this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2026
14 points (67.5% liked)

Ye Power Trippin' Bastards

1723 readers
11 users here now

This is a community in the spirit of "Am I The Asshole" where people can post their own bans from lemmy or reddit or whatever and get some feedback from others whether the ban was justified or not.

Sometimes one just wants to be able to challenge the arguments some mod made and this could be the place for that.


Posting Guidelines

All posts should follow this basic structure:

  1. Which mods/admins were being Power Tripping Bastards?
  2. What sanction did they impose (e.g. community ban, instance ban, removed comment)?
  3. Provide a screenshot of the relevant modlog entry (don’t de-obfuscate mod names).
  4. Provide a screenshot and explanation of the cause of the sanction (e.g. the post/comment that was removed, or got you banned).
  5. Explain why you think its unfair and how you would like the situation to be remedied.

Rules


Expect to receive feedback about your posts, they might even be negative.

Make sure you follow this instance's code of conduct. In other words we won't allow bellyaching about being sanctioned for hate speech or bigotry.

YPTB matrix channel: For real-time discussions about bastards or to appeal mod actions in YPTB itself.


Some acronyms you might see.


Relevant comms

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

In short

I got a reply from a prolific anti-vegan troll and referred them back to an earlier conversation we had. Got banned for "harassment" and "following someone around" when in fact they replied to me and keep following vegans around when they post against anti-vegan propaganda.

The 14-day ban and comment removals by @aeronmelon@lemmy.world: https://lem.lemmy.blahaj.zone/modlog/45638?page=1&actionType=All&modId=6106918&userId=18352111

mod Banned mathemachristian he/him from the community Microblog Memes@lemmy.worldreason: If you have nothing better to do than to follow someone else around.expires: in 13 daysmod Removed Comment Oh hey its you (link to https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/comment/15837346) bymathemachristian he/himreason: Harassment, attempted brigading.mod Removed Comment Oh hey its you (link to https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/comment/15837346) bymathemachristian he/himreason: Harassment, attempted brigading.

And the posts in question:

The comments when I posted them rendered as

Oh hey its you

The link is to a discussion which expanded is this here (The link goes to the comment with the highlighted star):

With background

The person in question is a very dedicated anti-vegan troll who is known to make non-sequitur claims as replies to vegans, in the hopes of roping then into a defensive position under the guise of "debate".

To exemplify this I engaged with them a couple months ago and got a perfect showcase of their behaviour. I had never used this and have never replied to them since then (at least I don't remember that I have and searching didn't turn anything up). But then when they replied to me yesterday I did. And got promptly banned for "harassment" and "following someone around". I messaged the mod who banned me to no reply.

Their behaviour is being enabled by lemmy.world mods like @aeronmelon@lemmy.world who will readily delete comments made by vegans should they dare step a foot outside of the norms of "civilized debate", like e.g. in the same thread (1) and (2). The petulant and incessant trolling by them is of course never subject to such moderation actions.

To any vegan comrades, do not engage this troll, you risk getting banned and your comments deleted.

Apparently I used wrong account to post this. Will have to switch accounts to my blahaj account on occasion to reply to comments, apologies.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Flatworm7591@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Post only about bans or other sanctions that you have received from a mod or admin.

FYI It's not appropriate to use this comm to target a user who has not taken mod actions against you. Please edit your post accordingly. If you wish to report a user, you can do so using the normal channels. This comm is specifically for complaining about power tripping mods/admins.

However, if you feel mods have not taken appropriate action against a reported user, in your opinion, then you can complain about those mods here, preferably without identifying the user in question. In that case, please make sure you explain what mod actions you feel would be more appropriate, so we can have that discussion.

[–] mathemachristian@lemmy.ml 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

This is about the comment removal and ban by @aeronmelon@lemmy.world. Well more the reason for it, I have received many ridiculous bans before, for longer times even, but accusing me of "harassment" and "following someone around" in the modlog where I can't reply is fairly egregious.

I felt this much context was necessary to show why I remembered (and even bookmarked) a discussion I had with the person months ago. It is pretty hard to show that I am not stalking someone so I went with adding as much context as possible.

