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> A bad actor mod of a popular subreddit can persist for years, visibly, without people managing either to oust the mod, or to take down the sub's influence. T

> A bad actor mod of a popular subreddit can persist for years, visibly, without people managing either to oust the mod, or to take down the sub's influence. This happens because the regular users have no power. I remember seeing some article that said a small number of mods control most of the popular subreddits. Many of them put their own bias into the system by banning users, banning sources, deleting content based on ideology, shadow banning, etc. The other issue is as these mods linger for a while, they drive away or ban everyone who might disagree with them. So then the “community” ends up not actually disagreeing with the authoritarian mod. Reddit ends up not being resilient because it doesn’t want to be. Everyone else, is gone.

cap11235 1y ago
When the mods of major subs are also mods for over a hundred other subs, you have to doubt how much actual moderating they are actually doing in their holier-than-thou positions.
- genghisjahn 1y ago
  Is there a source for this?
  - SilverElfin 1y ago
    See this Reddit discussion: “The same 5 people moderates 500 of the most popular subreddits” https://www.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/gjl27j/the_same_5_people_moderates_500_of_the_most/ https://www.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/gjl27j/the_... It appears the original post they are discussing was removed. Seems like Reddit banned the original user who collected this data and deleted their posts. Another discussion about this: “Six powermods control 118 of the top 500 subreddits” https://www.reddit.com/r/WatchRedditDie/comments/gkkfg5/updated_and_sanitized_six_powermods_control_118/ https://www.reddit.com/r/WatchRedditDie/comments/gkkfg5/upda...
  - lurk2 1y ago
    I don’t know if you can still see them without an account but even a few years ago this was well-known and you could verify it yourself by looking at the moderator list of almost any default subreddit; we’re talking about less than a few hundred users. There was no limit to how many subreddits you could moderate for most of Reddit’s history so in the early days a few users created as many subreddits as they could. A bunch of these moderators effectively shut down Reddit over changes to the API a couple of years ago. Steve Huffman compared the system to a landed gentry: > “If you’re a politician or a business owner, you are accountable to your constituents. So a politician needs to be elected, and a business owner can be fired by its shareholders,” he said. > “And I think, on Reddit, the analogy is closer to the landed gentry: The people who get there first get to stay there and pass it down to their descendants, and that is not democratic.”
- BurningFrog 1y ago
  Now I want to see a soap opera/reality show about the lives of Reddit Oligarchs!
- xiixiii 1y ago
  It's also why expressing certain views is effectively forbidden across most of the site. These moderators have far too much control over the conversation.
- harvey9 1y ago
  I think Reddit gives them some automation tools so it's not all hands on moderation.
wahnfrieden 1y ago
Ghislaine Maxwell was maybe one of these powerful mods. But it is another contested conspiracy theory. Evidence pasted: The Name “Maxwellhill” The username directly references “Maxwell,” which is not a common surname. Ghislaine Maxwell grew up at Headington Hill Hall, which was nicknamed “Maxwell Hill” after her father, Robert Maxwell, bought it. This isn’t a vague reference it’s oddly specific and personal. It’s like someone using “EpsteinIsland” as a username and claiming it’s just coincidence. Posting Activity Stopped the Day of Her Arrest (actually 2 days before, when she began wrapping her phone in aluminum) u/maxwellhill posted almost every day for 14 years and was one of Reddit’s most active users. Then, with no warning, all posting stopped after June 30, 2020. Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested on July 2, 2020. The timing is exact. This wasn’t a slow fade or gradual disinterest. It looks like someone was physically unable to post. Gaps in Posting Line Up with Real-Life Events There were other suspicious posting gaps during major events in Maxwell’s life. Notably, during her mother’s death in 2013 and during the 2011 Kleiner Perkins party, where she was confirmed to be present by former Reddit CEO Ellen Pao. That party shows Reddit leadership at the time was at least aware of her. Moderator of Massive Subreddits The account was a lead mod of r/worldnews, r/technology, r/politics, r/science, r/europe, r/upliftingnews, r/celebrities, and more. These are major subs that help shape Reddit’s front page and influence global discourse. Whoever had access to this account had immense control. Even after years of inactivity, Reddit auto added the account back as a moderator in 2024. That suggests the system still treats it like an active, important account. The Content Maxwellhill posted repeatedly about age of consent laws, often citing obscure countries. They also posted articles defending the legality of child exploitation material and criticized what they called “overzealous” child protection laws. These aren’t normal discussion points for the average Redditor. It reads like someone obsessed with legal gray areas surrounding child abuse. Auto Deletion and Censorship Mentions of “u/maxwellhill” have been automatically removed from comments in multiple subs. The Daily Dot reported on suspicious deletion behavior tied to the account. Posts about this user “vanished mysteriously,” raising real concerns about censorship. Who or what is protecting the account? No Denial from the Account If u/maxwellhill is just some random power user, where are they? Why haven’t they logged in to say anything? No posts, no comments, no denials. Nothing for five years. After 14 years of near daily activity, complete silence in the face of serious allegations is suspicious on its own. The poster also uses many British expressions in their writing, and listed British foods as their favorite foods in one post. Mods of r/WorldNews which is infamously compromised by paid agents demanded her posts be deleted from other subreddits. The name matches Maxwell’s family estate. The account vanishes the day she’s arrested. It posted about topics deeply aligned with her known behavior. It held mod control over huge parts of Reddit. It still does. And yet it hasn’t said a word in five years. If this isn’t her, it’s someone with eerily similar patterns, priorities, and timing.
weard_beard 1y ago
Dang. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX5ahM24o8A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX5ahM24o8A

cap11235 1y ago

When the mods of major subs are also mods for over a hundred other subs, you have to doubt how much actual moderating they are actually doing in their holier-than-thou positions.

