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Tell HN: Reddit accounts cancellation/suspension caused by VPN usage

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Re: Tell HN: Reddit accounts cancellation/suspension caused by VPN usage

#111

Post by Fnoord »

krono wrote: post #87
segfaultbuserr wrote: post #39

It's how the Reddit spam filter works. Once your account is flagged as spam by the system, it would be global shadowbanned automacially. At this stage, your account is essentially finished, it's basically impossible to talk to someone and get your account unblocked. Eventually the account would be deleted, all the post you've ever made would also be gone in the worst-case scenario, just like my previous account. My R…

Shadow banning is such a disgusting practice. It's basically sweeping the "problem" under the rug, whilst leaving the "problem" completely in the dark with regards to what it was they did wrong. It's lazy, it's abusive, and it should be illegal. Edit: to clarify, I'm totally fine with this tool being employed to combat spam(bots). Just not against normal posters/contributors.

Its a great tool to combat nefarious personae (both bots and humans). Its like a tarpit for smtpd/sshd (spamd on OpenBSD). Reddit is a free service to use, so it stands within reason their support dept. (which you'd contact concerning (shadow)bans) is sub-par. For paid subscribers, I would want my money (and time) back.

Re: Tell HN: Reddit accounts cancellation/suspension caused by VPN usage

#112

Post by bigodbiel »

invalidusernam3 wrote: post #51
dzhiurgis wrote: post #45

People shit on facebook but honestly how reddit is still pushing that redesign is unfathomable.

If it wasn't for the Apollo reddit client I would have stopped using reddit a long time ago. I used to use it mostly in the browser on my laptop/desktop, but it has become unusable even when using old.reddit.com (and plugins to force old.reddit.com). I now only use it as an app on my phone which has ruined a lot of the conversation because it's far more cumbersome to type on mobile, as well as stuff like switching be…

I’ve been using old.reddit and RES and the UX, at least, has been consistent.

Re: Tell HN: Reddit accounts cancellation/suspension caused by VPN usage

#113

Post by Fnoord »

danuker wrote: post #69
waffle_maniac wrote: post #64

Reddit bans users for complaining about mods. Deleting my accounts and not looking back. Twitter is more free and people are generally less offended by criticism.

Twitter banned an ex-president. I don't think it's any more free. Use https://notabug.io/

> Twitter banned an ex-president.

For a good reason. I support bans if they're reasonable. Banning VPNs instead of accounts abusing a VPN is unreasonable.

Re: Tell HN: Reddit accounts cancellation/suspension caused by VPN usage

#114

Post by Fnoord »

tootahe45 wrote: post #28

It can be even worse than suspending you, as early as 2018 i noticed they were shadow banning you based on VPN (PIA also). Meaning you could still post but not be seen, or have the ability to notify people you replied to. I've never since bothered to have an account there. Reddit's CEO, like Jack Dorsey, denies 'shadow banning', even though you can test it by getting -100 karma and watching your comments reach nobody…

> Reddit's CEO, like Jack Dorsey, denies 'shadow banning', even though you can test it by getting -100 karma and watching your comments reach nobody

Jack Dorsey was the CEO of Twitter, not Reddit.

Edit: Fair, I stand corrected. Leaving comment as-is.

Re: Tell HN: Reddit accounts cancellation/suspension caused by VPN usage

#115

Post by macinjosh »

andybak wrote: post #97
krono wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shadow banning is such a disgusting practice. It's basically sweeping the "problem" under the rug, whilst leaving the "problem" completely in the dark with regards to what it was they did wrong. It's lazy, it's abusive, and it should be illegal. Edit: to clarify, I'm totally fine with this tool being employed to combat spam(bots). Just not against normal posters/contributors.

I think dang might disagree with you there. Also "illegal" is a little over the top. Are we talking misdemeanor or felony, here?

Who cares what dang thinks. He’s petty like the Reddit mods are.

Re: Tell HN: Reddit accounts cancellation/suspension caused by VPN usage

#116

Post by rvba »

vero2 wrote: post #67
waffle_maniac wrote: post #64

Reddit bans users for complaining about mods. Deleting my accounts and not looking back. Twitter is more free and people are generally less offended by criticism.

This did happen to me once. I did once comment that code of one of mods was fact wrong (code snippet). The mod warned me about banning me from the sub. I just requested please see the code and you did type it incorrectly. Next day ban...

Arent you confusing mods with reddit admins?

