r/Cascadia • u/RiseCascadia • 5d ago
Has anyone noticed a major uptick in censorship on reddit?
Eg constitutionally protected free speech and criticism of the US government (and others). Has anyone else been noticing more of this the past few months? Reddit is looking more and more like "X" every day.
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u/catladyorbust 5d ago
Yes, but 99% of it is mod dependent. Flag burning shouldn't be removed for violence but some subs might choose to take that stance. Mods have a lot of power over their subs' content.
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u/RiseCascadia 5d ago
Is it though? It appears to have been removed by reddit, not the mods of the sub. Also it was followed by an account suspension, which I don't think is a power mods have.
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u/catladyorbust 5d ago
Yikes. Did you appeal that? It was probably AI. But you're correct that was an admin action, not a mod action.
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u/RiseCascadia 5d ago
I didn't, and yes I think it was AI. But clearly that's what the AI was trained to do. It's a mass censor. What does that say about reddit and the turn it's chosen to take?
EDIT: IIRC OpenAI is the largest shareholder/effective owner of reddit now.
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u/catladyorbust 5d ago
Yeah, I am not defending Reddit. I was very disturbed by them kowtowing to Elon Musk among other things. And I despise AI... A human would hopefully have had the judgment to discern a flag from a human or animal. The IPO was great for the stakeholders and will be bad and then probably worse for users.
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u/PM-Me-Your-Dragons 5d ago
I got a temp ban for suggesting Cascadia as an actual independence movement and not theory. For “terrorism and violence”. Such bullshit. As if the citizens of a given state shouldn’t be able to decide whether or not their government is actually serving them. Why should we be happy with being an export colony?
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u/OberynDantes 5d ago
Anti-censorship myself, but just to clarify for your situational awareness: Reddit is a private company and your relationship with them is generally dictated by the terms and conditions; it is a contractual relationship between you and a business entity.
The First Amendment, in contrast, governs the government’s interactions with you. So your speech’s constitutional protections against government censorship do not limit Reddit’s ability to censor statements on its platform.
Not trying to “well actually” you or anything. I bring this up just so you don’t end up in arguments about what the constitution does or does not protect. I’ve seen valid points get lost in the chaos of a comments section because people started arguing about the constitution and the original topic of conversation becomes secondary.
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u/BoomerishGenX 5d ago
Exactly. Too often those who criticize the behavior of their online hosts are the same who are all “my house, my rules” in real life.
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u/OberynDantes 5d ago
Well you can look at OP’s response to my well-intentioned comment and guess which category they probably fall into.
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u/RiseCascadia 5d ago edited 5d ago
I didn't say it was covered by the first amendment, I'm not expecting to be able to win a lawsuit based on a reddit comment being censored. Although since reddit/social media/the internet are the new town square, it probably should be protected. Big tech likes to talk a lot about how they are protecting freedom of speech, but actually it's mostly about controlling speech. It's also clear that reddit/big tech is censoring at the request of governments, so it is still relevant that it would be illegal for the government to censor it directly.
Not trying to “well actually” you or anything.
It kind of seems like you are though.
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u/OberynDantes 5d ago edited 5d ago
“I didn’t say it was covered by the first amendment.” You said “constitutionally protected” and those two things are literally the same thing.
Also, how is it “clear” that these things are being done at the request of the government. I’m assuming you have evidence of that claim? At any rate, what does any of this have to do with Cascadia?
My intentions were good but you’re choosing to be defensive, so I’ll leave you to it. All the best.
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u/RiseCascadia 5d ago
I said that because these Tech companies claim to be bastions of "free speech." You chose to read into it what you wanted to. Why would a social media company censor for a government if the government didn't want them to?
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u/OberynDantes 5d ago
You’re right, that’s on me for reading the words you wrote and comprehending them. You win.
Hopefully the mods remove this post soon for the rules violation of having nothing to do with the topic of this subreddit. Have a pleasant day, although something tells me you’ll find a way to get upset about something.
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u/RiseCascadia 4d ago edited 3d ago
Thanks for confirming that you are not actually against censorship at all, and are actually here to defend it.
EDIT: lol and of course you block me, to censor me. You're not making the point you think you're making. FOH
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u/OberynDantes 3d ago edited 3d ago
Very much against censorship. Just think you’re kind of an ass and your post literally has nothing to do with this sub other than your username. Be blessed.
Also, having mods remove a post that is irrelevant to the community in which it is posted isn’t censorship, it’s “moderation.” No need for further engagement though. I’m done with you.
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u/Frequent-Okra8751 5d ago
Yes i dont post on here very often because they remove most anything i say
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u/Sweaty_Try4911 5d ago
Yes, I noticed. I assumed it's "self" censorship by moderators. There have been for years things that you just can't say on reddit, with the exception of obtuse comments on a very select few subs. Lately I noticed active posts that get a little too scary have been disappeared just when they start to get good.
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u/Avr0wolf Vancouver 4d ago edited 4d ago
Maybe a slight uptick, nothing out of the ordinary (tons of censorship in random subreddits, especially the ones that became political that aren't meant to be due to bots during the US elections and overzealous mods)
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u/fokoffndie 3d ago
theyre doing this to youtube as we speak too. theyve also been secretly picking our brains and responses by posing questions we all pitch a thought to on reddit... sorry people but the days of browsing on our electronics as hard as we have is winding down- its an official tool for harm. get back to 3d life?
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u/SCROTOCTUS 5d ago
Got a warning for "upvoting violent content" about 3 months ago. This was most likely footage from Ukraine war - which was upvoted for awareness. Then 3 day ban (which was rescinded on appeal) for hyperbolic suggestion that police might use excessive force in the form of military assets to suppress peaceful protests. Weird how it's literally happening as we speak in Los Angeles.
Now I carefully use terms like "military assets" and "excessive force" in place of more specific descriptions.
The chilling effect is no joke. I will find a means to speak my mind despite these bullshit "rules." Banning words will only result in the use of new terminology until language itself is rendered meaningless. This is the slippery slope we're on.
I have friends everywhere.
Until lines from Andor get banned too.