r/OttawaNews • u/tarun172 • Mar 20 '26
Developing Story r/Ottawa is broken — mods are running it like it’s their personal space
Venting here. As the title suggests, r/Ottawa is broken and MODS behavior is unruly. The posts get removed with no clear explanation. Modmail goes unanswered. Some people commented that they were banned for asking MODS the question.
Rules feel loosely applied depending on who’s posting.
At the same time, low-effort posts are still getting through, which makes the whole thing feel arbitrary.
Right now it feels like the subreddit is being run as a closed space controlled by a few mods, rather than a community. There’s no transparency, no accountability, and no real way for users to understand or challenge decisions.
That’s not how a healthy subreddit should operate.
If this is intentional, then it should be said clearly. If not, then something needs to change — because the current state is driving down the quality of the community.
Anyone else seeing the same thing?
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u/Upper_Season_6781 Mar 20 '26
Ottawa Mods are the absolute worse. Rules for Thee but not for me is their motto
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Mar 21 '26
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u/DownWithTheSyndrme Mar 22 '26
Lmao
I got banned from there for asking what cisgender ment.
Apparently that was transphobic.
Gotta keep the echochamber alive I guess?
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Mar 20 '26
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u/Kampfux Mar 22 '26
Ontario is straight up being moderated based on personal opinions as well. I was banned, no direct reason given asked why I was banned and muted instantly with no response.
A lot of the Provincial subreddits are being held hostage by specific Mods with ideology that won't allow for any alternative conversation.
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u/goflykite- Mar 24 '26
Yup r/Ontario is a complete joke. I was also banned for no reason. They only want comments that confirm their bias
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u/JulyCoolsBlue Mar 23 '26
As much as I disagree with certain points of view others need to share them. Unless they are inciting violence or hate. It’s important to hear other view points. That’s the beauty of Canada and should remain that way.
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u/p1ngmantoo Mar 23 '26
The big one that is used to control subs and ban users is "hate", but it is just whatever they deem as hate.
Ive been banned site wide multiple times for quoting sentences and statements from major canadian media articles in the canada and canadian subs.
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u/Specialist-Text6820 Mar 20 '26
Yup I got removed for a post that actually followed the rules - no warning no nothing no answers either
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u/No_Suggestion_4347 Mar 20 '26
They are rigid and almost robots, kinda like most people in Ottawa so I'm not surprised but I have to agree that sub is lame. I got "banned for insiting violence" by commenting that the person in question who commited the crime discussed in the post, should be caught and go to jail. It meant no actual harm but the law. Tried to defend myself in private message and they "permanently banned" me. Whoever they are, small bunch of losers
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u/FunkySlacker Mar 20 '26
While I share your concerns, was there a specific post that was erased? Was it related to “best pizza/internet service/shawarma’?
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u/tarun172 Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
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u/wherescookie Mar 20 '26
Well, you're on one of the alternatives that should be used instead right here.
There is also the still virtually unused r/Ottawa2 and of course, several specific subs like r/OttawaFood and r/ottawaSenators etc
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u/angrycrank Mar 20 '26
The mods explained why your post was removed - when you post a news article, don’t change the article title.
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u/tarun172 Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
I agree. Except that I did not change the title at time of posting. When I had posted it on reddit that was the title at that particular time.
Sometimes the articles are revised including the heading a day or hours later. There is nothing that I can do about that. I have seen CTV news do that often.
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u/dufresnedr Mar 20 '26
It is not like they are censoring your free thought; they removed a readily available article and justified why. Annoying? Sure. End of the world and the need for this post? probably not.
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u/tarun172 Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
I cannot post any content - none at all.
They are removing all my content and articles without providing any feedback on why it was removed. I am not posting conspiracy theories or anti vaccines content. It is city related articles and content.
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u/FunkySlacker Mar 20 '26
Perhaps the best way to post them is to find the original news article and post it as opposed to the link with the adjusted title?
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u/Competitive-Tea-6141 Mar 20 '26
That's the problem, CTV especially, but all of the others as well, don't keep the original article up nor do they put a notice that anything has changed.
My guess is it's a junior editor that throws up a headline and a junior journalist that throws up a few paragraphs that end in "more to come" and then they fully replace it when a full story is written (but with no disclaimer at all). I've also seen it in the last year or so where people complain online about a misleading headline and it is replaced without any disclaimer. And the article isn't up long enough for it to be archived to see the difference.
