Good.

Limiting accounts can be a good thing, certainly. But it is quite clear there is a difference in the application of the rule if they are allowing certain view points to skirt the requirements.

Agreed. Rules are important, but they must be applied evenly, lest we become the very same as those we despise.

But I think that this policy will do much to reduce the spam, and agitators.

Like why the fuck do you need so many new accounts? What kind of vitriol are you spewing at your fellow humans that you end up so hated that you get banned? Or so harassed that you have to make a new account?

Be courteous and thoughtful in your discourse and diction and you can enjoy a long life on Reddit with but one account.

In this atmosphere I don't think it takes much that you get hated or harrassed. Alts are a common practice if your main account has a lot of personal info and you don't want to be doxxed.

I suppose, depending on what topics you engage on. I mean if you're a bigot I can definitely see those problems arising.

It all boils down to - don't be an asshole. We're all humans, we're all stuck on this rock.

Honestly, I just think there are too many young people who don't have the benefit of having grown up WITH the internet and conspiracy communities... cue Bane voice I was born in it, molded by it....

I'm not even saying bigoted stuff. I mean everyone is just so pinned on this left right shit and who is right and wrong that people end up being attacked. It's nonsensical and immature. Young people today are the group that have probably been in the internet the longest. But you are right at the end of the day don't be an asshole.

Oh yeah if you're going to engage in team sports as anything but a spectator, don't be surprised when you get tackled!

Political debate is not conspiracy theory. It's theater, or to keep with the sports motif, a football. And when it's picked up and thrown back and forth by frothing partisans, the real issues get missed.

I mean, I'm not American but one thing I have noticed is nobody discusses any policy... just who's gonna go to jail first, or who tweeted what about whom.

Here's hoping they all go to jail though :) The common folk need a big win.

Yep. It's like a WWE Smackdown in here.

The scary part about them all going to jail is at least now we kind of know what we are getting into with the devils we know. If a whole bunch of new ones come in we don't know what we are going to get.

Better the devil you know, for sure.

I won't lie, something is going on in DC, but it's not what the red or blue teams think.

Real Patriots are non-partisan!

I've never really understood this approach. It always leads to trouble. Case by case doesn't work here becayse there will always be the impression of being biased. I'm ok with limiting accounts, but block them all, or block none.

if they are allowing certain view points to skirt the requirements.

Not so much viewpoints as methods of arguing, which is how the shills differentiate themselves from everyone else. If you come in here spewing talking points calling other people a "Trumpet" when discussing an unrelated topic, or saying "not everyone who disagrees with you is a shill, REEEE!" when people are talking about the factual existence of shills, you're gonna get tossed.

If a month old account is posting about aliens and JFK, they're gonna be ok.

But not everyone is a shill. You cannot deny that this sub jumps to calling people shills the moment they dont full scale accept whatever the main opinion is here.

Yay.

Good, but let's not pretend that Reddit is the bastion for free and open speech. Posts are subject to the discretion of the moderators, and no offense to the moderators here, but that means the flow of information is subject to that same discretion. I have no reason not to trust the mods here, but I would never know if they were actively preventing a certain topic or post from reaching us.

Combating shills is a difficult thing to do. I can't think of a better way to fight against polarization and shilling than to moderate the content here, but moderation requires discretion, and discretion is never perfect.

I have suggested to mods to out a minimum 3 month ban to stop the abuse of throwaway accounts.

As a step further, I have suggested a minimum karma threshold as well for the same reason.

There have been many good suggestions by others as well.

Good.

Endorsed

Excellent.

This is a great idea. Those posting in good faith with accounts <60 days appear welcome to contact the mods to approve their post. Seems very reasonable.

Good.

The two month age restriction went into effect last night.

Users in good standing who have requested approval via modmail will get their comments/posts approved.

Suggesting that the mods are selectively approving comments with political motivatios is disingenuous at best, and at worst is the same tired rhetoric employed by those who seems obsessed with fracturing the /r/conspiracy community.

Also, the vast majority of spam comes from accounts that are 2 months old or less, so you may be surprised just how much this new policy will positively effort the discourse and content on this sub.

You should have announced it and opened it to community discussion. I've lurked here for years and its quite clear how impartial the mod team is, especially people like you.

Why no announcement or community feedback on the idea?

it's only been a few hours.

You still did not announce it before beginning to censor accounts. That is authoritarian and in line with your actions in recent months.

I meant a preemptive announcement and that response is troubling. I understand there's some shit going on, but this is not the way to prevent subredditdrama.

will have the net effect of helping shills. if they're any good at their job (and they're getting paid right, i'm sure they're told what they need to do) they'll have alts ready for just this kind of event. so it doesn't really stop shills. it stops people who want to spin up an account and make a comment. the reasons for wanting to do such a thing you can imagine on your own.

Good. There's been a huge influx of shills in the last month or two, to the point that the shills are often outnumbering real people in the comment section.

Everyone who disagrees isnt a shill

You removed the textbox?

This comment section shows to a T how much this place has been taken over.

Why stop at two months ? I'd say 2 years would be better.

Decent idea, stops all the shills and trolls creating alt accounts to post bullshit and deflect the conversation

Good.

I suppose, depending on what topics you engage on. I mean if you're a bigot I can definitely see those problems arising.

It all boils down to - don't be an asshole. We're all humans, we're all stuck on this rock.

Honestly, I just think there are too many young people who don't have the benefit of having grown up WITH the internet and conspiracy communities... cue Bane voice I was born in it, molded by it....

Yep. It's like a WWE Smackdown in here.

The scary part about them all going to jail is at least now we kind of know what we are getting into with the devils we know. If a whole bunch of new ones come in we don't know what we are going to get.

But not everyone is a shill. You cannot deny that this sub jumps to calling people shills the moment they dont full scale accept whatever the main opinion is here.