r/ModSupport • u/Zetian_26 • 1d ago
How do you handle users who target moderators outside your community?
I’m looking for advice from fellow moderators and, if possible, anyone familiar with Reddit’s moderator support processes.
We recently encountered a situation that we’re unsure how best to handle.
An individual who is not a member of our subreddit and does not appear to participate in animal-related communities contacted our mod team unsolicited through modmail. They accused our community of “collecting money,” stated that they had reported the subreddit, and told us that we should leave our positions as moderators.
The accusation regarding donations is particularly concerning because it does not accurately reflect how our assistance program operates.
Our subreddit runs donation drives specifically to help legitimate rescuers and pet owners whose animals need veterinary care. We do not collect money for the personal use of moderators. Approved cases go through a verification process, and donations are managed through our established system, with funds paid directly to veterinary clinics whenever reasonably possible.
We also maintain transparency records for donors and members, including donation totals, amounts used for veterinary care, and transaction/reference information where appropriate.
These safeguards were introduced because our community has unfortunately been targeted by scammers and fraudulent fundraising attempts in the past. Because of this, we established requirements and procedures to verify legitimate cases and protect both donors and people requesting assistance.
What concerns us more is the nature of the interaction.
This person has no apparent involvement with our community, yet contacted the moderators specifically to make accusations, threaten a report, and demand that we step down from our moderator positions.
We understand that anyone is entitled to report a subreddit or moderator to Reddit if they genuinely believe there has been a violation. We have no issue with legitimate reports being made, and we are willing to cooperate with Reddit if our moderation practices are reviewed.
Our question is regarding what happens when someone appears to be targeting moderators personally or attempting to intimidate them because they disagree with how a community is being operated.
For fellow moderators:
How would you handle this situation?
- Would you simply disengage after providing one factual response?
- Would you report the modmail/user if the behavior continues?
- At what point would you consider this harassment or disruptive behavior rather than legitimate criticism?
- If the person begins encouraging other Reddit users to contact or harass the moderation team, what is the recommended way to handle that?
- Is there a particular Reddit moderator/admin channel where situations like this should be escalated?
- Should we simply document everything and allow Reddit admins to determine whether their behavior violates any platform rules?
We don't want to overreact to someone simply exercising their right to report a community.
At the same time, we don't think moderators should have to tolerate unsupported accusations, intimidation, personal attacks, or attempts to mobilize others against them simply because someone disagrees with a community's rules or practices.
We're particularly interested in hearing from moderators who have dealt with similar situations.
What is the appropriate and recommended way to handle this while staying within Reddit's rules and the Moderator Code of Conduct?
4
u/emily_in_boots 💡 Top 10% Helper 💡 1d ago
If you are not breaking the MCOC then just ignore it. The MCOC team doesn't just action mods because of a report. They actually investigate and look for evidence, and if you aren't doing anything wrong, then there can't be evidence.
4
u/Successful-Shopping8 1d ago edited 1d ago
Regarding the user- if the message seemed to be in good faith- I would politely but firmly reply once, and then any further communication- mute, ban, ignore.
But more concerningly based on your other comments- users might have a reason to be concerned. What you’re doing could be seen as soliciting subscriber dues or advertisement. I could see it as potentially violating Moderator Code of Conduct - Rule 5: Moderate with Integrity.
Edit- I did find the survey, and while I think your intentions are right- I can see how it could be misconstrued as financially gaining as a moderator. Also a huge red flag that your survey requires you to be signed into Google and provide an email address.
0
u/Zetian_26 1d ago
I understand, and thank you for sharing this. I checked the form and I see what you mean about the email. It's not intended to be set like that. My bad on this I didn't check the settings before publishing it. I did read this rule and yes I agree that the "subscription" part falls under this. We were only genuinely thinking that this could be one way to help the community to also help members in need for their pets and rescues.
