The #ModTalkLeaks part 3 has arrived. Includes conspiracy to get a "controlled sub" listed as a default, along with a list of users "silently/automod banned from /r/news
243 2015-03-20 by AssuredlyAThrowAway
No chance of PI this time, so you may link the information contained therein. The leak basically describes a mod/admin plan to create a subreddit called /r/stuff, get it defaulted, and then run it to their liking using a wide network of moderators "friendly to their cause". The leak includes documents which list all of the mods and admins involve din this scheme.
From the words of the source himself;
First off, let's talk about something called /r/Stuff. It was a plan between moderators and admins to manipulate the front page and various subreddits to create a default community entirely to our specifications.
A while back, me and some other moderators in Modtalk started discussing this idea of recreating /r/Reddit.com (a catch-all default subreddit). We had /r/misc and /r/self, but they were deemed not good enough. So we went to some admins with the idea and got a couple involved. We got everything we wanted: guaranteed quick default status, free advertisements (here's our mockup sidebar ad: http://puu.sh/gIGrE/28ecd3f324.png), and their seal of approval. Of course, we had to keep everything quiet. This began /r/Stuff.
Through some skype and mumble calls, plus meetings on Snoonet's #Stuff IRC room, we created everything from the rules and ban lists (published below), lists of trusted moderators (published below), subreddits we could rely on for linking/etc (published and expanded below), and more. We needed subreddits and its mods for our strategy, which was to plug /r/Stuff in every big subreddit we could. Submissions, sidebar, stickies, whatever we could do. Whether it was against the rules or not we would make it known and make sure the mods were cool with ignoring that. Normally such a campaign would be against reddit's spamming rules, but again, we were acting above the rules. Coincidentally, we even used the #Stuff IRC to post #Modtalk logs sometimes. By using such a massive hidden network of moderators we could manipulate the entire community quite easily.
Anyway. We had everything figured out. CSS mods, mods who knew everyone, mods who had good connections with admins, admins themselves, mods who worked with bots and stuff, experienced automoderator people, all that. Essentially, we were colluding with everyone to create the perfect subreddit (in one view, anyway) for the quickest default status and a chance to completely own a new default subreddit. The rules themselves were pretty simple. We mostly just took a few rules we liked from subreddits we moderated and put them together. No memes, no soapboxing/personal army/etc, no bigoted/abusive comments or posts, no sob stories, that sort of thing. Of course, we had an understanding that these were more like guidelines than actual rules. They always are. Some mods wanted a more censored approach, some wanted a more hands-off approach. My plan was separate from others. I was going to use /r/Stuff as a way of changing the mod community by experimenting with my ideas that they considered extremist or downright wrong. Justifying bans, not shadowbanning everyone, treating users as people rather than inferiors, stuff like that. It was easy to talk my way into the top mod spot, which made the plan possible. Otherwise one of the others would've banned me the moment any of those ideas were brought up.
Link to part 3 of the #ModTalkLeaks
Link to thos accused of being involved in the plot
Spreadsheet showing the connections between those in the plot.
87 comments
51 FranktheShank1 2015-03-20
Jesus christ these people are nuts. It's a fucking website, they're acting like they're infiltrating a government or something
64 OWNtheNWO 2015-03-20
Other way around.
17 George_Tenet 2015-03-20
Correct
27 BeneathTheRainbow 2015-03-20
Yeah. It's almost like you would have to logically deduce that it would have to be a job for someone to go to this much trouble. No sane or reasonable person would do this without some monetary incentive.
But that's just crazy talk.
21 FranktheShank1 2015-03-20
My thought exactly. And not just one person, there's a load of them. Either they're getting paid to do it or they all have some sort of psychosis.
0 LordXerces 2015-03-20
A "holy" purpose is a more profound motivator than a monetary one.
25 derptwo 2015-03-20
The key here is it is a website with lots of influence. They're trying to use that influence. Think about it. I don't care for Obama yet he did specifically send a thank you note to reddit users over Net Neutrality.. He realized their influence..
1 FranktheShank1 2015-03-20
I understand that and support it for subreddits like r.news, but when they're talking about controlling something like /r/self (and having dirty admins add it to the standard list) it's ridiculous.
12 DaneelR 2015-03-20
reddit is far beyond the point of being just a website. People flock to it, it's ever increasing in popularity and it's becoming an opinion maker.
The times of SOPA/ACTA 'rebellion' have shown TPTB that it's paramount to control reddit, otherwise a true awakening could happen.
