this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2023

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Can Reddits switch subs from private to public? (lemmyunchained.net)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

37 comments fedilink hide all child comments

With the new Reddit policies, when a sub protests and goes private, could re-edit just step in, oust a moderator and switch it back to public?

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[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

According to the screenshots in the sticky on r/music, they have created a new Admin account under an anonymous name and are messaging mod teams telling them to get back to work. And they removed mod permissions from a mod there (but they’ve been restored now).

That’s why a lot of subs are continuing the protest in other ways. r/pics, r/gifs, r/art have all had polls with the subs and are now currently John Oliver only subs, r/aww is probably about to follow them. r/steam now posts literal steam and steam engines, r/wellthatsucks is posting vacuum cleaners, others like r/interestingasfuck as said they are changing rules to be pretty much anything anyone wants to post as long as the poster thinks it’s interesting as fuck, iOS is similar, they’re removing all rules and anyone can post anything as long as it has something to do with iOS, etc.

I can appreciate the chaos this is devolving into.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Here is the link to the thread, on internet archive because fuck spez

https://web.archive.org/web/20230618012147/https://old.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/14c5kyw/update_bizarre_popup_admin_account_demands/

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

its hilarious, i love it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They have gone the anarchy route

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Holy Hell!!!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

So r/iOS became r/AnarchyiOS

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Yes. They have already done this to r/adviceanimals and threatened to do it to r/pics. They will be doing it to any subs that don't go back to public. It is time to leave reddit permanently.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

when did they do it to adviceanimals?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

A few days ago. It was posted about on a few Lemmy communities.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

i read here it was one mod who was removed, and made the decision without consultation of any other mods.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (2 children)

they can and they have (they’ve also threatened subreddits into reopening, so r/pics is now only allowing sexy John Oliver pics) – but it will take a while to manifest just how bad an idea this is

the problem is one of scale, something like 8800+ subreddits, several thousand moderators, but only a couple hundred admins (less now that Reddit is doing layoffs à la Twitter) – admins will be forced to moderate several hundred subreddits each without third party moderation tools, without any understanding of each subreddit, and (in many cases) facing an actively hostile community at this point …

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago

facing an actively hostile community

More like facing a maliciously compliant community, amirite?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

any genuine evidence that they did threaten r/pics?

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Pretty sure they have absolute control over their website.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@someguy3 They have control over the website, but it is the mods and community that do all the work (for free).

@LachlanUnchained

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yes, but they can go in and open a sub, remove the mods, and put in new mods.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Yes, Reddit has messaged mod teams and pressured them into reopening. So far I don't think there's a case of them forcing their own mod team in to replace striking mods, but it's absolutely on the table.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

How is being a private sub in breach of their terms?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Seems they're spinning it as "If your sub is private you aren't moderating your community. If you aren't going to be an active mod, you are on grounds for dismissal" which is asinine, but it seems to be the way they're playing it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

ive never made my subs private, so if its private, people cant interact in the background? i just thought it meant whatever was happening behind the door, wasnt visible to the public?

and if thats the case, what, they are arguing, no you need to keep growing the sub, keep working for free to make us money?

seems like they wouldnt want to pay people to moderate every sub.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

private means that only invited people can use the sub. this is allowed per reddit rules. however, the large subs went private not genuinely, but in protest to prevent people from using it. this falls under sub squatting and vandalism meaning a violation of the moderator code of conduct.

Theoretically they could invite some people and use the sub as normal just as a private sub, and they'd follow the rules fine. but that's not what happened.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sonia sun squatting actually referenced in their terms of service?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's under rule 4 "be active and engaged":

Camping or sitting on a community is not encouraged. If a community has been empty or unmoderated for a significant amount of time, we will consider banning or restricting the community. If a user requests a takeover of a community that falls under either category, we will consider granting that request but will, in nearly all cases, attempt to reach out to the moderator team first to discuss their intentions for the community.

source.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A private community is not camped. It is active behind doors.

Is there any communication from Reddit actually saying that’s the basis of taking over subs? Or is it just speculation?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A private community is not camped. It is active behind doors.

Correct, but the protesting subs were not active privately, that's the point. they were shut down. there wasn't activity going on in private.

Is there any communication from Reddit actually saying that’s the basis of taking over subs? Or is it just speculation?

Yes this is what they said in the modmail.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Have you got a link to see it?

The subs I was on were active.

Sounds like a bunch of excuses.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

see this reddit thread. they've been sending threats/warnings like this to mods about removing higher up mods in order to re-open subs.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

it isn't in theory. but admins are saying it violates moderator code of conduct by vandalizing a community (which is against reddit rules). Private subs are allowed, but sub squatting and vandalizing are not. theoretically, they could just invite a few people and have a "low activity sub" but still engage as normal while keeping the sub silent. thus no vandalism occurred, nor squatting, but rather just a change in preference of the community (being more private/exclusive).

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

forcing their own mod team in to replace striking mods

I don't think it's off the table, but I also don't think they'll have the resources to do that for very long at all or with many subs. Remember they are cutting staff, and having mods working for free en-mass is pretty crucial to their business structure.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

True enough, but there are far more people who want to mod than there are subs to mod.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I'm sure that's the case as well. I'm not entirely convinced though that whoever would step into the mod role from the community would be suited to the role (on average).

With the number of eyes Reddit has on it every day I see it as being a huge target for malicious actors (read ad-bots, brigadiers, self-promotion, trolls) and as a sub grows it too can become somewhere those actors can post and comment with impunity; and have. I truly think that modding an even relatively popular sub with good tools is time consuming and mentally exhausting work. Take those tools away and it can become a nightmare in a hurry depending on the nature of the issue.

Whether someone from the community can just step into that role is a big dice-roll. They may be either unwilling or unable to keep the subs content on-topic and reign in bad behavior within he sub. Then again they may be perfectly suited to take up the mantle, only time will tell.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

that would have to be one hell of a mod team

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

reddit admins have full control over their site so yes they could force subs to open.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

They are doing.

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