re: Are you allowed to use fake quotes in sigs?

I hope you’re right about it being allowable. But given we aren’t allowed to make threads with posters names in them (or at least that used to be the case) the rules on that and other things aren’t clear to me. I wouldn’t call anything related to a non governmental site free speech though. You’re only guaranteed free speech in so much as it applies to the government intruding inappropriately. Private actors, businesses, and web sites can make their own rules as they see fit.

If they decide we can no longer use the word “the” they are within their rights to do so and it’s not really a free speech issue.