Lead Lemmy Developer, Dessalines, denying the Tiananmen Square Massacre and praising the Uyghur Genocide

https://sh.itjust.works/post/8419342

Dessalines AKA “parentis_shotgun” on Reddit, is the main Lemmy dev, also the admin of lemmy.ml and lemmygrad.ml.

Their post and discussions on Reddit (archive as the original post must have been removed):

https://web.archive.org/web/20230626055233/https://old.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/cqgztr/fuck_the_white_supremacist_reddit_admins_want_me/

Please join the discussions for Lemmy.ml tankie censorship problem:

https://lemmy.world/post/16211417

And the discussions for finding/creating alternative communities on other instances:

https://lemmy.world/post/16235541

What is a tankie?

Tankie is a pejorative label generally applied to authoritarian communists, especially those who support acts of repression by such regimes or their allies. More specifically, the term has been applied to those who express support for one-party Marxist–Leninist socialist republics, whether contemporary or historical.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankie

  • nahuse@sh.itjust.works
    191·
    22 days ago

    To clarify, since this topic is something that I have experienced quite a lot over my two months here, now: I do not have any problem whatsoever with tankie/communist/leftist politics. I also don’t have a problem with people discussing them.

    What I do have a problem with is:

    • ad hom attacks calling me a “lib” when I question whether authoritarianism on the left is really much better than authoritarianism on the right
    • unequal moderation, ie. being banned/having comments deleted for giving the same bitchy energy I receive over the course of a debate, without the same enforcement of the other user
    • having a long conversation, in good faith, about politics, media, and disinformation, including providing sources and reading sources in return, with mods and then finding the entire thread deleted because I said something critical of China, or insisted on alternative, nongovernmental sources for news
    • having these activities result in bans from subs that I have never commented in, and being unable to appeal or understand them

    And I think it’s ok to think that these practices are inherently bad for a social media platform, and working with others to advocate against those practices.

    • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.socialEnglish
      58·
      22 days ago

      The entire point of federated social media is there isn’t centralized control: every instance is able to set their own rules and enforce them how they choose to. They don’t have to allow you to use their instance and you don’t have to allow them yours.

      “I don’t like how they’re moderating me” - well good thing they built the platform so you can choose moderation that suits you better

      • nahuse@sh.itjust.works
        112·
        22 days ago

        I understand your point, but when a group of ideologues has de facto control over one of/some of the largest entities on a social media platform, and bans people for ideology without warning, explanation, or recourse, this amounts to centralized control, or at the very least undue influence.

        For me personally, it wouldn’t be a big issue if .ml made its bend and moderation practices clear, because I could have avoided the headache when I was first using lemmy. I wouldn’t choose to engage with a forum that has “no critique of any country that calls itself Communist is allowed, anywhere, ever, for any reason, or we will bar you from participating in all communities on this platform” and I’m sure a lot of others feel the same way. What’s more, I bet the admin of .ml know that, too, and keep these practices opaque because they are interested in new users.

        Why don’t .ml users retreat to hexbear or lemmygrad, if making the moderation practices on one of the largest instances fair is so odious?

        • Facebones@reddthat.com
          64·
          22 days ago

          Why don’t the all the pro ML users leave the .ML instance

          Hey, look, its why nobody takes you seriously.

            • Facebones@reddthat.com
              73·
              22 days ago

              You’re arguing that the people who BUILT LEMMY and the people who have been around long before some Reddit drama should bail on their own instance, built to be their instance for their purposes, for YOUR comfort.

              Maybe re-evaluate what “being an asshole” means before you go around calling people names.

        • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.socialEnglish
          67·
          22 days ago

          Why don’t .ml users retreat to hexbear or lemmygrad, if making the moderation practices on one of the largest instances fair is so odious?

          lmao the gall of complaining about not being allowed to espouse your ideological opinion on their instance, and then suggesting they should be the ones to retreat to a different space.

          For me personally, it wouldn’t be a big issue if .ml made its bend and moderation practices clear, because I could have avoided the headache when I was first using lemmy.

          Well it seems like all those people are able to understand and live by those moderation practices just fine, maybe it’s a good thing that you’re not on .ml? Lemmy.ml has been happily existing as their own thing and their own rules, don’t you think it’s a little backwards that you’re suggesting they relinquish their community so that… what, everyone who’s not currently a part of .ml can move in? Is this a new form of digital colonialism I’m just not aware of?

          If you really don’t like .ml then block them, or get your instance admins to de-federate, or, idk, maybe just know whose house you’re in when you’re engaging in arguments along ideological fault lines? They have a different opinion than you and don’t tolerate users who push that boundary, that doesn’t sound unreasonable when there are 600 or so other servers you could move to or start your own. If they haven’t banned you outright congratulations, you get another chance to participate.

          IDK, I’ve somehow managed to avoid more than 1 or 2 comment removals on any of the instances (despite being infamous in .world for getting into it all the fucking time) over the last year, maybe it’s not a problem with their moderation but a problem with… dare I say it?.. you?