UPDATE: The permanent ban against me was lifted this morning (Feb. 7th) by a different admin than the one who imposed it. In addition, after one Reddit admin refused to remove a vile anti-Semitic attack on me, a different one actually suspended the account of u/islamofascisto.
Today, I was permanently banned from Reddit (see screenshot). Most of you may not participate in Reddit or even care about it. But my banning is part of a much larger, and critical phenomenon in the suppression of online debate about Israel-Palestine. So even if Reddit doesn’t mean much to you, hang in there and read the rest of this.
As most of you are aware, it’s difficult (to say the least) to get media to publish analysis and commentary from a progressive perspective on Israel-Palestine. Personally, I have three outlets which currently publish my work, for which I’m grateful. But my editors reject far more of my pitches than they accept. I’m not complaining, because I’m grateful for those which they do accept.
Because of these limited publication options, I publish this blog. It allows me not only to publish the work which my editors cannot publish, but also to publish long-form investigative pieces and commentary. An example of this is my post on the issue of genocide. But on its own, the blog’s audience is limited. That’s why social media platforms play a critical role in promoting my work. Posting links to Twitter, Facebook and Reddit draws a substantial audience to my pieces published by media outlets and here.
Over the years, there have been successful attempts by pro-Israel users of Twitter and Facebook to coordinate efforts to report and ban my content. I have been temporarily suspended on both sites for content critical of Israeli settlers and for publishing images of Israeli military-intelligence agents who infiltrated Gaza. In many of these cases, my appeal caused the suspension to be lifted. Thankfully, for a number of years, content moderators at these two sites have not taken any such action against my accounts.
I have been a Redditor for nearly 20 years. I am a mod for the r/BDS sub. I was a mod for the r/Palestine sub for a year. I’ve earned 33,000 “Karma points” for my participation in the site over the years. In all that time, I have never been suspended and never notified that any content I published was banned. That changed after I posted a link to my blog post to the r/Armenia sub, which reported on a secret Israeli arms sale to Azerbaijan. Two commenters in particular posted pro-Israel views, which I responded to. One of the comments told me to “go kill myself.”
I then received a complaint from a Reddit admin (not from the sub or any of its mods) that my comments in the sub constituted “harassment.” I was warned not to engage in this behavior. I replied to the mod asking why my comment constituted harassment, when another commenter had incited me to commit suicide. The result was a three-day suspension presumably for “harassing” the admin. Then a week or so later, I was again suspended for harassment, this time for seven days. I appealed this decision to an independent Reddit admin and it was rescinded.
Today, I received a notice that I was permanently banned from Reddit for a comment I posted at the r/Iranian sub two months ago. Again, the sub itself nor its mods reported this comment at the time it was published or afterward.
Clearly, what’s happening is that there is a particular pro-Israel admin who has targeted me and is determined to drive me off Reddit. I don’t know if this individual is doing this on his own initiative or whether this is part of an effort coordinated by others, in which he is participating. In other words, it’s possible that a pro-Israel group within Reddit is orchestrating this effort; and they may be directed by the numerous semi-official campaigns directed by Israeli ministries and their external assets.
By now, it should be clear why this is important: I am a sharp thorn in the side of the pro-Israel forces online. If they can deprive me of one of my main outlets to make people aware of my views, then they succeed in suppressing my voice. In turn, this makes the internet a safer place for pro-Israel content and gives it more room to percolate in the ongoing debate over Israel-Palestine.
Of course, Palestinian voices face even more censorship than my own. It is critical to give this phenomenon all the attention it deserves. But as a Jew playing my own role in exposing the misdeeds of the Israeli national security state, I am a special target for the ire of pro-Israel interests.
I have appealed the latest permanent ban. I hope the outcome will be the same as my last appeal and it will be lifted. Though there is no guarantee this will be the outcome.
Reddit proudly calls itself “The Front Page of the Internet.” It is one of the most popular websites in the world. It currently has a $10-billion valuation and plans to go public sometime this year. But there’s clearly something wrong here and it needs to be addressed. “Admins gone wild” is not a good look for a company hoping to make its debut on Wall Street. Not to mention that after going public Reddit will be subject to SEC regulation. Bad PR and charges of censorship and high-handedness are profoundly unhelpful to the site’s long-term business interests, as Mark Zuckerberg has learned to his chagrin.
If you use Reddit, please make the mods at all the subs I mentioned above aware of the permanent ban, sending them the link to this post, since I cannot communicate with anyone on the site. If you happen to know any admins and could make them aware of this post, I’d be grateful.
Reddit: A Dream Turned Nightmare
When Aaron Swartz founded Reddit and Jimmy Wales founded Wikipedia, they created a wonderful, democratic, de-centralized forum to share and disseminate critical views and content. The vehicle they created was incredibly innovative–a perfect example of the internet at its best.