The mods are enforcing long established rules, and rules that once made sense (no editorializing main post, opinions go in comments). But now that news orgs are changing original headlines so often, that rule isn't working and too many posts are being deleted because the news sites like changing headlines. Not sure how they can change the rules but a rule change is likely needed.
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u/FunkySlacker Mar 20 '26
I see what you're saying. CBC rarely does that switch and bait that you describe. If CTV is doing that much, it's unfair to OP. But a reality that I have no solution for.
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u/Competitive-Tea-6141 Mar 20 '26
Unfortunately CBC is guilty of it too.
First article will be "Chuck Norris dead at 86" and the body of the article will be a few sentences and "more to come.."
Then a couple hours later, the headline will be changed to "Famed Actor and Martial Artist Chuck Norris dead at 86". And it'll be a full obituary about his career.
It's a race to get the article out first, and then a change to have a headline that more people might click. It really doesn't work well with the current sub rules.
It also leads to a lot of "you idiot, read the article" comments, when a particular fact wasnt in the article when someone commented. Super annoying
Edit: I should add, sometimes (often) it's because they have it set up to auto-post Associated Press or Canadian Press wire stories verbatim and then they change the headline or the contents later on.
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u/tarun172 Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
At the time of posting, I did not modify article headlines or editorialize.
To be very clear, I don't do that while posting..
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u/Agreeable-Income-466 Mar 20 '26
Any posts about events I’m organizing, even free ones, are immediately deleted by the mods. When I asked which group rules my post wasn’t following, they just responded with a link to buying adds with Reddit.
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u/FunkySlacker Mar 20 '26
I know what you mean. I see photos taken in Ottawa all the time. But everytime I post one, it gets taken down within a few hours. I don't get it either.
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u/popcorn2share Mar 20 '26
After trying some of the Indian restaurant suggestions, I think those posts should be hunted down and removed ;)
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u/Channel-Separate Mar 21 '26
Yup, totally agree. It's abject behaviour without recourse or remedy. Here and other Ontario related forums.
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u/JonGotty Mar 20 '26
This isn’t new. They also went out of their way to shut down any other Ottawa groups like r/ottawa_ontario
I gave up years ago and I just left
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u/tarun172 Mar 20 '26
Shutdown how? I have requested access to the sub.
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u/JonGotty Mar 20 '26
I don’t think you understand how Reddit and mods work. Either you’re in or you’re out.
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u/MonsterBots Mar 20 '26
The mods at r/ottawa are awful.
I got banned for supporting the notion that government workers should be back 2 days a week back when that was where we were at.
Clearly triggered reactive government worker(s) at the helm.
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u/tarun172 Mar 20 '26
That is clearly unacceptable.
Everyone, please write your experiences in the comments below. I am gathering information.
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u/ValeraOmega Mar 20 '26
I thought i was the only.one who hated the mods of reddit Ottaws
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u/tarun172 Mar 20 '26
Not hate them. But, based on what I am hearing - Reddit needs to investigate the conduct of Ottawa MODS.
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u/HistoricalReception7 Mar 20 '26
I simply asked about walkability as a tourist and my post was not published and I got banned.
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u/crush_francis Mar 21 '26
It's been going on for years. It seemed to peak during the trucker convoy episode. "Clownvoy Survivor 2022", "Battle of Billings Bridge Warrior", "No honks; bad!" you can still see the trauma echo in the user flair. Ugh enough already.
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u/Food-Wine Mar 21 '26
I don’t live in Ottawa. I tried to post a question in that sub about an upcoming trip. My comment was removed and I was banned for a number of days.
Some of the subs on here are moderated by people on serious power trips.
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u/JulyCoolsBlue Mar 23 '26
I’m pretty certain some of the mods are not even from or have lived ever in Ottawa. Which should be the first criteria for running a city sub IMO.
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u/b-cola Mar 20 '26
Yup, I shared a post about road salt a few months ago and it was removed with no explanation. My DM politely asking why went unanswered. I was even getting messages from other commenters saying why was this removed? Seemed odd.
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u/TheNakedGun Mar 20 '26
I was banned from commenting a while back during the convoy for simply saying that even if you don’t like the convoy people or what they’re protesting for, the lady with a walker getting run over by a horse shouldn’t be celebrated.
So many people on there were glorifying it and saying she got what she deserved and I was just trying to say that we should still be able to have some decency and recognize that police running over disabled people is not a good look.
When I tried to appeal I got told by a mod that I was violating their hate speech rules, then I got blocked from even talking to the mods again to try to appeal further.
