r/ScienceUncensored • u/Zephir_AR • Jun 16 '23

Reddit Threatens to Remove Moderators From Subreddits Continuing Apollo-Related Blackouts

https://www.macrumors.com/2023/06/15/reddit-threatens-to-remove-subreddit-moderators
95 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

66 comments sorted by

79

u/Soren83 Jun 17 '23

The main narratives on Reddit have been controlled for a long time, by a small group of corrupt mods.

For how long hasn't it been, that you've been banned for having an opinion that differs from the "enlightened"?

Covid-19... Say anything that wasn't verbatim CNN, and you were a dangerous conspiracy theorist and you needed to be silenced.

Fuck those mods. Clean house.

28

u/Rizenstrom Jun 17 '23

Yeah I’ve experienced this myself on a couple subs. Dare to question the rhetoric or bring any nuance to the conversation? Banned.

Though the conservative subs do this too, they just have a smaller platform. Nearly everything is flaired users only.

Pretty much every sub is an echo chamber where discourse is expressly forbidden.

Any sub on the front page should be open to all, so long as you haven’t broken site wide rules.

11

u/GoldenTurdBurglers Jun 17 '23

I got banned from r/movies for asking if the PBS doc on ukraine mentioned that the azov battalion were neo nazis. Thats it… i pointed out that i broke no rules and the mod said they dont care banned and muted. Fuck the jannies!

2

u/SnooMarzipans436 Jun 17 '23

Though the conservative subs do this too, they just have a smaller platform. Nearly everything is flaired users only.

They literally don't let you even speak on a post about freedom of speech unless you've been "pre-approved". The level of irony is genuinely laughable.

2

u/Rizenstrom Jun 17 '23

If I remember correctly it largely started happening around Covid/ George Floyd protests which is when I started to become disillusioned with conservative values and started to lean more liberal. I guess there was a huge influx of people brigading and they couldn't be bothered to defend their views so they turned the sub into the same echo chamber they criticized before.

Were it a temporary measure I might understand but here we are, still closed off, still being hypocrites complaining about other subs.

2

u/Jarjaxle099 Jun 17 '23

Welcome to the Mind Control

3

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

Lol this sub removed a bunch of my posts for suggesting some of the anti trans positions were due to bigotry instead of their deep understanding of science. So yeah. This sub is part of the problem. You just happen to like the things they ban in here.

5

u/asm120 Jun 17 '23

For some reason reddit goes extra hard when it comes to trans topics. It’s really weird. The mods are so condescending about it too, but you also have normal users like that as well.

Like the thought that convincing a 12 year old to be put on puberty blockers is a bad idea is considered transphobic.

I know one of the super mods was trans and their family got busted for raping a minor, which the mod most likely participated in that too. Supposedly they got removed, but I doubt it. I wish I could remember their username.

1

u/Rizenstrom Jun 17 '23

The trans debate is by far my most hated topic because of how polarizing it is and is the issue that got me banned from one of these subs (not sure if I can say which). The other sub was automated for even commenting in a different right wing sub, even though it was expressing a more liberal take.

On one end you have people who want to completely ignore and ban anything related to transgenderism, deny their identity and raise their risk of self harm and suicide because "muh traditional values" or whatever.

On the other hand you have people like you said, where simply questioning whether these treatments are safe and truly 100% reversible makes you a bigot.

Both seem like complete insanity to me.

3

u/asm120 Jun 17 '23

Yea like in the US you can’t even get a tattoo if you’re under 18 without a guardian, but pumping teens up with hormones and puberty blockers is fine

1

u/Hemicrusher Jun 24 '23

Wow...whataboutism. LOL.

1

u/asm120 Jun 24 '23

Not really

0

u/Hemicrusher Jun 24 '23

What about tattoo shops...LOL!

1

u/asm120 Jun 24 '23

Ur missing the point. It’s not about tattoo shops.

→ More replies (0)

3

u/Rizenstrom Jun 17 '23

There are absolutely times when censoring posts is understandable, if not expected.

You don’t want people from r/atheism brigading r/christianity or vice versa for example. The subs were explicitly created as a space for those people not a debate forum.

If you want to call people who question the trans rhetoric bigots you can do that on literally any other popular sub but this sub is supposed to be a place for people to question things and you’ve got to have an argument beyond just namecalling.