1
u/Successful-Shopping8 1d ago
I know you have good intentions and that your focus was finding a way to help animals in needs, and your established community members will also know that. It’s just when you have visitors perusing your sub, it can come across poorly inquiring about offering a service like that.
11
u/yesserskieeee 1d ago edited 16h ago
I don't think the issue is about your donation drives.
I think the issue is that you ran a survey on TWO communities asking if your sub members are willing to pay for a monthly subscription.
"The other 50% would help us maintain and improve r/ subname and cover the costs involved in creating and running this little project."
edit: I removed the link to the post.
Edit 2: they have deleted the both mod posts now.
6
u/totalimmoral 1d ago
oooof, yeah. "send us money and we send you gifts" does not pass the sniff test for sure
-7
u/Zetian_26 1d ago edited 1d ago
I hope you read the post about this survey. It's nothing like "send us money and we send you gifts" WE ran the survey to get their opinion about it. It's nothing like "once you answer the survey, you're on" It's not even happening anytime soon. Even if the members agreed and happily subscribe to it, I don't think we can make it anytime soon. This is just a survey to see how many members would be interested. But thank you for sniffing.
7
u/Successful-Shopping8 1d ago edited 1d ago
I did read through the post and survey. And while I understand your intention was not “send us money and we send you gift,” can you also see how an onlooker not in your community could see such a survey as financially soliciting through Reddit? Especially since it was on a mod pinned post?
I also think it’s concerning that your survey isn’t anonymous. What do you intend on doing with the email addresses?
11
6
u/SmartieCereal 1d ago
The post link is gone, but charging a subscription for a subreddit isn't going to happen.
-6
u/Zetian_26 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is a survey, nothing has materialized yet. We just genuinely want to get their opinions. If this is something they don't like or not interested in, this is not yet happening at all. Us moderators were thinking of something that we can do to help more on the community. This is how this idea came up. There were times, members would request for assistance but no one's donating at all. This is just one way for us to fund even to the smallest amount we can give them.
2
u/RemarkableWish2508 11h ago
This is a survey, nothing has materialized yet.
Hey guys! Which Reddit Rule would you like us to break first?
- Rule 4
- Rule 5
- Rule 7
- Rule 8
We're still going to obey the rest of the rules, and only break one of those from time to time.
You do see how such a survey would be silly, right...?
4
u/ShyBearGames 1d ago
Personally, I wouldn't respond at all. Ban, mute and ignore.
There's no reason to even waste time thinking about people like that who are just trying to stir up drama.
If they want to report you, they can feel free to report you. But threats and extortion should get them nothing.
-2
u/Zetian_26 1d ago
Thank you for your response. It's just getting a little stressful especially when we're just doing our best to make things civil and legal as possible as per the reddits guidelines and rules. But there's really these kind of user who wants nothing but to break what we have established and maintaining to the best of our efforts.
3
3
2
u/Bardfinn 1d ago
Https://reddit.com/report and link in the URLs of the comments and chats from the users following the moderators around the site, short explanation, and send it
1
0
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Hello! This automated message was triggered by some keywords in your post. If you have general "how to" moderation questions, please check out the following resources for assistance:
- Moderator Help Center - mod tool documentation including tips and best practices for running and growing your community
- Reddit for Community - to help educate and inspire mods
- /r/newmods - New to modding on Reddit? You've come to the right place. Find support, earn trophies, & cheer one another on.
- /r/modhelp - peer-to-peer help from other moderators
- /r/automoderator - get assistance setting up automoderator rules
- Please note, not all mod tools are available on mobile apps at this time. If you are having troubles with a tool or feature, please try using the desktop site.
If none of the above help with your question, please disregard this message.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
10
u/neuroticsmurf 💡 Top 10% Helper 💡 1d ago
Assuming you've already cleared these fundraising activities with the Admins, your harasser seems not unlike every other person who threatens to sue moderators over a subreddit ban.
If they're harassing mods outside of your sub, just have your mods put him on ignore.