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Mods react as Reddit kicks some of them out again: “This will break the site”

⁨797⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨vegeta@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/09/mods-react-as-reddit-kicks-some-of-them-out-again-this-will-break-the-site/

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Comments

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  • Bunbury@feddit.nl ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Hey, they chose to offer free labor for a company that has proven time and time again to not give a crap about the mods or the users. I get why they are complaining but I at least hope that they aren’t surprised or expect that their complaints will do anything.

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    • ronl2k@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Mods get to control the political climate of their subreddit. Those with a political agenda would pay for that privilege.

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  • hanrahan@slrpnk.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I kibd of agree.with this one, on the other hand reddit is not my circus and those mods are not my monkeys.

    Hell, I never understood why anyone worked for free to make the owners richer ? Here I get (and thank you), like an old school BBS but reddit makes zero sense as a mod.

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    • Cocopanda@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Fake importance.

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  • CovfefeKills@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    It limits mods to 5 subs with over 100,000 monthly visits it seems reasonable to limit the mods reach they all have back deals going on to push agendas and ads it’s pretty fucked.

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    • DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Yeah, I thought it actually may be a rare Reddit W for 2 minutes, until I saw reddit admins will grant exceptions. So likely, mods that push reddits agendas will stay while the uncooperative onse will have to go.

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  • TrojanRoomCoffeePot@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    MRW someone posts about Reddit still being a shit community tolerating abuse on a downward arc from Advance Publications, to Mods (fuck Spez), to users.

    “Hey guys, I heard about a poppin’ new club! The cover is only $10, but bouncers get to backhand anyone anytime they feel like it, and kick you out anytime that you advocate support for anything even slightly left of center.” /s ᕕ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ᕗ

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  • sqgl@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    average of over 60,000 daily active moderators” that month, which, at the time, would mean that 0.1 percent of all mods equals 600 people.

    No, it equals 60 people.

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  • Trevita17@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Caught a permaban for calling someone a coward. No big loss, honestly. Reddit wasn’t doing anything for me except raising my blood pressure.

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    • LoafedBurrito@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      It made me doom scroll for hours. My life has been notably less stressful since i left reddit. What a shithole that place is.

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      • Trevita17@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Yeah, I didn’t realize how much trouble it was causing me until I was gone.

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    • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      people caught shadowbans seemingly as a new or old inactive account. apparently reddits filters is now sensitive, that new accounts look like bots, if they suddenly have alot of activity.

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      • Trevita17@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        God forbid anyone make an account and decide to use it.

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  • Treczoks@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    One the one hand I can understand the issue that one person wielding mod power in many subs is a problem, especially if that mod is prone to abuse of the mod position.

    On the other hand, some subs, especially smaller ones, might go modless.

    What I would have done differently is that I would not align this rule on the number of subs alone. The size of a sub should also be a factor, as well as overall number of mods in those groups. A good solution would be not as easy as what they propose.

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    • silasmariner@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      moderating more than five subreddits with 100,000 monthly visitors.

      I mean, that’s clearly a rule that considers size of sub a factor, so, um, what?

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      • FauxLiving@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        It’s social media, people only react to the headlines… they don’t educate themselves on the issue because that would interfere with them generating the next hot take.

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    • squaresinger@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Tbh, I’m active in some modless subs, and apart from the occasional spam or lost redditor it mostly works. r/Arduino (iirc) for example is unmoderated and not exactly small.

      People downvote garbage content and it gets hidden fast.

      Compare that to e.g. r/showerthoughts which is so heavily moderated that you need a masters degree just to manage to post there without getting your content deleted or r/WiiUHacks where the mods ban you for mentioning the wrong Wii U hacking project (e.g. Pretendo).

      The AI moderation is crap as well, but the upvote/downvote system is robust enough to work as a makeshift automoderation system.

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    • Evotech@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Honestly just get rid of the mods.

      These days some AI bot instructed on the sub rules would probably do a much better job. Nd not be a power hungry bitch

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      • Muaddib@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        What are you talking about? We’ve had artificial power hungry bitch technology for years

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  • ABetterTomorrow@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Site is already broken

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  • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Can’t kill a reanimated corpse, reddit is already dead.

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    • july@leminal.space ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Can’t scroll mainfeed there without some soft core porn from sippintea pop up

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  • ronl2k@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Allowing volunteer mods was dangerous enough. Allowing those mods to have unlimited subreddits was a magnet for agenda-driven operatives. The changes don’t really do enough to get rid of mods with an agenda.

    BTW, once a Reddit mod permabans you, there’s no way to appeal their ban. The mods can simply ignore your request for a review. Also, after you are banned, Reddit doesn’t decrement the membership count. You must unjoin on your own. So its membership numbers are inflated for each subreddit.

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    • SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Mods should be forced to indicate what rule was broken when banning. All bans should be appealable on reddit and addressed by a human being. Mods who have a history of frequent ban overturns should be suspended or banned.

