Granting the two very good recent posts on this older thread, from another perspective the GB's tightening controls over JW family members' contacts with disfellowshipped individuals surely signals that the rank and file are NOT observing necessary limits.
A message is usually hammered home repetitively because people are not listening and they are told they need to. Every time I sense the screw tightening in the organization I immediately think, "Aha! The GB is losing their hold on the rank and file."
A common observation is that, in the immediate weeks post convention, JWs are at their peak of compliance but as the months pass, they are less vigilant.