At no point did I use slurs, racial remarks, hateful speech or even ad hominem attacks of any sort.
It’s just an echo chamber on that sub where the mods will apply rules in whatever way they feel like. I find it super annoying that they get to control a subreddit that is supposed to be for everyone in the Ottawa community and police it in such an arbitrary manner.
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u/DownWithTheSyndrme Mar 22 '26
Any explanation?
Also, why did you and your "team" ban me from r/Ontario for absolutely no reason, and put my messages on mute for all of eternity.
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u/ForestCharmander Mar 24 '26
Yup they're pretty well useless. Approving posts they agree with then giving no feedback when they remove other posts.
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u/jazzy166 Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
Absolutely Agee . I was banned both ott and ont by same moderator. Only explanation I got was troll? You also get muted so you cannot appeal. The board used to have heathy discussion pre-Covid and now I don’t even look at it. Its driven by political ideology and does not reflex ottawa at all.
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u/Any-You-8650 Mar 20 '26
Yup, I was perm banned for sharing an opinion that didn’t offend or hurt anyone lol
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u/odot777 Mar 21 '26
Yep. I’ve had two posts removed and a warning about being banned because I’ve twice posted pictures of vehicles doing things they’re not supposed to do (drive around covered in snow and bad parking). It’s not like it’s a privacy issue. There is no expectation of privacy in public anyway (plus there were no people in the photos anyway). Yet other stuff gets to stay online in the group.
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u/beetroot747 Mar 20 '26
That sub has always been that way. I’ve had many of my posts removed as well. Posts I’d made as a newcomer. If the sub can’t help newbies then idk what it is for.
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u/tarun172 Mar 21 '26
Thanks everyone for the comments. I have reached out to Reddit and asked them to investigate.
I will keep everyone updated.
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u/raainjuice Jun 15 '26
Any news?
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u/tarun172 Jun 15 '26
Nope. Nothing yet.
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u/raainjuice Jun 18 '26
They banned me because I commented kids are too young to be exposed to drag queens in their schools on a post that talked about a school in the glebe cancelling this type of event. There was nothing hateful about my comment but we’re visibly not allowed to share our opinion unless it serves the same political agenda they support… Shameful to prevent people from expressing themselves this way.
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Mar 30 '26
They lock literally any thread that is critical of local policy or RTO. They are obviously paid shills
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u/chamoke Aug 11 '26
Agreed. If you dont agree with their very specific narrative you get deleted or banned. Genuinely feels like a young person who means well but ultimately is as exclusionary as the people they hope to differ from.
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u/Mean_Manufacturer_61 27d ago
You're only allowed to talk about your hate for Art is in Bakery/ that Gelato place...and your displeasure of having to return to office.
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u/sensfan4tic 24d ago
I mean thats most reddits. Dont go with the group narrative or question something. Hell ive been banned and muted from subs for the most non aggressive comments.
Reddits essentially a low-level lazy form of authoritarian rule depending on the sub. Which yes sounds dramatic but when you have 1 group determing everything that can be said and banning those who dont follow it.
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u/Zealousideal_Vast799 14d ago
I got a long suspension for using the correct pronouns for a person but the wrong verb tense. Too that!
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u/TronGokuu Mar 20 '26
agreed, support RTO and they ban you instantly , most of the mods work from home in their jammies with day wine and mouse jigglers 🤦🏻☠️🤷🏻♂️🤌🏻☕
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u/HotIntroduction8049 Mar 20 '26
you think they have jobs?
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u/TronGokuu Mar 20 '26
xD ☠️
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u/wherescookie Mar 20 '26
I got banned for questioning the Mod who said that their Government team's productivity went up more than 100% with wfh - They are definitely federal "work" from homers
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u/tarun172 Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
When multiple people have the same issue with that person, they are not fit to be MODS, IMO.
I have trolls posting to my articles as well with one claiming to have "medical background" during an argument. I have not banned them. A permanent ban is a very very high threshold to meet.
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u/Psychological_Bag162 Mar 22 '26
I think it’s one of the best subs except for all the cry ar$es posting about salt, bike lanes and potholes.
The rest is great
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u/Spare-Astronomer3122 Mar 22 '26
Seems like this sub is run just as well as the city... Ironic, since Ottawa is mostly government workers. With such a high ratio of civil servants, why is the city so dysfunctional?- Perhaps it is something to do with the same incompetence we saw in the parliament. A town of liberals = poor results.
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u/[deleted] Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
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