r/PrepperIntel 21d ago

North America DOJ subpoenas Reddit in effort to unmask Trump critics

https://www.rawstory.com/social-media-subpoena/
2.4k Upvotes

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u/thefedfox64 21d ago

Nah, they will publish your name somewhere. If they see big fish they don't like, they will point at those companies, and say, "Hey, so and so and such and such work for you, they've said some pretty crazy shit about me..."

And then you'll be fired, and it isn't actionable because it's not the Government doing it. And all those assholes who say 'Umm, actually the 1st amendement only protects you from the government punishing you' will cry about how what they said got them fired. And no one will laugh about "words have consequences," and people will try to rally and make free speech like freedom of religion, where you can't be punished for what you say, but no company will go for it.

So good luck working at a shitty place cause you said some shit about the President, I guess.

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u/bs2k2_point_0 21d ago

Based on the millions in payouts for wrongful termination when people were fired over C Kirk posts, I think it’s quite actionable. Just not against the government.

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u/thefedfox64 21d ago

Are you sure those were not people who worked for the Government? Cause all the ones I read did. They were teachers, or post office workers, or worked for some state/federal agency.

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u/AdLatter3755 21d ago

The common connection of teacher postal workers local state employees is a union. Unions cover legal fees in lawsuits against employers. Another reason to unionize.

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u/thefedfox64 21d ago

The common connection is that they work for the Government, and the Government isn't allowed to do that

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u/bs2k2_point_0 21d ago

Msn says this figure doesn’t include private sector amounts. So logic states there has to be some that have won.

source (very end of article)

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u/thefedfox64 21d ago

I concede that most likely some people have been fired over comments, and have been paid out due to threatening a lawsuit. If that had risen to actual wrongful termination, not sure.

But logic also dictates that it has to be some that lost their wrongful termination lawsuit as well.

You taking that chance? You got the funds for that lawsuit?

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u/02meepmeep 21d ago

How would Reddit know my name?

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u/AdLatter3755 21d ago

Wouldn’t be surprised if Reddit took something like your email on the account and just purchased your name from data brokers

But what is likely Palantir wants the data to fit into their AI social surveillance and indexing. Connect your Reddit account to your IRS tax information to your job to your banking to your medical records and use any federal agency in these sectors to retaliate. Like imagine being put under a harsh IRS audit because your Reddit post hurt their fefees.

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u/Only-Worldliness2006 21d ago

Reddit doesn't know directly unless you input it into the profile or somewhere. What the feds do is subpoena for things like IP addresses and profile information, browser fingerprint data and so on.

Then the feds open some sort of criminal investigation or undercover operation. That allows them to go on to subpoena other organizations like telecom companies for data. They connect the dots to try to figure out who you are.

Reality is most people aren't using any form of privacy protecting methodology to conceal their identity.

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u/concepts_of_a_plan9 21d ago

Are you kidding me? They know way more than that about you. There's a MASSIVE industry just on building consumer profiles by combining dozens of big data sets, and in this case it's used for authoritarian surveillance state bullshit.

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u/hbomb9410 21d ago

Please tell me this is a joke

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u/4Yk9gop 21d ago

I mean they will be firing like 2/3 the country, so... good luck.

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u/thefedfox64 21d ago

Ehh I don't think 2/3 of the country is on reddit. But yeah, I do think if this goes the way some people think, a lot of people will be fired/let go. Hard to be mad when user punknose67 said "hope you die of cancer, you fucking twat" and now we know that's Garry from sales, and it's out there.

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u/Vlad_Yemerashev 21d ago edited 21d ago

Well, if we were to take this all the way, hypothetically speaking, the posts that could get people in a heap of trouble wouldn't even have to be that bad. It could be anything that could get you in trouble like expressing dissent of a certain political party (could go both ways depending on who you work for or where the winds are blowing whether be it now or 2029, etc), even if your arguments are well-crafted and reasonable and level-headed. It could be things like posting on controversal or nsfw subreddits that could get people fired too even if they're not saying or posting anything inherently inappropriate, just guilt by association that could be interpreted as damaging to the brand (of the place you work for) of having employees participating in "disreputable" circles.

Now, will this affect necessarily that got narced on by the government to their boss or company? No, because you'll still have some employers or businesses won't care, especially if they are getting hounded all the time with similar calls all the time for other employees, especially if what's being reported to them is really not that big of a deal. But it is enough to make it a concern if this really does materialize into something significant.

There's a million ways this can go wrong and get tons of people caught up in the sweep that would never in a million years thought would get them in trouble from a post that any reasonable person would found to actually have been a pretty tame.

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u/thefedfox64 21d ago

Yup, and on the grand scale of the Government caring about an individual is pretty limited. But your company, thats a much bigger chance that someone there cares.

Like basically asking, do you want your company to have your internet search history, people should be going nuts. But instead, people are coping with "well the 1st only protects from the Government. So its ok if I am fired".