I'll give you the active spying bit but I still think knowingly receiving info when you didn't seek it is just a notch below that and not drastically different.
As for the Tattler and the TWiP, it's quite a bit different when the info is posted publicly and when it's passed between two people in secret.
Also when you look at it the two proposed punishments are fitting with what I've said.
In MK's instance they attacked the whole alliance. NPO just wants to ZI one guy. So the level of punishment isn't close to what you would get for actively spying as well.