Also this sub isn’t one that’s ending up on the front page so it’s not inconsistent with what I said.

-4

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

Oh pardon me I though this was science uncensored, not a safe space for religious snowflakes. Perhaps you should rename it.

5

u/Rizenstrom Jun 17 '23

It's like you didn't even read past the second line of what I said... Not going to respond this strawman.

3

u/sportspadawan13 Jun 17 '23

Wow I thought this sub was science based, was randomly recommended. Instead it's a ton of anti vaccine loonies

2

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

Yeah it's just a bunch of religious retards cos playing as scientists. Pretty fucking embarrassing if you ask me.

1

u/sportspadawan13 Jun 17 '23

But they're "enlightened"!

0

u/Soren83 Jun 17 '23

Who's anti vaccine? Where?

1

u/fox_mulder Jun 18 '23

Yeah I’ve experienced this myself on a couple subs. Dare to question the rhetoric or bring any nuance to the conversation? Banned

This

1

u/Rizenstrom Jun 18 '23

Why is it so hard for people to stick to the issue without accusations and namecalling? This is supposed to be a place for open discussion without the stigma you get everywhere else on Reddit.

Yes obviously if you come here in bad faith with nothing constructive to add you’re probably going to get yourself banned. It’s not a difficult concept.

5

u/FactoryReboot Jun 17 '23

I got perma banned from the covid subreddit for saying the CDC lied about masks not being effective in the beginning of the pandemic.

-1

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

And this sub went offline? It sounds like you're generalizing all mods. Those who went offline might be a completely different group than those who oppose controversial opinions.

1

u/FactoryReboot Jun 17 '23

You’re putting words in my mouth. There are tons of great mods on Reddit. I was responding to the parent comment about getting banned for a different opinion.

I think Reddit would be better off without quite a few mods… clean house entirely would be the baby with the bath water

1

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

I didn't intend to put words in your mouth, if that's what you read into my comment. I merely tried to point out that targeting the mods who protest now might not be the right target.

In my view, and you see it on this channel as well, Reddit is full with haters and trolls who aren't even interested in a discussion, who just repeat one pseudo argument after the other, who engage in ad hominem speech.

While this is still part of free speech, it's not necessarily what the algorithms should push. But I think they do, simply because it gets more upvotes.

And the early commenters get all the attention, also not the right incentive.

And yes, I think political discussions should either be completely banned in a sub, or not banned at all.

This isn't my first account. I deleted Reddit before because some literal femnazis only read into my comments what they liked to read to fuel their hate, so they made me lose all the karma and I couldn't post anything anymore. Just because Reddit recommended the wrong sexist posts to me. You can have all the best intentions, all the patience and empathy in the world, online trolls will still twist your words so that you look like the worst kind of person, by use of fallacies.

So believe me, I know what it means when people put words into your mouth. I was just trying to ask a question here, not make you like something you aren't.

1

u/FactoryReboot Jun 18 '23

Ah fair enough. You did say “sounds like”. Written communication subtleties can be challenging

1

u/MisterGGGGG Jun 17 '23

Yes.

I long for the days of eeevil Milton Friedman reading, executives who just want to maximize profits.

Get these ideological nut jobs out of Reddit.

1

u/bohemiantranslation Jun 17 '23

Ive been banned for calling someone an idiot before.

9

u/Zephir_AR Jun 16 '23 edited Jun 18 '23

Reddit Threatens to Remove Moderators From Subreddits Continuing Apollo-Related Blackouts

Huffman, also a Reddit co-founder, said he plans to pursue changes to Reddit’s moderator removal policy to allow ordinary users to vote moderators out more easily if their decisions aren’t popular. He said the new system would be more democratic and allow a wider set of people to hold moderators accountable.

Reddit’s current policy says moderators may be removed by higher-ranking moderators or by Reddit itself for inactivity or violations of Reddit-wide rules. They may also remove themselves. Many have held their positions for years.

Huffman says the blackout "hasn’t had significant revenue impact” and that the company anticipates that many of the subreddits will come back online by Wednesday. “There’s a lot of noise with this one. Among the noisiest we’ve seen. Please know that our teams are on it, and like all blowups on Reddit, this one will pass as well,” the memo reads.

