend.