cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/35891683
I have changed the original title of this post, as it is imo, thanks largely to discussion in this thread, with a lemmyusa mod, unnecessarily incendiary.
Original Title:
“lemmyusa.com is engaging in vote manipulation, suggest defederating unless it is addressed”
Mod Abuse:
https://lemmy.world/modlog/1432313?page=1&actionType=All
The instance has 3 active subs, it’s unlikely the admins are not also the mods engaging in this.
Banning anyone who downvotes is a clear attempt to foster a chilling effect on dissenting opinions. The mods and admins of this instance are putting their thumb on the scales in order to make their ideas appear more positively received than they actually are.
Thanks for your attention to this.
I realize that doing a cross post here is… unorthodox, and this doesn’t drectly involve my own interactions, and I am technically breaking a number of the rules of this comm…
… but I think this is worth the discussion and consideration of, and potential further investigation from this comm, which essentially functions as a de facto place for discussing things like this.
Further context / info I have been able to gather:
Here is a direct link to their own modlog.
Their dedicated legal page:
Their described ‘sidebar rules’ appear to only be:
We’re keeping it simple:
Be thoughtful, act responsibly, and treat others with respect.
No NSFW content.
Everything else seems to be in the Legal / TOS / Privacy Policy section.
My preliminary, most charitable interpretation of mod/admin activity here… is that they can and will essentially ban anyone who posts on their instance and is not a lemmyusa user, as any other user would not have agreed to their TOS.
???
Further, this instance appears to be hosting an account that is impersonating SatansMaggotyCumFart, a fairly well known, mostly parody/dedicated ‘bit’ account here on lemmy…
The profile description of their version of SMCF claims to be ‘the only real profile!’, and is using a clearly AI generated avatar/profile pic… and uh, to me at least, it seems very unlikely this is the actual SMCF.
UPDATE:
Ok.
After some conversation in this thread, I should add:
There is, and there was at the time this all started, a rule in the comm that much of these downvote bans took place in, which reads:
‘No Serial Downvoting.’
Personally, I find this rather vague.
How many dowmvotes, in what timeframe, across how many comms/comments/posts, etc?
I am also still uncertain to what extent these actually are dedicated, persistent, serial downvoters, vs just a whole lot of randos seeing something on their feed and then downvoting it and moving on.
I get the intent behind trying to stem a mass wave of negativity, nobody likes a wave of mass downvotes and hostile comments…
But on the other hand, there should probably be a bit more clarity and specificity here, less heavy handed actions for less comitted and persistent behavior.
IMO, a balance has to be struck between allowing people to genuienly freely express their opinion via downvoting, but at the same time, there are clearly also cases where people or groups of people basically just downvote all comments or posts from a specific user or in a certain comm or pertaining to a certain topic, etc.
I myself am fairly confident I have managed to attract at least one person who downvotes all my posts/comments on their instance, simply because I am on their shitlist, apparently.
So ideally… we could maybe have a constructive conversation about that.
As to the SatansMaggotyCumFart profile on lemmyusa being an impersonatory account:
We’ve got one mod from lemmyusa here saying he really isn’t sure, and personally blocked him, I think from his own user standpoint, not from the standpoint of himself as a mod.
IMO, the account still strikes me as likely another person, impersonating the actual user… I of course cannot be certain, but the profile still strikes me as very sus.
Finally, I am least personally going to strongly discourage any one reading this from popping in to lemmyusa and going out of your way to downvote every single thing on there simply because it is on that instance.
They are already in more or less lockdown mode, call that a win if you must.
I did not intend nor do I want this very post to act as an attack vector.
UPDATE 2
SatansMaggotyCumFart, the real one, has appeared in this thread and confirmed that the lemmyusa profile is indeed an impersonation, is not them.
Nope. He posts conservative content. I’m a socialist and I post socialist content, write socialist and anarchist articles, and maintain socialist communites and a socialist mastadon account.
So quit saying this. I have nothing to do with OP’s post, nor am I the subject of OP’s post, nor do I have anything to do with the subject of OP’s post.
It wasn’t always the case: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/46576874/19393763
Oh, I still post all political spectrum content to my politics unfiltered community: !politicsunfiltered@sh.itjust.works
But if people imply that posting conservative content makes me a conservative, then posting independent content would make me an independent. Right? Same logic. And I post plenty of independent content.
By that logic, posting Democratic content would make me a Democrat, posting pirate content would make me a pirate, and posting anarchist content would make me an anarchist. Right? And I post plenty of anarchist and pirate content.
So why not tell everyone what content I actually post the most and always have? Hint: it’s socialist content.
And I host Socialist Mastodon and X.com accounts. I volunteer for my local city Socialist office. I’ve even had stuff published in their Socialist newspaper. Hmmm, I guess I have good reason to say I’m a Socialist. My posting history is public for all to see.
Lemmy can stay mad that I didn’t vote for Harris.
I voted Socialist, I’m proud that I voted Socialist, and guess what? Voting Socialist next presidential election too. :)
My brother, @eugenevdebs@lemmy.dbzer0.com , this is a perfect example of why you and I have to stay strong. Lemmy is always going to gang up on us for not voting for the duopoly, not matter what we do. Look how mad they still are that we didn’t bow down. lol
From your comment above
Choose one logic and stick with it. Or just say “I mostly post socialist content, but also post conservative content, which is why some people think I’m conservative”
Posting Breitbart articles such as this one 2 months ago is always going to make some people question your political stance: https://sh.itjust.works/post/42448458
I’m on good terms with @eugenevdebs@lemmy.dbzer0.com , supporting them in previous discussions when other people were trying to paint Eugene in a bad light using bad faith arguments.
I’m not ganging up, I don’t live in the US, I don’t care what you vote. I just rectify incorrect statements such as the one above. I’m not mad either.
I haven’t strayed from my logic at all. I’ve always posted news from all political angles. I’ve never hidden that, and it’s easy to see. You’ll find recent articles I’ve shared from conservative outlets, independent sources, Green Party platforms, and more.
But here’s the key point: the overwhelming majority of my posts, my voter registration, my voting history, and my volunteer work are all Socialist. Plus, and this is what you should respect, I openly identify as a Socialist.
So people labeling me as conservative is simply inaccurate.
I know you’re careful not to outright call me conservative, but whenever I correct someone who does, you’re quick to say, “but you posted this…” and point to conservative articles links that I’ve posted.
What you never mention are the third-party articles I’ve posted. Specifically all the Socialist articles I’ve posted, or the Socialist communities I’ve created and supported. Or the Socialist pieces that I’ve actually written myself. I’ve been published in print in my local Socialist newspaper under my actual “real life” name!
Despite all the nonsense people on Lemmy say about me, and yes I believe you have helped stir some of it by your selective curation of my stuff, I have stayed what I have always been: a proud Socialist.
why dont you just block him or her.
I would if they got too obnoxious. I actually find it more funny and odd than annoying, definitely not worth blocking.
Weird how they are more obsessed with you than you are of them, bringing you up randomly, yet you’re the villain.
It’s not even like the good old days of them accusing me of advocating for third party just to split democrats, or that I’m actually Russian or any of the juicy stuff. Now it’s just anyone they don’t like, MUST be an alt of mine. How boring. wtf?!
It was way more fun when they would stretch their imagination and break down the times I posted to make charts and shit of what part of Russia they thought I lived in. How I was a Russian plant only posting to stay off of the front lines of that war, and how I’d disappear the day after the election, etc. Good times.
Not gonna lie, I kinda miss the wacky shit they used to say about me. LMAO