Admins are employees of reddit who can ban you globaly from the whole website.

Mods are "random" people who created a subreddit or happen to moderate it. They are unpaid volunteers and can only ban you from the subreddit they moderate.

There is lots of drama about people trading mod spots (there is that person/group of persons who modereated like 250 subreddits), hacking someone to become head mod - and then using a sub to push agenda, or straight out selling mod spots. You can earn a suprising big amount of money if you mod certain subreddits (e.g. related to cryptocurrencies or news).

Reddit admins seem to not care at all who mods ban. Some time ago they introduced a process to remove mods who dont moderate a sub at all (remove illegal/against TOS conent) but that's that. If you are a mod you are a king of a sub, only other mod (of same subreddit, who was there ealier) can remove you. In theory admins could but they dont care, unless they have bad press.

That's why there are many "splinter" subreddits with similar names.

Re: Tell HN: Reddit accounts cancellation/suspension caused by VPN usage

#117

Post by Loeffelmann »

bryans wrote: post #73

Both Reddit's admins and their future-employee mods are completely out of control, in a way that makes Facebook's intentional topic manipulation seem tame by comparison. These people go out of their way to ban people for no reason -- constantly, every single day -- in a way that can only be described as intentionally abusive. They appear to get some kind of sadistic pleasure in reading ban appeals and denying them, k…

I got banned for harassment because I said that something was kind of gay.

Re: Tell HN: Reddit accounts cancellation/suspension caused by VPN usage

#118

Post by cainxinth »

archerx wrote: post #107
bryans wrote: post #73

Both Reddit's admins and their future-employee mods are completely out of control, in a way that makes Facebook's intentional topic manipulation seem tame by comparison. These people go out of their way to ban people for no reason -- constantly, every single day -- in a way that can only be described as intentionally abusive. They appear to get some kind of sadistic pleasure in reading ban appeals and denying them, k…

This is very true and it is already having an effect. The amount of posts in the development sub reddit has declined so much it is borderline dead. For example the front page of r/javascript is mostly days old posts which means I can visit it once a week and not really miss anything and it has 1,873,376 subscribers! It seems people have recognized that the post quality was garbage and moved on to greener pastures. It…

I’ve been using Reddit since the beginning, and I still use and like it, but your ban for saying “using php is stupid” comment resonates. One of my biggest Reddit pet peeves is downvoting or punitive mod action in response to subjective opinions.

It’s not a new problem, and it’s one that can happen in any forum with downvoting, but it drives me nuts. The downvote is not a disagree button!

Re: Tell HN: Reddit accounts cancellation/suspension caused by VPN usage

#119

Post by Loeffelmann »

core-utility wrote: post #75
bryans wrote: post #73

Both Reddit's admins and their future-employee mods are completely out of control, in a way that makes Facebook's intentional topic manipulation seem tame by comparison. These people go out of their way to ban people for no reason -- constantly, every single day -- in a way that can only be described as intentionally abusive. They appear to get some kind of sadistic pleasure in reading ban appeals and denying them, k…

I'm utterly amazed at how ban-wild some communities can be. I occasionally see stories of people being banned from communities they've never posted to (reading/lurking only) simply because they also subscribe to another community that is "opposite" of the first. Take /r/novavax_vaccine_talk for example. There was recently a member [1] there who was banned from /r/coronavirus simply for being a member. These people ar…

I got banned from countless subreddits becuase I dared arguing with covide deniers on r/NoNewNormal. I didn't even agree with them and was always critical but that apperently doesn't matter

Re: Tell HN: Reddit accounts cancellation/suspension caused by VPN usage

#120

Post by qzx_pierri »

If you think Facebook is bad, just go to the reddit comment section on any post on ANY sub to see massive amounts of groupthink and suppression of any opposing ideas via downvotes.

Forming any attachment to a Reddit account is useless because the post/comment you make will be either suppressed or accepted based on the popular opinion that exists within the subreddit to which you are posting.

The issues outlined in this thread are exactly why I wipe my comment history every 2-3 months, export my subscriptions, delete my account, create new account & re-import my subscriptions.

It’s tough though because people will call you a shill if you have a new account. But then again, people will claim you sold your account to a viral marketing company if you have an older account. It’s messy all around.

Just wait until reddit acquires a ubiquitous hold on popular culture once Instagram finally dies off in 5-7 years. The problems discussed in this thread will amplify exponentially.

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