I agree that the focus very much gets pulled from the mod and to the other user, but this is at it's core about the accusations that got put in the modlog, so that at least I have noted a defense for it while it's still fresh. Since these modlog accusations tend to compound like for e.g. another ban I received for calling out Germany's complicity in the Palestinian genocide citing all the other bans I had received.

It is also to call out the double standard in moderation where this user seems to never be at the receiving end of mod actions despite (rather obviously imo) engaging in bad faith behaviour.

I'll trim it down, please have a look again in 5 minutes. I don't think anonymizing the other party will be possible however since my comment is in direct reply to them, even references a discussion I had with them and ultimately it is an accusation that I'm "following them around". Very hard to talk about while completely omitting who "they" are.

[–] Flatworm7591@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Ok I think that's fair enough, thanks.

[–] mathemachristian@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 weeks ago
[–] YarrMatey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

CLM. This is one of the dedicated anti-vegan trolls we have. Being a sea lion is fine on lemmy, libs care only about being "civil" during these discussions. Lemmy.world's incivility rule is used to silence people all the time. It's no surprise this behavior is still happening, we've had this same thing happen before. Yes it is annoying and off-putting to troll people and then report them. I would say that is being shitty to others, not very genuine / welcoming / cooperative/ authentic / considerate etc. I would love for vegans to feel more comfortable on lemmy and across the fediverse, but until people give a shit this will continue to happen. Hexbear is one of the only instances I know that will ban bad-faith carnists, yes one of the evil boogeymen of the fediverse is not afraid to take a stand. Meanwhile, most instances don't care what their users do during off-instance communities. Always check someone's modlog to see if they have previously been banned for this shit, I think you will find that they have been.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] punkisundead@slrpnk.net 9 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Pointing out that a person was an annoying shithead in a previous conversation about a related topic (and tries to do so again) shouldnt get you banned. But the way you worded it in the removed comment really makes it easy to misunderstand your intent. Did you try to talk about this with the mods before posting here? I think it could be genuine mistake / misunderstanding of the situation.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] remon@ani.social 8 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

Guys posts valid opinions in a threat about veganism, notably NOT in a vegan community. Then you get all stalkery for now reason. If you can't deal with opposing opinion in neutral spaces, block and move on.

YDI.

[–] mathemachristian@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

How did I stalk them? What behaviour of mine constitutes stalking? They replied to me first. To my recollection I never initiated an interaction with them.

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] KombatWombat@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago

PTB. Remembering someone and linking back to an earlier conversation is hardly stalking or harassment, particularly if it's on a similar topic. It's natural to start recognizing the usernames of people that engage in the same spaces as you on a platform as small as Lemmy. And as you pointed out, they replied to your comment, so if anything it would have been them following you around. And while I could see people finding this argument annoying, it's certainly still civil. No one should have been subject to mod action here imo.

[–] jet@hackertalks.com 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

It's clear your very passionate. But your coming across as combative and looking for a fight.

Oh no why won’t the corpsemunchers like me 😢

REALLY looking for a fight.

As someone who has often dipped my toes into this very debate - most people are not looking for a actual discussion - they just want to win. I think this includes you too

No source is ever good enough, no proof ever strict enough etc.

If only there were people who had standards for the evidence they will consider.... https://hackertalks.com/post/15439661

[–] jerkface@lemmy.ca 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

well look who it is

don't engage with this notorious "carnivore diet" promoter.

[–] mathemachristian@lemmy.ml 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Oh this person is a known as well? Thanks for the heads up.

[–] jerkface@lemmy.ca 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

They aren't merely an unconscious carnist, they are extremely psychologically invested in practicing cruelty and violence with intent. They are fucked in the head real real bad. They will take a "reasonable tone" and pretend to be the mature party, but everything they say is twisted into bad faith, and I can't even tell if they know they do it.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] mathemachristian@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (6 children)

That was in direct reply to "Which is probably why no one cares about outspoken vegans". This is a classic blindspot for many nonvegans where the ridicule and rude dismissal of vegans is so normalized it doesn't track as offensive.

Imagine someone saying "that's why no one cares about outspoken anti-trump activists", I think a clapback along the lines of "oh no why won't the fascists like me 😢" would read quite differently to other antifascists than to the fascists who would certainly see it as the replier provoking and not the other way around.