But the very decentralized, democratic nature of the platforms opened them to manipulation by those who violated the spirit and mission of the sites. Most management functions were performed by volunteers who earned their roles via previous levels of participation. As such, while there were standards which had to be met to take on an administrative role, there were groups and individuals who could game the system in favor of their own interests.
A perfect example of the weakness of the Reddit model and the slipshod way in which admins perform their role, is the response to my reporting the abusive comment by “u/islamofascisto” displayed above, which called me “a steaming pile of feces, a “lunatic” and resorted to juvenile name-calling by changing my name to “Stinkerstine.” Reddit admins did not find such anti-Semitic garbage constituted hate speech or violated the site’s content policy. Which makes you wonder who’s minding the store there and whether they have any idea what they’re doing.
Wikipedia exhibits the ironclad hold of a pro-Israel clique on Wikipedia, with pro-Israel editors swarming specific articles with comments and edits, and voting down edits and articles which harm Israeli interests. Currently, most Israel-Palestine content is restricted, and only users who’ve made 500 previous edits can do so to these articles.
The same format holds true regarding Reddit. It is largely managed by volunteers who bring all of the goodwill or self-interest that human beings bring to their activities. Thus, it’s relatively easy for a pro-Israel admin to finesse their way into such a role, and influence the tone and content of the site. In my case, this particular admin has removed an important voice from Reddit and knowingly advanced pro-Israel interests to crowd out views like mine.
This is a general phenomenon in the digital sphere. Social media platforms in general police content and tend to use a heavier hand on left-wing content than right-wing content. There is much legitimate complaint about moderation and amplification of far-right views on Twitter and Facebook. But at least they employ staff who are trained to do this job. And they do so, presumably using some sort of standardized approach that is uniform for all content (at least that’s what the sites claim). We all know that this isn’t true a great deal of the time. But I think the general structure and theoretical assumptions behind it are sound.
On the other hand, Reddit and Wikipedia, while they may offer similar standards and offer some training to volunteer admins, essentially run on an ad hoc basis. In the case of Reddit in particular, there is no transparency to decision-making processes. Mods for subs make their own decisions based on whim, prejudice or sometimes legitimate concerns. But if you are suspended by a site admin, you are only told what rule you violated and what content you published violated the rule. You do not know who made this decision or under what considerations it was made. You do not know if such decisions are ever reviewed by other admins. If, as in my case, you complain to the admin who filed a case against you, the punishment is escalated in a manner that is punitive, rather than legitimate.
In this way, it is easier on Wikipedia and Reddit to manipulate the system in favor of pro-Israel content, than on Twitter or Facebook. This should offer all the more reason for the former two platforms to constantly monitor their admins, decisions they make, and how they justify them. If they don’t police their admins vigorously, censorship like this is the result.
Since I cannot post this to Reddit, I’d be grateful if you are a user to post it in suitable subs. I don’t have to worry about being punished by any Reddit admin for this post. I’ve already suffered the ultimate penalty. It can’t get any worse. But maybe, just maybe there is hope that the system can right itself and do the right thing. That’s what Aaron Swartz would have wanted were he alive today.
Richard,
You ban people here left right and centre.
I really cannot fathom why you complain when others do the same to you. It is not as if you are not doing exactly the same thing?
Do you think this is a punishment from G-d for your high handed ways? Maybe it is a sign that you should be more tolerant of different from your own views here, which you are not. You attacks supporters of Israel unfairly, accusing them of being agents of one sort or another.
Incidentally, what do you mean Wikipedia has a pro-Israel bias? There are more antisemites in the world willing to bash Israel as a Jewish collective than there are Jews.
Wikipedia has an anti-Israel bias.
He obviously didn’t ban you and you’re still here whining away
I have been banned before, that is why I avoid saying anything pro Israel.
‘Incidentally, what do you mean Wikipedia has a pro-Israel bias? ‘
Lol. Good one, dude.
‘You ban people here left right and centre.’
Richard may well do that. He’s been mean and hurtful to me.
However, his site isn’t exactly one of the major public forums of the internet. It’s the distinction between you being allowed to say what you please in the town square and being allowed to say it in my living room.
Come back when Richard has one hundred million visits a day. Then you’ll have a legitimate complaint.
[comment deleted: Sorry, but your comment was just too bizarre for me. And no attacks on Judaism.]
@ Tiff: This is so tiresome and tedious. The site rules here are clearly posted. I follow them when I moderate or ban someone. I usually explain specifically what caused them to be banned. And the person banned knows who banned them and why. None of this holds true regarding Reddit. The charges against me were clearly trumped up. There isn’t anything “harassing” or “threatening” in anything I posted on that site. And do I know who banned me? Do I know if that admin is accountable to anyone or their decisions are reviewed by anyone? No. So whether you get it or not, they’re entirely different situations.