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      • ronl2k@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        Mods who have a history of frequent ban overturns…

        Reddit mods don’t even have to answer your request for an appeal. So their bans are never overturned.

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      • FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Do you realize the same thing applies here on Lemmy? Lemmy mods can just make up any reason or give no reason for your ban, and can ignore your messages and you have no way to appeal.

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      • willington@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        I think the concept of moderation by an individual needs more scrutiny. Why not build a software algorithm to allow for subscribers to vote on moderation actions?

        In other words, instead of vertical top heavy moderation, privide a more level, more horizontal process, where our peers play a significant role, or even act as co-moderators.

        We are recreating in software all the top down vertical hierarchies we tend to be sceptical of in the real world. Why?

        Imagine if there was no jury trial? How much worse would thing be?

        So why do we build an online world with a lower standard than we use to build the physical world. That’s just sloppy.

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  • Lucky_777@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Break it hahaha! Fuck that place!

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  • frog_brawler@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    If /r/wallstreetbets would just move to Lemmy, I’d have no reason to ever look at reddit at all. Wallstreetbets has been pretty solid on giving me tips to make money recently. The rest of the site is trash.

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    • explodicle@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Bro just DCA bitcoin. Done.

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      • ronl2k@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Bro just DCA bitcoin. Done.

        It’s extremely difficult to double your investment with BTC if you start at this point. There are far better stock market investments out there now.

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  • ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Limiting the number of large subs a user can moderate is a good way to a) limit their power b) reduce misinformation campaigns.

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  • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I’ve been off Reddit totally since 2023, so part of my understanding may be out of date, but before that I was on for many years and watched how powermods became powermods.

    Thus this situation is very unusual. Reddit never did anything about the powermod situation before, but now, suddenly, it’s a big deal. For years (over a decade, at least) users have been screaming about the worst abuses on the site being from powermods, and time after time Reddit bent over backwards to not only avoid doing anything about it, but seemed to grasp every opportunity to enhance the problem any way they could, shutting down complaints rather than the power trippin’ bastards that were regularly creating the problems.

    Note that powermods very frequently mod the largest subs, which is how they became powermods to start with: modding a sub that got big and then being invited to help mod new subs that then also grew in popularity.

    For myself, I don’t think anyone would give two shits if “powermods” only had an aggregate total of 500 users each, but very frequently they have millions, even tens of millions. Looking at the largest subs on the site and the powermods on those subs, and how many of those powemods are crossovers on equally dominant subs, you see the same core group of powermods across all the top sites, give or take a few individually here and there.

    Strangely, this is the group Reddit is now disbanding.

    Another thing to consider is how many powermods went on to become admins over the years. At least a handful: I don’t know the exact number anymore but it’s non-zero. Powermods who are admins are especially useful to Reddit, because they ensure that the c-suite has direct control over some of the largest subs without ever appearing to do so.

    All this is to say that the powermod situation has been mutually beneficial to Reddit admin for ages, which is why they never changed it or even really acknowledged it.

    But now, for the first time since 2005, Reddit powermods are suddenly a problem. So what’s changed? Cui bono?

    My guess is that Reddit admin is about to a) yank the entire site to the hard right by removing pretty much all effective human moderation and thus preventing powermods from being able to stand in their way across the largest subs (some of which we’ve already seen and the article addresses), and/or b) introduce some other vile change or policy that is certain to piss off EVERYONE, including every non-bot mod on the site, to the point that admin expects a general revolt even among the powermods and need to dilute the individual power of mods in advance.

    One very hypothetical change that could do the trick is Reddit forcing mods, including powermods, to quietly engage in collecting evidence of and reporting users and content that admin would like to sell to the current US admin, for example: intel which Reddit is well situated to provide and for which the current administration has already been calling in the wake of a certain recent death. What if Reddit decides to go all in with the present political trajectory, looking for political power as well as the payout they’re usually in it for, and in so doing force mods to comply or lose their subs? It’s not like Reddit hasn’t already done it for less.

    Again, these are just my own musings. But whatever the reason, Reddit admin calling it quits with the powermods suggests something much larger than just another light rehabbing of Reddit power structures.

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    • TachyonTele@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      When i read the section on how they'll no longer be responding to complaints i had the same exact thought you did. Triming the fat to make the change easier on themselves in the future.

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    • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      they allowed 92 mods to control over 500+subs, im betting these are mostly the subs that have alot of traffic and controversy(mainly discussion based subs, plus news and politics and any subclones of these subs)

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  • pentastarm@piefed.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Image

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  • surph_ninja@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    It’s definitely Reddit attempting more censorship and manipulation of the front page, but I’m still happy the powermods are being fucked.

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    • drmoose@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Yeah it’s like idiots killing idiots September

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      • surph_ninja@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        They’re competing to be the lead idiot.

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  • DiskCrasher@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    And yet they still shadowban. Fuck Reddit.

