Author: /u/Krunt

I’m guessing this post will be quickly deleted and I’ll be banned, since the moderators of this subreddit view any criticism of them as harassment, but after one of them just replied to me mocking the fact that I have an issue with bad faith trolls on r/Houston, f**k it. This subreddit has had a huge problem with disinformation and alt right trolls since the start of the pandemic, and it’s because the current mod team refuses to do anything meaningful to stop it.

I want to be clear; I’m not talking about dissenting opinions. If you voted for Trump, I personally think that’s reprehensible, but you’re entitled to your opinion. I’m talking about the exact same false talking points being spouted off by the terrorists who raided the Capitol this week, being shared on this subreddit every single day. If it’s not clear to everyone after watching the events the other day, misinformation is incredibly dangerous. These aren’t just petty online debates; people are being radicalized. People are dying because of far right internet trolls. The insurrectionists in Washington didn’t just randomly end up there. They were led there through years of lies, spread like wildfire on social media, including this subreddit. I’ve been saying for months that the moderators of this subreddit should do more to combat disinformation. This is why.

I’m not saying the moderators do nothing. Trolls have been banned, and comments removed, but it’s far too little. 16 day old accounts shouldn’t be able to post hundreds of comments about COVID being a hoax before getting banned. If your first 20 posts on the subreddit are some variation of “Trump won the election,” you should not be allowed to continue posting here. If your only contributions to r/Houston are posting threads about crimes committed by black people, and adding commentary about how the Black Lives Matter terrorist group must have robbed the gas station, you are not commenting here in good faith. If you openly state your admiration for the fucking Nazis, you should not be allowed to make 50 new accounts to post disinformation. I’m really not asking for a lot here. I’m asking for the bare minimum of effort.

This has gone on for far too long. It is everyone’s responsibility to combat disinformation. There is a difference between a harmless political disagreement, and saying things that are abjectly false. If the moderators of this subreddit don’t see disinformation as a problem, or don’t care to take action, they should step down and let someone else take control of r/Houston. Our country is on the brink of civil war because of trolls posting lies on the internet. To stand back and do nothing is simply unacceptable.