this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2024
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Ye Power Trippin' Bastards

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This is a community in the spirit of "Am I The Asshole" where people can post their own bans from lemmy or reddit or whatever and get some feedback from others whether the ban was justified or not.

Sometimes one just wants to be able to challenge the arguments some mod made and this could be the place for that.

Rules

Expect to receive feedback about your posts, they might even be negative.

Make sure you follow this instance's code of conduct. In other words we won't allow bellyaching about being sanctioned for hate speech or bigotry.


Some acronyms you might see.


Relevant comms

founded 4 months ago
MODERATORS
 
  1. Post in [email protected] attacks the entire concept of AI safety as a made-up boogeyman
  2. I disagree and am attacked from all sides for "posting like an evangelist"
  3. I give citations for things I thought would be obvious, such as that AI technology in general has been improving in capability compared to several years ago
  4. Instance ban, "promptfondling evangelist"

This one I'm not aggrieved about as much, it's just weird. It's reminiscent of the lemmy.ml type of echo chamber where everyone's convinced it's one way, because in a self-fulfilling prophecy, anyone who is not convinced gets yelled at and receives a ban.

Full context: https://ponder.cat/post/1030285 (Some of my replies were after the ban because I didn't PT Barnum carefully enough, so didn't realize.)

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

I think Skiluros is right on the money, but I'm just going to point out something. (Disclamer: I am a regular reader of tech takes and I enjoy their snarky negativity)

You walked into a hater's club with a rule of "no debates", debated the regular posters, and got banned. Is it heavy handed? Maybe, but it is low-effort moderation. I get the feeling if they didn't moderate similarly to this, they would be able to preserve the vibe of the place (and you are not obligated to like or agree with this vibe). They're allowed to have their own corner of the internet.

I think they'd probably reverse it if you asked them to. I base this on the idea that instance bans are easy to hand out, and asking politely for an unban is something most banned people don't bother to do. I could be wrong.

I bet they get absolutely flooded with folks who just want to debate instead of joining in on the sneering. It's gotta be way lower effort to just ban people. It's not like there's any large communities on that instance (Look at their local front page: buttcoin, sneerclub, techtakes. All hater's clubs, many posts months old on "active" setting), so I don't think they're doing real harm, either. It's not like you were instance banned from like, lemmy.world or something.

There's plenty of other communities to discuss AI on lemmy. IMHO, you're just missing the point of techtakes. You don't have to agree with them, just like they aren't required to refute your youtube video.

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

That's so weird, though. You can sneer at people who are wrong, without needing to mechanically censor anyone who might point out that you're actually the wrong one. It feels like they want the bullying aspect without the fact-checking aspect. There's plenty in tech that you can make fun of because it is wrong without needing to shield yourself from any possible criticism when you do that.

I didn't check the instance rules, as I think most people don't if something just occurs to them when they see something and they want to say something. I don't care enough to beg for readmission. I'm just pointing out that they are being weird, and checking myself a little bit, and wanting to continue the conversation with anyone who wants to, in a place where I won't be silenced.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I didn’t check the instance rules

Mistakes happen, but it is on you.

I don’t care enough to beg for readmission.

But you do care enough to type words and words and words somewhere else, no?

I’m just pointing out that they are being weird

I politely disagree. What you're viewing as mechanical censorship is just community curation to them. Part of "power tripping" implies they are abusing power, and I don't see them preventing you from participating with anything you appreciate. There's plenty of other AI communities on lemmy.

In summary, a comic:

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

@[email protected] I would like to officially request a new rule for this community: Anyone who makes the argument "Yes but censorship is okay, because the mods are the boss, they're doing community curation" should be banned with the reason listed as "If you insist."

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

I'd argue that would be a power trip, friend, because he's made a major change to the rules without his user's permission. And, many people outside that instance depend on db0's communities, which are large and varied. Very unlike many communities at awful.systems, which are meant for venting, snark, and sneering down your nose at people, warranted or unwarranted.

Everyone at awful.systems likely agrees with the moderation of the admins or they would not be there.

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

All of a sudden it's totally different lol.

@[email protected] I was completely serious. I think it can form a good educational experience, leopards and faces and such.

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

I hardly think it's suddenly different, it's just actually different. It's two different scenarios.

By the way, my dad works at nintendo and can beat up your dad.

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

It's actually covered by the existing TOS. There's affirmative support for the standards of:

  • Welcoming attitude and approach,
  • Rational debate and discussion,
  • Genuine exchanges of ideas,

And under "What is Unacceptable," it lists "authoritarianism," and advocating or encouraging "the spread of behavior that is designed to overturn the standards described so far." I'd say this absolutely qualifies as advocacy for both authoritarianism in moderation, and overturning the ideas of welcoming participants to a rational discussion and genuine exchange of ideas. You might not have been aware of it, mistakes happen, but it is on you.

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

Alright well, I'll have my popcorn bucket ready when db0 defederates from awful.systems for "authoritarianism" over snark coms. Keep me posted.

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

Oh, no, I didn't mean the whole instance, I just meant you. I think trying to strive for standards of open discussion across the whole rest of the Lemmy world would be a hopeless task. Just a special case to ban any person who really openly expresses approval for mods banning people just because it's snarky to do so, though, I think is a nice way to illustrate the real meaning of what they're so openly expressing, when the snark is directed at the other boojum.

I'll leave it up to the mods here if they want to stoop to that level, of course. I think the point is made.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Alright, sure.

I'll bite.

(edit: my eating popcorn picture isn't working and I gave up making it work)