I lurked Reddit for a long time before creating an account which is now over 6 years old. I was a ‘Top Contributor’ and in the rewards program. 89k karma, never promoted violence or targeted any group, but I got a 7-day ban which was followed up hours later with a permanent ban. This is because of a comment criticizing Senator Radcliffe, trump, and Musk. The comment included profanity, (I called them hypocrites and cunts), but it wasn’t directed at any user or marginalized group. Just harsh political commentary.
Reddit initially issued a 7-day ban, which I appealed. That appeal was approved, the comment was restored, and they admitted it didn’t violate the rules. But the permanent ban still stands, and my follow-up appeals on that have been ignored. No explanation. No transparency. Just gone.
It’s made me realize how fragile “free speech” is on platforms like Reddit. You can insult regular users and get away with it, say horrendously racist, misogynistic, and homophobic things, but speak too plainly about powerful people and suddenly you’re promoting “hate.”
I combed through the Reddit rules, and nothing I have ever commented or posted violates them.
That’s the reason I’m here on Lemmy now. I’m trying to read more, scroll less, and engage with platforms that aren’t actively censoring political dissent. Who else is in the same boat? Is there anything that can be done to hold Reddit accountable or make people aware of they way they are censoring speech? This is my first Lemmy post. I marked it NSFW because of the profanity.
I was perma-banned because I made a joke about chucking a rock through the windshield of a literal, out-and-proud-capital-N Nazi.
Didn’t make any appeals because it was time to leave. I spent waaaay too much time on that stupid site and now I’m starting to finally feel free of the outrage/affirmation addiction.
Same on that last sentiment, dude. The difference in my own temperament has been surprisingly noteworthy since leaving. It took being banned for me to realize how emotionally dependant I had bec9me on their algorithm.
I’m still pissed about why I was banned, but I am ultimately glad to have left. The bump in my productivity has also been noteworthy. My home hasn’t been this clean in a long while lol
Things have gotten pretty weird in the last few months. I got a warning and a deleted comment several months ago because there was a debate in some random Colorado sub on what to do about a person living downtown who kept putting a swastika in their apartment window. They lived above a popular local business and it was causing issues. I said something about using a slingshot to solve the problem. I hear you on the time spent on there. After deleting the app from my phone, it really hit home just how much I was compulsively checking it throughout the day.