On r/RedditSafety, Reddit admin “worstnerd” posts:

Warning users that upvote violent content

Today we are rolling out a new (sort of) enforcement action across the site. Historically, the only person actioned for posting violating content was the user who posted the content. The Reddit ecosystem relies on engaged users to downvote bad content and report potentially violative content. This not only minimizes the distribution of the bad content, but it also ensures that the bad content is more likely to be removed. On the other hand, upvoting bad or violating content interferes with this system.

So, starting today, users who, within a certain timeframe, upvote several pieces of content banned for violating our policies will begin to receive a warning. We have done this in the past for quarantined communities and found that it did help to reduce exposure to bad content, so we are experimenting with this sitewide. This will begin with users who are upvoting violent content, but we may consider expanding this in the future. In addition, while this is currently “warn only,” we will consider adding additional actions down the road.

We know that the culture of a community is not just what gets posted, but what is engaged with. Voting comes with responsibility. This will have no impact on the vast majority of users as most already downvote or report abusive content. It is everyone’s collective responsibility to ensure that our ecosystem is healthy and that there is no tolerance for abuse on the site.

Some users see this as a reaction to the recent controversy surrounding Luigi Mangione and the fatal shooting of the UnitedHeathCare CEO. There are concerns that this new system (which mods are speculating to be AI-driven) has potential for abuse and censorship, especially given the current vagueness of what is considered a “violent” comment or post.

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Reactions on RedditSafety:

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On PublicFreakout, the sub’s moderator shares the admin’s message with the note:

“Mind how you are voting because Reddit is about to start spanking folks for votes”

At least some users are already receiving warnings:

The PublicFreakout moderator pledges to stand by their users, at least in the case of one frequently reposted video of a Nazi getting punched…

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In r / cincinnati :

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Several anti Elon Musk subreddits apparently connect this with the recent Reddit drama involving Musk that got WhitePeopleTwitter banned:

Elon gave reddit some attention, now they’re changing policies so he doesn’t put them on blast again.

Your new president turned his gaze on reddit, now they’re changing policies to escape his wrath

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Full list of other subreddits that have shared the admin’s post

  • Vopyr@lemmy.world
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    7 小时前

    Ban violent content? nah. Ban people that upvote this content? YES! Also, what “violent” content even means?

  • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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    7 天前

    Does this take into account edits? What if someone edited in violent content after it was voted?

    [Admin] Great callout, we will make sure to check for this before warnings are sent.

    Gods, that shithole is run by fucking clowns.

  • Octagon9561@lemmy.ml
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    7 天前

    Boycott any and all cooperate Amerikkkan social media and platform that follow fascist US laws.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      6 天前

      I’m a regular Lemmy hater. And I’ll happily list off all the obvious habits (and even entire communities) that Lemmy has inherited from the R-word site.

      But I’ll say this much in Lemmy’s favor. It’s not Voat. It’s not 8chan. It’s not Rumble.

      The liberals and leftists that decamped Spez’s Omalas for something better do seem genuinely interested in pursuing it. They’re not turning this iteration of social media into some cesspool of scams, snuff films, and child porn.

      You’d think that would be an easy bar to clear, but this community has done it while so many others haven’t.

      • HasturInYellow@lemmy.world
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        6 天前

        I am very happy with my time on Lemmy. A couple weird people to avoid, just like normal life. Feels like a free place to express yourself, but not be an asshole. That’s all I want from my internet.

    • Chip_Rat@lemmy.world
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      5 天前

      I was thinking… I know there’s a script that can overwrite all your past posts, usually as a privacy thing or just a “fuck you” wipe to reddit for monitizing your years of input…

      I didn’t do that when I left during the non-sence almost 2 years ago because I felt bad destroying that knowledge I left, but sometimes that’s how things have to be…

      Wouldn’t it be nice to wipe your entire 9 years of reddit posts with something fairly mundane but that would hit the threshold for this bullshit new rule?

      I’m taking submissions at this time.

      • UraniumForBreakfast@lemm.ee
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        5 天前

        I’ve been pushing off coming to Lemmy for a while.

        I, personally, am not even going to entertain giving anymore traffic to Reddit even to edit my previous posts.

