Persistent refusal to comply with the Laws of Chess is penalised by loss of the game (Art. 11.7); Players may not distract or annoy the opponent in any manner whatsoever; Penalties escalate through the scale in Art. 12.9, from warning to expulsion
Why people argue about this
People often assume that just being distracted is enough for a penalty, forgetting that it must be done in a manner that annoys the opponent directly, leading to arguments about what exactly constitutes "annoying" behavior and when it crosses into unacceptable territory.
