What it means though is that the people doing the work are often doing it due to power tripping, political axe grinding or outright being paid by other organiza

What it means though is that the people doing the work are often doing it due to power tripping, political axe grinding or outright being paid by other organizations to astroturf their viewpoints. Nothing is actually "free" and reddit isn't getting free moderation, there's a cost to that which shows up in the quality of the moderation. It is sort of similar to the aphorism that if the product is "free" that you are really the product. The moderation (at least on large subreddits) comes at a cost, it just isn't a direct financial cost that reddit pays.