The demise of any discussion will arive, when /r/conspiracy is banned and I suspect it's sooner than we might suppose.
6 willreignsomnipotent 2015-03-20
In the scenario being discussed, I do not see that happening.
1- It would be way too obvious what was going on. That would be like the government trying to pass a law next week banning any talk of the JFK assassination, or conspiracy theories.
It sends a clear message, and that message is "We don't like this type of speech. It concerns us, and don't want it around."
And then people wonder what exactly they're so worried about. Which is the exact thing they wouldn't want people wondering.
In other words, it validates / legitimizes the conspiracy talk.
2- For all the reasons listed above, ridicule is a far more effective technique. "Let them talk-- but make them look stupid."
6 DaneelR 2015-03-20
http://21stcenturywire.com/2015/03/19/france-moves-to-make-conspiracy-theories-illegal-by-government-decree/
This might be the beginning of the end.
3 ThePatient75 2015-03-20
Most of the users wouldn't care. I can already see people not connecting the dots and just post saying "Eh, those guys were too nuts anyway."
2 OswaldWasAFag 2015-03-20
Just a thought, but I can see a sockpuppet spamming CP links or something equally dreadful here and it being used as a subtext to shut the sub down.
5 TheSox3 2015-03-20
yes they are the ones who are nuts
-1 unclescham 2015-03-20
lol @ r.atheism being complete sellouts from top to bottom.
3 niczar 2015-03-20
Yeah it's not like influencing the opinions of a large number of people is a big deal, is it?
-1 TheReverendWillyG 2015-03-20
and how many eyes gaze upon this fucking website? that's a lot of influence.
23 TheGhostOfDusty 2015-03-20
Link to the list of the people secretly censored from their default subs:
See if your name is on the Thought Police persecution list (from circa Aug 2014). Mine is!
5 JamesColesPardon 2015-03-20
I can't wait for the 2015 version.
4 WarOnErrorism 2015-03-20
kinda sad mine isn't
2 [deleted] 2015-03-20
[deleted]
2 0ccidentalist 2015-03-20
Same here. And I can say that I never once trolled r/news, although I was open about discussing the oppressive censorship by David*eiss666
1 Letterbocks 2015-03-20
ayy lmao.
14 TotesMessenger 2015-03-20
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10 longducdong 2015-03-20
I was banned from r/news for making some comment that wasn't even racist and they banned me for racism...oh my comment was about poor culture. I have a fucking MSW. I'm a fucking LCSW who has worked in the social work field for seven fucking years. 11 years if you count my experience at juvenile hall. I know some shit about low socioeconomic status culture and can talk about it if I want to. My professors did it. It's the ignorant people who hear things that sound like they aren't PC and get offended. Little do they know that the point I was making is actually quite the opposite. But that's society for you
8 1quickdub 2015-03-20
Doesn't matter if it's factual, unbiased information. If your comments aren't in line with their agenda, you're "part of the problem."
6 Kuleaid 2015-03-20
wtf?
23 AssuredlyAThrowAway 2015-03-20
Yea, someone doxxed the source of the leaks and even went after his family members it seems, which is really fucked up. Obviously that doxx will not be allowed here, and anyone who posts a link to it will be banned and reported to the admins.
That said, XM did say in the #/r/conspiracy chatroom that the information that was used in the doxx had only been given to one or two people so he had an idea who was behind the attack.
What these people who are attacking XM fail to realize (or refuse to realize), is that the more they attack him, the more he will release.
21 Kuleaid 2015-03-20
I always say that at the end of the day, this is just a silly website.
To doxx a little girl, either shows that there is much more at stake than we can see, or some of the mods have some severe mental and emotional issues.
22 XavierMendel 2015-03-20
And yet they call me crazy.
Anyway, I don't worry so much about the information on that dox. Some of it's inaccurate, though I won't say what. I don't worry about my niece either. I raised her not to talk to neckbeards in vans, so I think she's safe from any truly evil reddit mods out there. "Don't take hot pockets from strangers" and all that.
10 Kancer86 2015-03-20
Damn man, sorry you have to go through all of this. It just goes to show how shitty the people are that you exposed. You're a good dude, and you did the right thing. It's a shame they didn't use this a wake up call and become better people...and instead just became even shittier people.
9 XavierMendel 2015-03-20
It's still all pretty great. I find it difficult to be upset about this kind of stuff when I've still got things like a roof over my head and food in my stomach. Unless these mods take that from me I just don't see me getting that upset. I got a job taken from me but I found another. Life goes on.