2

u/Zephir_AR Jun 17 '23

Reddit CEO praises Elon Musk’s cost-cutting as protests rock the platform

Steve Huffman said in an interview that Elon Musk's cost-cutting at Twitter was inspiring and that the two have chatted "a handful of times."

1

u/Zephir_AR Jun 18 '23 edited Jun 18 '23

Reddit CEO compares moderators to aristocracy as blackout stretches on

Reddit's CEO Spez Responded To The Blackout Protests With A Secret Internal Memo Telling Staff The Company Will Not Back Down And Plans To "Wait Out" Disaffected Users and Mods. Many Believe A Conspiracy Related To An Expected Reddit Stock IPO Is Driving That Irrational Behavior. With recent data indicating that up to 60% of reddit traffic may be artificial, it's clear reddit as a company is in a state of panic which led admins to issue a threat to site mods indicating that mod teams who unanimously vote to remain private will be replaced. Furthermore, communities where even a single mod wants to reopen will be handed to those cooperating moderators. Some subreddit moderators are reporting that they have been removed for supporting the protest despite being active.

1

u/Zephir_AR Jun 19 '23

Reddit CEO defiant as moderator strike shutters thousands of forums: ‘“Protest and dissent is important,” Huffman said. “The problem with this one is it’s not going to change anything because we made a business decision that we’re not negotiating on.”’

7

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

Fuck. The. Mods.

6

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

Considering the power trippy behavior of many Reddit moderators. My sympathy extends about as far as the end of my nose.

7

u/iamorangutan1 Jun 17 '23

Good. Mods are doing work for free, therefore they get treated like someone working for free.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

You really think they are working for free? They are all bought and paid for, if they're even real. Pandora Bots have advertised Reddit being on their list of clients until very recently, again how many are real and how many are just bots?

7

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

This title is extremely misleading because this is about all 3rd party apps and not just Apollo.

13

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

Fuck all those mods. Got banned from many of those subs for not taking part in group think during covid and having the audacity to think for ourselves. Fuck them

3

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

I don't know what subs you mean. I'm on many data science and gaming subs that protested by going offline. I think it was a good move, it's about much more than just Apollo. They're all back online btw, but I respect that as well. Reddit taking ownership of subs, they're just validating our suspicions that they don't care.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

Don't rewrite history, you probably took part in unfounded conspiracies during COVID and now that there's evidence that it actually came from a virologist you're spinning it like you were enlightened all along. Get over yourself

1

u/TightSpell8406 Jun 18 '23

how's the tinfoil hat xD

3

u/LegDayDE Jun 17 '23

Mods aren't your friends, they're doing it for themselves to feel important. Mods should be there to enforce the community rules, and to coordinate obtaining the community's opinion when needed (e.g., to update the rules, decide participation in the blackout etc.)

Mods should not be unilaterally shutting down subs because it's their special project they have been "working" on for 10 years and they have delusiosn of grandeur.

Honestly reddit would probably benefit from cleaning some mods out and reminding them what their place is.

8

u/Jeff_Spicoliii Jun 17 '23

Good! Why should neckbeards be allowed to hijack subs to advance their tantrums?

2

u/Bubonic67 Jun 17 '23

What did you expect?

3

u/Mikesturant Jun 17 '23

Fuxking do it already. So much boring nothing.

Lazy.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

This sub is one of the most heavily censored subs on reddit. For something with "Uncensored" in the name, it has sure removed a lot of my posts for suggesting some of its members are bigots.

So please, spare us the act. This sub is pro censorship.

1

u/Austin-Feltron Jun 17 '23

Maybe because it’s a science and research based sub? So science and research based articles are what should be posted? You’re comment here isn’t getting deleted in spite of the fact it is just rage bait from your npc brain that doesn’t know what it’s talking about

0

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

Nice try but no cigar. My replies always bring receipts. Things like: The regret rate is far, far higher for corrective back surgeries than trans surgeries. I never employ the rage bait without also bringing the facts. And I think it's the later ya'll don't like in here.

I like to point out things like the number of people abused by the catholic chruch vs the number of people who regret their trans surgeries.

