this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2025
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[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Reddit argues handing over the information will create a chill among other users, explaining in its court filings that "anonymity is not just a user preference but a defining feature of Reddit's business model and identity."

Bullshit. They have no problem banning users for specific keywords, like "Luigi", and anyone who upvotes those posts/comments. They just want to use the platform as their own propaganda machine, instead of the states propaganda machine.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Controlling that kind of speech on the platform is bad, unmasking user identities at the request of the government is worse

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

EU law requires them to moderate that sort of thing. Bit ironic to complain about that on an EU instance.

[–] DoPeopleLookHere 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm gonna need an EU law citation there.

Because banning people for upvoting the word Luigi isn't EU law.

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

I doubt that happens. What certainly happens is that they remove and ban more than a judge would order. That's necessary to avoid liability.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX%3A32022R2065

[–] DoPeopleLookHere 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

This website is filled with people who were banned for just that. Check out /c/Reddit ( pretty sure it's on lemmy.world)

So yea, it's happening, and is exactly what you were replying to. Calling that moderation is a pretty far stretch.

https://web.archive.org/web/20250313203719/https://slate.com/technology/2025/03/reddit-elon-musk-luigi-mangione-censorship.html

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

As far as I know, all these posts could come from an LLM via a botnet. The article does not support your claim. I don't know what you are trying to argue here.

I have given you factual information. I obliged your request for a source. You are welcome.

[–] DoPeopleLookHere 3 points 1 week ago

Okay, still a non sequiter then, because that law has nothing to do with what you responded. Which was the point of getting that law, because no where does it call the actions you replied to moderation.

And for all I know your a Russian troll so have fun with that.

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

Ah, the good old "I didn't see it therefore it didn't happen, and anyway who says that's true" I'm not here constantly and even I have seen the wave of people banned for talking about Luigi or even upvoting something.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Use a proxy/VPN/tor to use any site you offer any opinion.

I have said this I don't know how many times in the past, but it is now a necessity.

From a post 5 months ago asking why online privacy is important:

Just because you feel you may have nothing to hide now, doesnt mean that information could be very worth hiding in the future.

Governments change.

Laws change.

Dictators, autocrats, police states, abhors dissent. Free thought and peace of mind is what you’re protecting.

https://lemmy.ca/post/31217527/12281989

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

is this some freeze peach bullshit i'm to european to understand?

hate speech, difamation, etc should be prosecuted. period.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Reddit is an American company, and while the first amendment allows a lot of horrible kinds of speech, there's a few exceptions. Unfortunately, defamation laws are weak, so generally, you can defame just about anyone in practice.

What's interesting is this:

Reddit argues handing over the information will create a chill among other users, explaining in its court filings that "anonymity is not just a user preference but a defining feature of Reddit's business model and identity."

If Reddit actually cared about anonymity, they wouldn't even have that information to begin with. It would be wiped. They likely share user information with advertisers and other third parties for profit, so they're more than happy to keep it.

This is just Reddit refusing to comply, because they like the PR of making a show of "protecting users."

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago

I'd bet spez would gladly share that info if the court paid for the data rather than request it via legal.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Nailed it. This platform needs awards.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago

Well it is open source if you can stomach working with the devs lol.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Destroying documentation while a court case is pending tends to be highly illegal.

Any Lemmy instance stores identifying information for technical reasons. I couldn't say if reddit stores more information for longer. Quite plausibly, your instance has more on you. Reddit is internationally exposed to various regulations and must make a professional effort to comply.

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

I think you're putting the cart before the horse. I'm not suggesting they destroy information after a court order.

They do have to comply with various laws, but they are not required to store user information at times when there's not pending legal filings, and they are not required to store that information for every single user even if there were filings. Courts have to make very concise requests for information. They can't just say, "Give me your entire database," unless there was a prescient reason why the entire database was required to make the case (and a judge would have to weigh whether collecting the information of unrelated parties was too invasive).

Any Lemmy instance stores identifying information for technical reasons

Yes, but they do not have to. They do, in order to service their instances, but unless there is a law that compels storing identifying information, they do not have to do it.

If identifying-information-storage was so vital, logless VPNs wouldn't exist.

Anyway, all of that is beside the point. No business will break the law for you. They're "refusing" to comply, because they don't have to (jurisdiction), they have had a torrent of bad press lately, and they're trying to put on an air of being user-centric to entice people to stay.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

If identifying-information-storage was so vital, logless VPNs wouldn’t exist.

I see no technical reason why a VPN would need to store outgoing connections. I would be surprised if they didn't store incoming connections, but I don't actually know.

Anyway, just don't make stuff up. You're not making the world a better place. You ever heard of these Qanon guys? They made up a lot of shit and they didn't make the world a better place.

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

I see no technical reason why a VPN would need to store outgoing connections. I would be surprised if they didn't store incoming connections, but I don't actually know.

I do. Which is why I used that example. If you want to get really technical, they do store that information, but only for a very short time and only in RAM. That means that when the server power cycles or the system does garbage collection, those temporary logs are gone. Your personal incredulity or ignorance is not my problem.

Anyway, just don't make stuff up. You're not making the world a better place. You ever heard of these Qanon guys? They made up a lot of shit and they didn't make the world a better place.

How dare you accuse me of being of the same caliber as Qanon. You don't know me. Fuck off with your Reddit apologetics.

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

Arrogance aside, there are also technical reasons to persist connection data longer than would make sense in RAM. Supporting after-the-fact problem investigation is one big one. If your incident-reponse SLA is one working day, you need to keep the data at least that long.

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

Yes, but that's not the only reason. It's also done to track users; specifically to detect ban evasion and such things. Detecting DDoS attacks or scrapers might also be a purpose. Your instance only gives the first as a purpose, though. EU sites are legally required, per GDPR, to disclose such things.

I don't know how I should reply to this level of aggressive ignorance and willful disinformation in a way that does not appear arrogant.

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

How dare you accuse me of being of the same caliber as Qanon. You don’t know me.

I know that you recklessly spread disinformation and react to proposed facts with hostility rather than curiosity. I don't know more about the qanon people either.

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

If the information is not explicitly required by law to be retained, then there is no penalty for deleting expired information in accordance with the firm's retention policy.

Having designed and implemented site retention policies in a country with GDPR-like laws, what this means in practice is that you're a fool to retain anything longer than you absolutely have to for compliance or essential business reasons. Retained information is a liability and a legal risk.

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

Yes, which is why I think a company like Reddit plausibly holds less information than an Australian Lemmy instance.