2 lordthat100188 2015-03-20
Question. have you even released the juicy-est parts?
1 DogPawsCanType 2015-03-20
Its the later, just nerds with bullying issues left over from school
0 Kuleaid 2015-03-20
That is what I think too. But still, Modding isn't even substantial enough to be called a hobby. Some of these guys get so deep into it that I have a hard time believing that there isn't some kind of compensation involved.
The alternative is believing that there are some, creepy, slimy, pieces of shit, running this site from whatever side of the toilet that they are stuck too.
That is depressing.
4 TheGhostOfDusty 2015-03-20
If this is number three, anyone got a link to the second leak?
6 AssuredlyAThrowAway 2015-03-20
Not allowed to be linked on reddit. Download a client and join us in chat-https://kiwiirc.com/client/irc.rizon.net/#/r/conspiracy
0 dieyoung 2015-03-20
Who's XM
5 AssuredlyAThrowAway 2015-03-20
Source of the #ModTalkLeaks, /u/XavierMendel
5 0ccidentalist 2015-03-20
So the controllers of these subs are mostly Zionists?
5 0ccidentalist 2015-03-20
For those of us who have not followed the ModTalk leaks, is there somewhere where we can read a quick tl/dr of what this is all about?
8 AssuredlyAThrowAway 2015-03-20
Search the hashtag on twitter.
Basically leak 1 details censorship of gamergate across multipple subreddits, leak 3 details the precise mods involved in reddit's "inner circle", and leak 2 is 30,000 lines of conversation between those insiders.
1 SometimedAThrowaway 2015-03-20
Always felt that Futurology was created from the ground up to provide a place to discuss technology fluff stories, with a built in filter on political or other inconvenient topics. Employing the lessons learned from the Stuff experiment, and throwing some money behind it. Hence the production value around weekly graphics and such.
The idea is to skim traffic off of technology forums where the moderators aren't locked in on the censored content.
It's the same underlying notion that lead to Verizon's foray into Sugarstring, from a more competent party.
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3 pumpkin_bo 2015-03-20
Can someone explain how this got leaked? And what is so big about this. Basically one mod wants to create a sub where he gets to be king. Is that it?
& who's the author of this?
3 DestroySocialJustice 2015-03-20
OH SHIT. One of my alts is on the ban list What did I ever do to deserve that? because I was pro gamergate and anti sjw?
-1 lordthat100188 2015-03-20
I'm sure a newer version prolly includes the roughly 500 or so people i constantly see on KiA.
3 _dea 2015-03-20
The lack of response tells me all this is useless and it's getting nowhere.
What did anyone expect a commercial website like reddit would do?
Exactly.
3 ReallyMeanPerson 2015-03-20
My previous account was banned from five subreddits including /r/AskReddit
Remember when reddit used to be for free speech?
2 wrinkleneck71 2015-03-20
It was never for free speech. It allowed the illusion of free speech in order to create a vibrant community to make money off of. If any speech interferes with that money making that speech is silenced.
3 muh_holocawst 2015-03-20
Bunch of fucking whackos.
This stupid website is the most power they've ever had - and likely ever will - in their entire pathetic lives. I wish they would all simply just
dieget a really bad case of diarrhea or something.2 _Dale_Gribble 2015-03-20
Oh come on
1 muh_holocawst 2015-03-20
You're right, too extreme. Edited.
2 _Dale_Gribble 2015-03-20
Like nasty ghost pepper diarrhea. I'm on board.
2 TheRealMrMarmot 2015-03-20
http://a.pomf.se/zsfmvt.txt
This list is all fucked up.
None of them mod those subs. There are tons more mistakes.
15 XavierMendel 2015-03-20
The list was made quite a while ago. It was accurate back then.
6 ManWithoutModem 2015-03-20
lol why am i even on that list? never heard of /r/stuff until 2 minutes ago.
3 LowSociety 2015-03-20
Shh, no questions. Only crusade now.
-20 TheRealMrMarmot 2015-03-20
That makes is bad to disseminate. You're going to make people believe those people still mod those places. That's wrong.
15 XavierMendel 2015-03-20
Yeah, but editing the file was something I wanted to avoid. Present as I have it, edit only for PI.
-22 TheRealMrMarmot 2015-03-20
Accuracy doesn't mean anything to you? Aren't facts more important than you not wanting to do something? That seems pretty lazy.