Now I think you’re a total idiot. Do you really think God punishes anyone for being “high handed?” I personally think God, if S/He exists, has much better things to do than worry about the so-called high handed. You’ll do me a favor and keep God and religion out of your comments.
In case you weren’t aware, this is a blog. It’s not even a social media platform like Reddit et al. It is my personal blog. I am allowed to be who and what I want to be here. I don’t have to be tolerant of anyone supporting injustice, apartheid, genocide, racism, Islamophobia, intolerance, etc. And I am not. And I’m proud of that. That doesn’t mean you can’t disagree with me. YOu certainly can and there have been thousands of hostile comments posted here.
You’ve just won the anti-Semitism trifecta! Congratulations. You equated Israel and Jews. That’s what anti-Semites do. It’s what hard core ZIonists do. But they’re not the same. Don’t ever here confuse Jews and Israel.
You’re out of your mind. I’ve been familiar with Wikipedia and its outrageous biases on this subject for 20 years. If you’re a messianic Likudnik then of course Wikipedia is “anti-Israel.” It doesnt’ support Judeo-supermacist fascism, and that upsets you. I understand.
You’ve banned plenty of commentors on a whim, and now you know what it feels like.
Serves you right.
@ Sasha: Cut the bullshit. You know there are rules here. I don’t do ANYTHING here on a whim. You just don’t like the rules and call them “whims.”
You’re a creep. Banned. And “now you know what it feels like.”
Posted on Reddit and asked why they banned you
Don’t take it personally. This morning I found out I was blocked from posting on MSN.
[comment deleted: I don’t have a No Asshole rule. But just this one time, I’ve made one just for you.]
I don’t do reddit but use Wikipedia a lot and contribute because of that. It’s a boon! So sorry to hear about the so called pro Israel bias there and on Reddit. Keep on keeping on Richard. I don’t think Reddit is worth getting high blood pressure. Maybe it’s Wikipedia that should be called out more loudly. One wise person I knew said that you cannot convince anyone of something they don’t already know. There are similar sayings. But the facts need to be laid out as well as point of view connected. (Questions of morality) Thank you!
Hi Richard, you can appeal the ban here:
https://www.reddit.com/appeals
Provide as much detail and context as permitted.
@ Magnes: I did appeal 3 days ago. Plus I wrote to Reddit’s press office as a journalist and noted that I was going to publish an account of this incident. No one has responded yet.
“Today, I received a notice that I was permanently banned from Reddit for a comment I posted at the r/Iranian sub two months ago. Again, the sub itself nor its mods reported this comment at the time it was published or afterward. ”
What did you say two months ago at r/Iranian sub that got you banned today?
@ Nate Depp: The screenshot of my comment is displayed in the post. If you have trouble reading it click on the image & it will expand.
Being banned from Reddit is a real blow to your mission. But reading your post Reddit was a flawed system with uncontrolled mods all along.
[comment deleted: au contraire mon amie. Good riddance to you!]
Labeling another reddit user, ‘an Israeli troll’, while urging users to excommunicate him is pretty serious.
I’m surprised you don’t recognize what you’ve done.
@Nate: OMG, calling someone a “troll” is a capital offense?? Really? “Excommunicate?” Since when are we excommunicating ppl? Is this the Catholic Church? Banning someone from a sub for being a troll happens thousands of times a day. Happened to me (not for being a troll). Happens to everyone on Reddit. Big deal. Get over yourself.
No more comments in this thread.
A news link I posted on reddit regarding Amnesty International and apartheid in Israel was promptly removed. When I searched for a reason I found myself in a post in /r/conspiracytheories where others were having the same issue. I’m not a regular on that sub as I’m not one for conspiracy theories.
But a named popped up there (in the post I mentioned), someone sort of implied she could be related to the censoring of Amnesty International: Jessica Ashooh.
https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracytheories/comments/site8j/reddit_is_scrubbing_the_amnesty_international/hvbaw7o/?context=3
I comment about her but my comment is not showing publicly (censorship?), at least I don’t see it unless logged in (If others can see it, feel free to let me know): https://ibb.co/xzMdTn8
A quick search lead me to this link:
https://www.mintpressnews.com/jessica-ashooh-reddit-national-security-state-plant/277639/
I didn’t read all of it but apparently she’s Director of Policy at reddit. (Also, I don’t know how reliable is that website or the author of that news piece.)
I don’t know whether she’s behind this or not. I don’t like conspiracies. I don’t know if she could be behind what happened to you, or may have promoted some policy regarding people critical of certain states.
What I know is I never had issues before on reddit and all of a sudden some of my posts got slain for no apparent reason, and a comment I made about reddit’s directory of policy is visible in my feed but not publicly (tried different browsers, so I don’t think it’s a technical issue). So I’ll just leave this comment here, feel free to remove it if you like, won’t take it personally.