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  • cupcakezealot@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    putting limits on the number of subs a user can moderate is like putting limits on the number of articles a wikipedia editor can edit.

    typically moderation is an opt in job and you want people who actually want to do it to keep things going smoothly. all this will do is make the pool even smaller which will lead to subs becoming more toxic.

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    • ronl2k@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Allowing opt-in moderation attracts mods with an agenda. That’s a big problem with Reddit.

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    • Couldbealeotard@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Then how do you manage the type of people who just want control over as much a possible to stroke their own ego while doing a terrible job or pushing their own agenda?

      Surely it’s better for unmoderated pages to prune themselves, leaving only ones with enough interest to survive.

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    • FauxLiving@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I think it’s a pointless change, it’s not too difficult to create multiple identities if you wanted to moderate multiple subreddits. The actors trying to control subreddit moderation for commercial or political purposes will not be slowed down by the requirement that they maintain multiple identities.

      If they wanted to ‘fix’ the comment toxicity problem, they could require x active moderators per active user. If it goes above that then non-subscribers can’t comment. The rules don’t mean much if there are 10,000 people commenting on each of 3 posts and there is 1 moderator who’s afk and checking the report queue a few time per day.

      Also, if you notice from most of Lemmy, having a smaller community creates social pressure for people to behave better. Once it gets to the point where you never see the same person twice people think they can behave badly because nobody knows them.

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  • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    the mods that arnt playing ball with reddit that is. the power mods, or the mods that have the admins ear wont be affected.

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  • mereo@piefed.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Piefed/Lemmy/Fediverse: freedom from capitalist tyranny. True organic, human communities.
    Reddit is cyberpunk. It's a world governed by a corporation that acts as its government and only cares about its shareholders, not its citizens.

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  • Kurious84@eviltoast.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Reddit is basically state controlled.

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    • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      since spez is inlove with how musk is running things, he wants it to be facebook/twitter clone, where people just browse the site without logging in, and exposing them to tons of ads.

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  • finitebanjo@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Bros are living in a fantasy, site was broken wide open years ago.

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  • SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I have very little sympathy for reddit mods. Too many of them are petty little tyrants with no checks on them. I hope the door hits them on the ass.

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    • bountygiver@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Most of the good ones have left since they locked off the API and make most of the tools stopped working anyways

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      • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        many of us were forced out because reddit decided they were going to start purging accounts months on end.

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    • LadyButterfly@reddthat.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Tbf that’s often the issue with mods. I’m a mod and I’m power hungry and reign with terror.

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  • umbraroze@slrpnk.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Limiting the power mod reach is a good thing, but still, this will break Reddit. Ordinary users will not be lining up to step in as small time moderators. Especially if Reddit Inc is going to remove them if they do anything they don’t like.

    Reddit Inc will just go “what the hell, we’ll throw more AI shit in the Automoderator. It’s not like it’ll do worse than the current arbitrary quagmire of moderation rules - or maybe it will be, who can tell the difference anyway”.

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    • BombOmOm@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Yeah, during the last blackout they removed hundreds (thousands?) of moderators who wouldn’t toe the party line. These people aren’t coming back and there aren’t quality people lined up behind them to donate their time.

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    • FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Ordinary users will not be lining up to step in as small time moderators

      That’s where you’re wrong. There is a never ending line of power hungry incels and neckbeards just waiting for a chance to have any semblance of power.

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    • brucethemoose@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      “Worse” only being “less engagement in the next quarter.”

      AI mods are probably pretty good in that respect. Random bans don’t really matter, letting more controversial or ragebait disinformation through is a plus. In the short term.

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  • Bennyboybumberchums@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Good. We already saw the abuses of certain mods who were basically running a reddit mafia, with power over multiple subs and abused the every living fuck out of that power. Reddits mods, I cant think of anyone more deserving of having their power striped away. Ideally, it would be 1 sub, as 5 is still too many.

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  • TachyonTele@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Further, subreddits will stop displaying subscriber counts and instead show their “unique number of unique visitors over the last seven days, based on a rolling 28-day average,” Reddit’s rep said. Notably, old.reddit.com will not get these new stats but will still lose subscriber counts.

    That's hilarious
    Sucks to suck

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    • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      hiding the bot numbers, no doubt.

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  • mintiefresh@piefed.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Thank goodness for the fediverse.

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  • Sam_Bass@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Hope one of them is the fuckwad that banned me years ago

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    • RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      did you get banned from r/kangaroo for posting a wallaby?

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      • bitjunkie@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Your alignment is chaotic-petty

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      • Sam_Bass@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Nope. Got banned for threatening someone who was cussing me for one of my aggressive opinions

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  • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    seems like they are testing how to consilidate control of the subs, into 1 or a few person, or under AI.

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  • TheObviousSolution@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Holy shit, they are finally doing something about karmawhores and troll factories! Not in a particular effective way, they can just alt themselves to kingdom come, but they are doing it.

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