27 BeneathTheRainbow 2015-03-20
It is accurate in the time that it was captured. This isn't climate science... you don't get to "adjust your data".
13 OWNtheNWO 2015-03-20
Rekt
9 XavierMendel 2015-03-20
The topic is something that happened a while ago. Presenting the information as it was then is important, as it gives additional information to the topic rather than focusing on what happened months after it was over.
7 AssuredlyAThrowAway 2015-03-20
Perhaps they modded them at another point in time...
3 quicklypiggly 2015-03-20
Was there anything ever in /r/worldnews modmail about this or the other modtalkleaks?
3 anutensil 2015-03-20
Not that I know of, which doesn't mean there wasn't.
3 slapchopsuey 2015-03-20
Not that I know of either, this is the first I've heard of this.
We're not 'in' with the cool kids and their /stuff, apparently.
5 TheGhostOfDusty 2015-03-20
Do you guys use the technique of secretly censoring with /u/AutoModerator rather than banning users?
3 green_flash 2015-03-20
We don't use AutoModerator shadowbans to secretly ban specific users, except for one user who isn't technically breaking any rules, but still a major nuisance. Ask AATA, he can confirm that our AutoModerator shadowban rule looks like this:
Apart from that we do remove comments by accounts with overall karma that is far in the negative which is sometimes interpreted as a shadowban by those affected, for example here
That being said we have lots of problems with ban evaders. Realistically speaking if someone doesn't want to follow the rules they simply create a new account, thus rendering bans completely ineffective. I understand why those shadowbans are so popular with other mod teams. The bans just tend to never be reviewed and are also prone to be abused, that's why we've decided against using them.
2 TheGhostOfDusty 2015-03-20
Thanks for the feedback.
4 SarahLee 2015-03-20
Well, I am listed in the "Link to thos accused of being involved in the plot" and the spreadsheet, but this is the first time I've heard of /r/stuff or this proposal, so have to assume that list was mostly brainstorming or something. It is possible I read other discussions about it in the default mods sub back when I was a /wn mod, but I don't generally pay a lot of attention to those kinds of discussions and don't remember it.
So far as I recall, I never, ever had any discussions, public or private, with anyone about it.
3 slapchopsuey 2015-03-20
Yeah, that struck me as odd too. I didn't recall you and Pharn being in with that either. I think that "list of those involved in the plot" was aspirational. And what's more, on the spreadsheet they had you on the spreadsheet as "not reliable" (which was as insulting as laughable, IMO). Clearly they have no idea which end is up, let alone knowing the difference between fantasy and reality. No wonder there's no /r/stuff to this day.
2 SarahLee 2015-03-20
I have enough drama in my offline life. Don't need the meta junk in my online one.
2 slapchopsuey 2015-03-20
Yeah really. Thankfully I don't have much drama, but I'd rather not get drawn into it. Ain't nobody got time for that!
2 SovereignMan 2015-03-20
Or perhaps they mod those subs with a different account.
-5 TheRealMrMarmot 2015-03-20
Which is relevant to now, why? This is bad information.
5 quicklypiggly 2015-03-20
I think this is important to note, as Unidan hasn't been a mod in quite a long time.
1 macsenscam 2015-03-20
Where is the rest of the story?
1 TooLoudToSilence 2015-03-20
Hehe. Just copped another /r/worldnews ban for mere participation in NSA threads. Naw, this place isn't censored at all...
1 [deleted] 2015-03-20
Can someone explain this in a nutshell?
6 DronePuppet 2015-03-20
Here you go!
1 InspectorBloor 2015-03-20
Yay I'm on the ban list! Highlight of my day :D
1 Irradiance 2015-03-20
For me, the saddest thing about all this, about all the shills, marketing, and PR, is that we can't know what people, on average, really think. Even if reddit isn't representative of humanity at large, I hate the suspicion I often feel that the whole western world's become a massive authoritarian circlejerk.
1 slendergator 2015-03-20
Could someone give me an ELI5 of what self would do?
0 j3434 2015-03-20
Perhaps the mods do have a greater vision and know best what will create the best subreddit. Lets be patient and see what they have in mind.
0 DogPawsCanType 2015-03-20
Are you people nuts? Its just reddit, I cant believe people take this shit so seriously. Owning subreddits, bans, rules blah blah blah, get a life guys!
-3 generalking007 2015-03-20
inb4 shadowban
7 AssuredlyAThrowAway 2015-03-20
FTFY
3 LowSociety 2015-03-20
Shh, no questions. Only crusade now.