genghisjahn 1y ago
Is there a source for this?
- SilverElfin 1y ago
  See this Reddit discussion: “The same 5 people moderates 500 of the most popular subreddits” https://www.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/gjl27j/the_same_5_people_moderates_500_of_the_most/ https://www.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/gjl27j/the_... It appears the original post they are discussing was removed. Seems like Reddit banned the original user who collected this data and deleted their posts. Another discussion about this: “Six powermods control 118 of the top 500 subreddits” https://www.reddit.com/r/WatchRedditDie/comments/gkkfg5/updated_and_sanitized_six_powermods_control_118/ https://www.reddit.com/r/WatchRedditDie/comments/gkkfg5/upda...
- lurk2 1y ago
  I don’t know if you can still see them without an account but even a few years ago this was well-known and you could verify it yourself by looking at the moderator list of almost any default subreddit; we’re talking about less than a few hundred users. There was no limit to how many subreddits you could moderate for most of Reddit’s history so in the early days a few users created as many subreddits as they could. A bunch of these moderators effectively shut down Reddit over changes to the API a couple of years ago. Steve Huffman compared the system to a landed gentry: > “If you’re a politician or a business owner, you are accountable to your constituents. So a politician needs to be elected, and a business owner can be fired by its shareholders,” he said. > “And I think, on Reddit, the analogy is closer to the landed gentry: The people who get there first get to stay there and pass it down to their descendants, and that is not democratic.”
BurningFrog 1y ago
Now I want to see a soap opera/reality show about the lives of Reddit Oligarchs!
xiixiii 1y ago
It's also why expressing certain views is effectively forbidden across most of the site. These moderators have far too much control over the conversation.
harvey9 1y ago
I think Reddit gives them some automation tools so it's not all hands on moderation.

wahnfrieden 1y ago

Ghislaine Maxwell was maybe one of these powerful mods. But it is another contested conspiracy theory. Evidence pasted: The Name “Maxwellhill” The username directly references “Maxwell,” which is not a common surname. Ghislaine Maxwell grew up at Headington Hill Hall, which was nicknamed “Maxwell Hill” after her father, Robert Maxwell, bought it. This isn’t a vague reference it’s oddly specific and personal. It’s like someone using “EpsteinIsland” as a username and claiming it’s just coincidence. Posting Activity Stopped the Day of Her Arrest (actually 2 days before, when she began wrapping her phone in aluminum) u/maxwellhill posted almost every day for 14 years and was one of Reddit’s most active users. Then, with no warning, all posting stopped after June 30, 2020. Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested on July 2, 2020. The timing is exact. This wasn’t a slow fade or gradual disinterest. It looks like someone was physically unable to post. Gaps in Posting Line Up with Real-Life Events There were other suspicious posting gaps during major events in Maxwell’s life. Notably, during her mother’s death in 2013 and during the 2011 Kleiner Perkins party, where she was confirmed to be present by former Reddit CEO Ellen Pao. That party shows Reddit leadership at the time was at least aware of her. Moderator of Massive Subreddits The account was a lead mod of r/worldnews, r/technology, r/politics, r/science, r/europe, r/upliftingnews, r/celebrities, and more. These are major subs that help shape Reddit’s front page and influence global discourse. Whoever had access to this account had immense control. Even after years of inactivity, Reddit auto added the account back as a moderator in 2024. That suggests the system still treats it like an active, important account. The Content Maxwellhill posted repeatedly about age of consent laws, often citing obscure countries. They also posted articles defending the legality of child exploitation material and criticized what they called “overzealous” child protection laws. These aren’t normal discussion points for the average Redditor. It reads like someone obsessed with legal gray areas surrounding child abuse. Auto Deletion and Censorship Mentions of “u/maxwellhill” have been automatically removed from comments in multiple subs. The Daily Dot reported on suspicious deletion behavior tied to the account. Posts about this user “vanished mysteriously,” raising real concerns about censorship. Who or what is protecting the account? No Denial from the Account If u/maxwellhill is just some random power user, where are they? Why haven’t they logged in to say anything? No posts, no comments, no denials. Nothing for five years. After 14 years of near daily activity, complete silence in the face of serious allegations is suspicious on its own. The poster also uses many British expressions in their writing, and listed British foods as their favorite foods in one post. Mods of r/WorldNews which is infamously compromised by paid agents demanded her posts be deleted from other subreddits. The name matches Maxwell’s family estate. The account vanishes the day she’s arrested. It posted about topics deeply aligned with her known behavior. It held mod control over huge parts of Reddit. It still does. And yet it hasn’t said a word in five years. If this isn’t her, it’s someone with eerily similar patterns, priorities, and timing.

weard_beard 1y ago

Dang. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX5ahM24o8A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX5ahM24o8A