And no, my point isn't to "win" a debate, which is why I rarely engage in debating behavior. I want to push back against popaganda, to make vegan voices heard and to not leave carnist propaganda unchallenged.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com 4 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

It seems like commie is less about anti-veganism and more about anti-poorly-formed-arguments.

[–] mathemachristian@lemmy.ml 7 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Apparently only vegans can make poorly formed arguments however. The carnists are a bastion of logic and reason, no ideological bias whatsoever, this is just your friendly neighborhood cop who polices internet comments that don't constitute a formal argument

[–] A7thStone@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

It seems to me they are more about JAQing off to their own perceived intelligence.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] KombatWombat@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

In the pictured comment chain, the quote text asked OP to prove the absence of something (sentience in plants). Then Commie later admitted that it was impossible to do so. And from the start, the claim that plants are sentient is likely one that no one involved actually believes. I cannot think why you would make such an objection other than to exhaust someone and waste their time.

And even if plants were somehow sentient, it would still be less harmful to eat them directly than raising animals to eat due to the massive calorie loss from going up the food chain. Having animals be a middle man for humanity's consumption would result in more plants being killed, not fewer. OP touched on this briefly in their replies. Meaning that even if it was intended to object to veganism, the argument only adds an additional reason to adopt it.

OP did imply an objection to the plant sentience claim disproved it, which is the wrong response, but only because they should have rejected it out of hand as something unfalsifiable. Commie chose to be pedantic that it could still be true.

There's not enough here to judge Commie as a troll, but they did support a spurious argument much more than OP.

[–] mathemachristian@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (8 children)

I think you are a bit confused about proof and logic, it is possible to prove absence of a property X if the presence of X has a necessary condition Y. Should Y fail, X cannot be present. This is one of the basic tools for proving theorems in math, for example if I can prove that the derivative of a function f is never zero, I can indeed prove that f has no localized minimum or maximum. More formally, given sets A and B we want to prove that their intersection is empty by proving that the complement of A is a superset of B.

Or in more laymans terms (I don't mean to be condescending I have no clue how well you know this stuff and want to cover my bases) If the streets are wet after it has rained, the fact that they are dry is proof of the absence of rain.

So there absolutely is a sufficient condition to prove the absence of sentience, the "ability to experience feelings and sensations". Or rather, there is a necessary condition to having sentience, since at the bare minimum it requires an organism to be capable of collecting sensory inputs, processing them and reacting to them. That is, it needs a nervous system. A lack of such facilities therefore means a lack of sentience.

A tree has no capacity to "feel" what's happening to it's branches. Lopping one of will have the rest of the tree completely unaffected, only the cut will "experience" the change and heal. An animal on the other hand can anticipate (even if erroneously) damage and react to it, by processing input with it's nervous system. A clam will close, a cat might jump, a human might scream etc.

This argument is presented in the link that sparked that comment chain just to be clear.

Now this isn't a formal proof of course. Such a proof would require the careful dissection and experimentation of plants to show that indeed no nervous system or similarly functioning facility is present. I think this is an inappropriate amount of work to ask of someone when arguing on the internet, which is why I would consider the above argument proof enough. Most people I would think can see clearly that salad is not sentient but a pig is. To pin this on the nervous system should also make sense to most and if someone is intrigued by such a topic usually they ask follow-up questions and don't combatively dismiss everything that's said (this argument is wrong therefore the claim is wrong is also some-type of fallacy).

The reason I didn't spell all of this out is because I had enough of these "that's not a proper proof/argument" counterpoints, lazily shifting the burden for even the most trivial arguments on to vegans, which is why I made the point that it is a proof, just not a formal one. That there are different layers of formalization and depending on context being lax can be more appropriate than a formalized argument.

What then followed was a continued stream of claims with 0 arguments provided and a prompt dismissal of the conversation when pushed for even one.

load more comments (8 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] ElcaineVolta@kbin.melroy.org 4 points 3 weeks ago

this troll shows up on every thread about veganism and actively encourages people to download the fucking burger king app of all things, honestly pathetic.

[–] commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 3 weeks ago

Don't word your posts in a way that would trigger such harassment and brigades.

load more comments
view more: next ›