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PSA: Lemmy votes can be manipulated (feddit.nl)

submitted 1 year ago by koper@feddit.nl to c/fediverse@lemmy.ml

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The best part of the fediverse is that anyone can run their own server. The downside of this is that anyone can easily create hordes of fake accounts, as I will now demonstrate.

Fighting fake accounts is hard and most implementations do not currently have an effective way of filtering out fake accounts. I'm sure that the developers will step in if this becomes a bigger problem. Until then, remember that votes are just a number.

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[-] lemming007@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago

What is the definition of a "fake account"?

[-] hawkwind@lemmy.management 6 points 1 year ago

In this context it would be an account with the sole purpose of boosting the visible popularity of a post or comment.

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[-] menturi@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago

I wonder if an instance could only allow votes by users who are part of instances that require email verification or some other verification method. I would imagine that would heavily help reduce vote manipulation on that particular instance.

[-] Derproid@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago

This alone wouldn't help because I can just set up an instance that requires email verification (or any other kind) and automate it still since I can make infinite emails with my own domain.

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[-] danc4498@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Votes are just a number that determine what everybody sees. This will be manipulated by all the bad actors of this world once Lemmy becomes mainstream. Politicians, dictators, Hollywood, tech companies....