Reddit seems strangely indifferent to Russian disinformation groups.
By Aliide Naylor
Author and Journalist
I open my Reddit inbox to a new message: “You have been permanently banned from participating in r/ABoringDystopia because your comment violates this community’s rules,” it states.
My crime? Pointing out that Russia’s acts of mass rape, torture, and murder against Ukrainians, along with the forcible deportation and re-educating of children, was a funny way for Russia to encourage them to be “neutral” rather than pro-Western. “Your submission has been removed as it appears to be misinformation or misleading” stated a further, public comment from the moderator team.
Russian rape, torture, and murder in Ukraine is of course, extremely well-documented. Meanwhile, a comment in response saying “Ukraine has done this too” has been allowed to remain, as has a further comment claiming that Ukraine and Russia are “as close as you can get” as nations (a Russian propaganda favorite is to describe them as “brotherly”). These comments clearly disseminating actual disinformation remained on the widely-seen post which had 1,300 upvotes.
The board, r/ABoringDystopia, “a subreddit for chronicling how Advanced Capitalist Society is not only dystopic but also incredibly boring”, has 781,000 members and while currently primarily focused on Israel and Gaza, recent posts about Ukraine have titles such as “Ukraine death toll spirals, NATO demands more must be willing to die”.
This is just one of several Reddit communities that have apparently had moderator teams taken over by people pushing a clear anti-Ukraine agenda, with a concurrent, visible spike in pro-Russia propaganda in certain communities in recent months, on what the company calls the “front page of the internet”.
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE AT THE CENTER FOR EUROPEAN POLICY ANALYSIS (CEPA)
About the Author