  • SunkenQueen@lemmy.ca
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    7 天前

    I’m not banned yet but I’m expecting it soon.

    I’m Canadian so it’s coming for sure. Especially because I can’t stay away from telling /r/conservative how stupid they are

      • eccodolphin@lemmy.world
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        6 天前

        When I did that last year before their API change, they restored all of my comments, but just didn’t put them back in the comments section of my profile. I only knew when I ran across a comment with my previous reddit handle by accident, one that had been deleted. They know what users are trying to do, so won’t let it get in the way of profits.

  • NotLemming@lemm.ee
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    7 天前

    At least 2 popular subreddits I know of are controlled by Russian trolls spreading misinformation, I’m sure there are more. They’ve even offered to pay off subreddit owners/mods in order to get control.

    If you have any issue with mods, admins are not interested. I haven’t used reddit for years due to these things. If the mods are no good for any reason, there’s no recourse.

    • Ledericas@lemm.ee
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      7 天前

      i kinda know which ones, conservative and conspiracy are well known to be in control of russian trolls.

      • NotLemming@lemm.ee
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        6 天前

        Not only. Any place they see an opening for their propaganda, but yeah it tends to be the conspiracy theorists or adjacent

  • Kyrgizion@lemmy.world
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    7 天前

    Upvoting/downvoting history is a goldmine in terms of both marketing and surveillance. Every user with over a year of organic activity is a goldmine. Maybe you’ve never ever posted a single controversial opinion online. But you might have upvoted someone else’s - BAM, on a list. Or rather, category I assume. Those innocuous clicks reveal a lot more about you than you think. That information WILL be used against you. If you’re lucky, only to try and sell you shit you don’t need. If unlucky…

    • arotrios@lemmy.worldOP
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      7 天前

      …you just gave this guy an upvote, and when @Kyrgizion and I head off to the gulag, you’ll be next on the list.

      EDIT: wait, forgot we were on lemmy. We’ve got some breathing room until Trump invades the EU.

    • Yawweee877h444@lemmy.world
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      7 天前

      Yeah, to think that the CIA or other gov agencies don’t have all this info would be naive. Snowden showed us some of the extent of private info gathering.

      It’s not certain, and there’s also the work and energy to analyze this huge amount of data, but we should cautiously assume they have everything.

      And with advancements in AI it will become increasingly easier to parse the data.

      Very dystopian.

    • jaybone@lemmy.world
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      7 天前

      Can’t Lemmy instances access this data as well for upvotes/downvotes? Instsnces dint display it by default, but couldn’t a government actor set up an instance and then collect all of this data?

    • krashmo@lemmy.world
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      7 天前

      I’m not worried about someone showing up at my door over upvoting posts on the internet. We all just need to decide that if they start doing that we shoot them in the face on the porch. Sooner or later guys will stop showing up. There’s way more of us than there are of them and that’s the realization they want to suppress more than anything. Don’t let the ones who really should be afraid make you afraid.

    • adm@lemm.ee
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      7 天前

      Thats why I’m so pissed that fb locked me out of my account. I wanted it gone but was floundering for family. I’m a little pissed they have my new email tbh

  • zephorah@lemm.ee
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    7 天前

    Is this being rolled out for Luigi? This feels like it’s being rolled out for Luigi.

    • arotrios@lemmy.worldOP
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      7 天前

      Luigi represents the biggest possible threat to the established order. You can win a war, crush a revolution, and even enslave a people, but it doesn’t change the basic math:

      A lone gunman can be just as powerful as any CEO, politician, or king in the right moment.

      That’s the real message that they’re trying to suppress, because they know he’s going to have copycats as they tighten the noose on the working class.

      • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
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        7 天前

        Anti Luigi content suppression is first time where Americans as body of people finally realized how controlled ALL media is …

        Shit even fedi very mods were suppressing it while blaming server owners for it which turned out to be a fat lie…

        • Ledericas@lemm.ee
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          7 天前

          i was pointing out like 2 times reddit was quickly trying to bury luigi content with trump news both early on december and januarary.

  • henfredemars@infosec.pub
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    7 天前

    Reddit wants you to cut back on using their platform. I highly recommend alternatives. I, however, might be biased.