I’d like to add I tried posting another link, this one from AJ, regarding the same subject. It was instantly banned.
A search for “Israel” in /r/worldnews for 1 week of content showed no posts regarding this subject. Good news about Israel there’s plenty.
Easy to see reddit’s worldnews is censoring content that doesn’t paint Israel in a good light.
https://ibb.co/zxKRsDc
https://ibb.co/qkXRnPy
Good that you are no longer banned. I like to point out that the subreddit worldnews was deleting any reference or article about the Amnesty International report.
“Do not treat others in ways that you would not like to be treated”.
You don’t respect others’ freedom of speech (both here and in your reddit comment where you call to ban the other user because of a political disagreement), yet you are expecting others to respect your freedom of speech. I hope you see the ethical problem with your behavior.
@ Ibe: Not at all. I suggested that the mods ban him from the r/Iranian sub because he posted comments attacking Iran. That’s not a political disagreement. That’s someone violating the rules of the sub.
And yes, I expect Reddit admins to protect my freedom on the site as they did for the past 15 years without a hitch. I expect them to rein in rogue pro-Israel admins who take things into their own hands without regard to Reddit’s actual rules. I know this is hard for you to understand. But try a bit harder and perhaps it will come to you.
I was just banned from Reddit for the comments against israel.
I actively post on anything regarding israel and have been banned from many individual pages – for posting facts countering israeli propaganda.
I routinely see the most vile hate speech against Arabs an Palestinians, routinely calling them all ‘terrorists’.
The specific reason I was banned was for posting on a video on publicfreakout which showed extremist settlers camping in the lawn of a Palestinian family they were actively attacking and harassing.
My comment was ‘gee…. israelis continuing to be pieces of human garbage in the name of religious supremacy’.
This comment is absolutely mild compared to the anti Palestinian comments that are routinely made throughout Reddit.
I have no doubt that those who frequent post criticism of israel are systematically targeted and banned.
Stopping Social Medium Discrimination Against a Pro-Palestine User and Content
I am trying to stop social medium discrimination against a pro-Palestine user and his content
as Justice Thomas proposed in Malwarebytes v. Enigma, 592 U. S. ____ (2020), Thomas J., respecting, No. 19–1284, Decided October 13, 2020.
I am not arguing Title II discrimination against a Palestinian, an Arab, or a Muslim. In my case I am arguing Title II Zionism-incited antisemitic discrimination against me because I am a Diaspora Jew, who rejects Zionism.
My situation is similar to Richard’s problem with Reddit, but Richard may not like my solution.
My case is on the SCOTUS public docket.
The body of the petition goes from bottom of p. 16 to top of p. 29. I think the petition works, but SCOTUS will be the final arbiter.
The appendix is abbreviated and is 10 pages long. There is enough to understand the basis of my petition.
I sympathize with clerk that would have had to scan in all 226 pages. SCOTUS should allow a non-attorney filer to use SCOTUS’ e-filing system.
I consider grant of cert to be unlikely and am appealing in parallel to the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
The Court of Appeals set the schedule for Twitter and Medium each to file an appellee’s brief. They will be filed by Mar 25.
The briefs will be interesting because the issue is abuse of discretion, and the district court made a serious error in legal reasoning in the order that dismissed the original complaint.
I am not concerned about besting Twitter’s legal counsel because I seem able to intimidate him fairly easily. I understand Internet technology. He doesn’t.
Medium seems to have hired a real legal gunslinger.
Sarah P. Kelly is the Chair of the Nutter Litigation Department in Boston.
Twitter and Medium may understand something I don’t.
The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals has not bought into the insanity of the Communications Decency Act caselaw that the 4th and 9th Circuit Courts of Appeals have created. The judges of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals seem to have actually read the statute.
The issues of the case are propositional logic, civil rights law, and common carriage law. I probably outgun the defense with respect to the first and third areas. I have been involved in a case that involved denial of common carriage. Such a case is rare. It’s too easy for a plaintiff to prevail in a case that arises from denial of common carriage. Neither I nor any of the attorneys have much experience with civil rights law, but I can probably out-argue them in semantics.
So why might Richard not like the result if I prevail?
An independent blog like Tikun Olam fits the model of an Interactive Computer Service, whose service intrinisically uses common carriage unless the blog uses a genuine “letters to the editor” model, in which all comments are sent to the blog editor, who decides what to publish.
An independent blog might be able to escape common carrier status if it can’t be considered to provide
In the first case the blog would be charging.
In the 2nd case the blog would be monetizing eyes on a page in some way.
@ Joachim: This comment thread is not the place to discuss your legal matters. No matter how relevant you may feel they are.