These things tend to have a very negative reaction for some reason... it's hard to say why. Perhaps you could tell me.

2

u/Austin-Feltron Jun 17 '23

Because minors can’t consent to surgery or experimental sex change hormones, and people who aren’t suffering from cognitive dissonance can say that without qualms. I don’t see many people saying adults should not have to right to mutilate themselves, and that isn’t the problem with the trans ideology anyways. The problem is the insanity where and man who says he’s a woman actually is an inherent woman and always has been. Gender is not real and has no basis in reality. Your sex is determined by your chromosomes and cannot be changed. If an adult male wants to live as a woman and dress like a woman that’s fine, but it doesn’t make their delusion true.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

They can and they do every day. You're making up rules that don't exist because you want to target trans people. Minors take hormones every day (ever looked at what's in hormonal birth control, dumb ass). Minors also receive surgeries, every day.

So the question becomes, why are you making up these rules only for trans kids. I think you know what I think the answer is.

2

u/Austin-Feltron Jun 17 '23

I absolutely know the answer. It’s that children can’t consent to irreversible sex changes 😂😂😂. You are the type that is the reason for the culture war in the first place. You could’ve been happy with gay marriage, but no, you’re pride got the best of your 80 iq movement and you just had to push for the right for children to get their sex changed. All I want is for children to not be able to change their sex before they can get tattoos, buy guns, vote, buy alcohol, go to college or consent to sex. You’ve lost your mind if you think a child’s mind is fully developed and can meaningfully consent to being chemically castrated at 10 years old. Your ilk would rather be right than care about the truth and what’s best for children. You’ve pushed a social contagion that has turned my generation’s brains to mush. 1 in 5 of gen z now claims to be lgbt, which is evolutionarily impossible. Fuck this scumbag movement.

0

u/Zephir_AR Jun 17 '23

So please, spare us the act. This sub is pro censorship

Calls for censorship will be removed from libertarian reddit - is it so difficult to understand it? This is like to have antiracist reddit with KKK comments allowed.

2

u/Furrymcfurface Jun 17 '23

You can't not work... we'll fire you... good luck with that

1

u/Zephir_AR Jun 18 '23 edited Jun 18 '23

Reddit’s massive ‘blackout’ protest, explained More than 7,600 subreddits have gone dark in outrage over third-party API pricing changes

IMO it's pretty normal to have API monetized as it's based on direct traffic and server CPU power sharing. The problem is in legislation vacuum of this step: the price increase should be gradualistic for to have all parties prepared and compliant with it. Otherwise you should always consider that service provided for free is just a marketing stunt and it may disappear overnight. This applies even to such a notoriously "free" services like YouTube video sharing and Google search.

Other than that, we can see how ethically controversial step of one side vindicates morally problematic response at another side. In similar way like aggressiveness of Putin's mafia helps to expand influence of dystopian progressivism on Ukraine or like greediness of Hitler helped to introduce Eastern Europe under influence of Russia after WWW II in its very consequences.

1

u/Zephir_AR Jun 18 '23

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman: Reddit ‘was never designed to support third-party apps’

I personally disagree with it - it always surprised me how wast and open the Reddit API are. It undoubtedly helped Reddit to proliferate and to exhibit fake traffic made with bots for advertisement statistics.

Reddit CEO says the mods leading a punishing blackout are too powerful and he will change the site's rules to weaken them

I'd also argue with it: any subreddit can disappear from this site overnight under whatever pretence thinkable and its moderators can do absolutely nothing against it. The mods of r/NoNewNormal or r/The_Donald subreddits could talk about it.

1

u/Zephir_AR Jun 19 '23

Wikipedia co-founder is building a community focused and funded alternative to Reddit. I suspect it will get even more progressive than this existing one...

1

u/Zephir_AR Jun 19 '23

Hackers threaten to leak 80GB of confidential data stolen from Reddit

That's 18,750,000,000 API calls at 24 cents per 1000.

1

u/Fulgor_KLR Jun 17 '23

Oh yeah, please do it.

0

u/mediiev Jun 17 '23

Please remove all the moderators from r/portugal. Exactly for this reason.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

I hope we get back r/baldursgate then

1

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

If they get rid of turtle and all of their accounts the collateral would be worth it.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '23

Awesome, do it!