Freelancer being an old game is not an excuse, given there are older games with way bigger communities that go into thousands of players with no need to pull out the artificial life supports. I watched the Official Faction system from over 7 or 8 years and it is still as faulty as it used to be, despite changes.
My proposal? Introduce Officialdom without any time limit, based on three warning system on basis of overall behaviour of the leader and his players a) in-game, b) on the forums and - here's a surprise - c) on Discord. Like @St.Denis said, backstabbing on Discord should be a big no-no - I know a few cases of severe abuse on Discord, as well as mocking players behind their back. That's why I believe that players and leaders of the Official Factions should be held accountable for what they do and write on Discord too. You may like it or not, but activity over there is the extension of Discovery Freelancer's player factions and as such should be taken into consideration.
TL;DR If you belong to an Official Faction, you should give example not only in-game or on the forums, but also with your own Discord.
I witnessed such a system applied in a few places and it works just fine.
