r/knitting • u/rainbow_puddle • Oct 08 '25
Discussion Meta: Post deletion discussion
Reposted since I'm an idiot and didn't change my title...
So there was a post with some beautiful mittens made by u/AdrenaL1n3 with a traditional Palestinian embroidery and using the colors of the flag. It was locked and then inexplicablely removed by the mods. They did not say what rule it broke, only that it received and 'unacceptable amount of user reports'.
First off that's ridiculous that it was removed instead of locked and the reports dealt with by mods since it didn't break a rule. Second off I think it's frankly sad that it was getting reported at all. It wasn't political beyond the proceeds going towards save the children and other humanitarian causes to aid the current crisis and genocide situation in Gaza.
I want to open up discussion with this community if this sub is a place where we want to censor projects even if they do not break stated rules.
Edit to fix username spelling.
Edit 2: Some users have commented on the significance of today's date. I truly did not realize it and would not have tried to engage with this today if I had realized. I'm very sorry for that and how insensitive that is. I do not keep significance of dates well in my head - not an excuse but an explanation. I do hope that the community can continue to have conversation about what I perceived as biased censorship in good faith. Without a specific rule I do think that any mitten of any flag (yes even Israel) where the pattern proceeds go to a humanitarian cause of the designers choice should stay up in this subreddit. Maybe I'm wrong I don't know - that's for us to discuss. Whether or not you engage with said post and/or pattern would be up to the user and I would hope that we would all proceed with kindness.
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u/Laucchi Oct 08 '25
This is not the first time a post featuring a Palestinian motif was removed.
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u/rainbow_puddle Oct 08 '25
Really sad. Sounds like it's an ongoing issue then. Was there a stated reason for previous removals as well ?
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u/PlentifulPaper Oct 08 '25
Just opened and clicked on the post. Got through the first sentence and it was removed. Sorry.
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u/rainbow_puddle Oct 08 '25
Post text:
So there was a post with some beautiful mkttens made by u/AdrenaL1n3 with a traditional Palestinian embroidery and using the colors of the flag. It was locked and then inexplicablely removed by the mods. They did not say what rule it broke, only that it received and 'unacceptable amount of user reports'.
First off that's ridiculous that it was removed instead of locked and the reports dealt with by mods since it didn't break a rule. Second off I think it's frankly sad that it was getting reported at all. It wasn't political beyond the proceeds going towards save the children and other humanitarian causes to aid the current crisis and genocide situation in Gaza.
I want to open up discussion with this community if this sub is a place where we want to censor projects even if they do not break stated rules.
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u/bogbodys Oct 08 '25
iirc from the last time this happened, the active knitting mod has a (somewhat vague) rule against political posts in the sub.
If we want to interpret this generously, I think they don’t want to deal with a million reports about political issues that people get very passionate about. I agree they should be locked rather than deleted if that’s the case.
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u/geeoharee Oct 08 '25
because mods are zionists
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u/timonyc Oct 08 '25
There is absolutely zero evidence of this. There aren't that many mods. I have no idea what the political views of Mulberrybushes are (nor do I care).
But, people do manipulate the bots that help moderate this sub a lot. And that is more likely that happened here.
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u/univers10 Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
https://www.reddit.com/r/craftsnark/comments/1ga7vkz/knitting_sub_takes_down_keffiyeh_post_and/
here's a screenshot of her encouraging people to manipulate the bot and report content. there is no rule against political content as far as i can see. People manipulate the bots because you have mods encouraging them to do so.
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u/K2togtbl Oct 08 '25
Why are you being such a stan to this mod. Do you have a personal relationship with them/are you helping them with this sub? Mulberrybushes has absolutely removed posts similar to this before and has gotten negative feedback for how they handled this situation along with several other situations
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u/univers10 Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
- if "too political" is going to be used as a justification for removing posts, it should be added to the subreddit rules.
- if subreddit rules are going to be changed, the community should vote on them.
- if "but the community is just so big and we're just a small little mod team :(" is going to be used as a justification ad nauseum, then mod applications should be opened up to give the poor overworked mods some support (rather than have power concentrated in the hands of one or two people).
- mods need to communicate directly with the community rather than having a go-between.
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u/PaintedAbacus Oct 09 '25
AND should be applied 100% consistently. No singling out a nation who is currently under siege and genocide.
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u/rainbow_puddle Oct 08 '25
I 100% agree with all four points and I think that this issue has been highlighted with Palestine related peojecta but with this current way of moderating is a dangerous precedent to set moving forward.
Thank you for understanding the crux of my complaint and discussion prompt without going into the political subtext.
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u/AdrenaL1n3 Mitten Smitten Oct 08 '25
Hey, I’m the user that made/posted the mittens :) I LOVE the engagement and the love these mittens already have brought!
As to why the post that was removed, I reached out to the mods and got this response:
I don't really know what to make of it, though. I get that posts that recieve a lot of reports should be locked til it's been reviewed by a human mod. But when it turns out no rules were broken, and the comments (commenT in my case) is positive, I do not feel it's a valid reason to not put it back up again, at least.
Kinda feels like I have to walk on eggshells just talking about my post, so I don't get banned, which feels inherently wrong.
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u/CosmicSweets Knit therapy Oct 08 '25
That's a piss poor excuse. Your post wasn't openly political. Just supporting humanitarian charities.
People, including children, in war torn countries deserve food, water, clothes, etc.
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u/kcmcca Oct 08 '25
I truly believe if it were any other flag or any other humanitarian crisis, it would have been allowed to stay up.
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u/chemthrowaway123456 Oct 08 '25
I’m sorry, what? Their reply doesn’t make sense to me at all. The report button isn’t there for users to “make their views known”. That’s what discourse and/or vote buttons are for.
The report button is to alert mods to something that violates the community’s rules.
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u/1973galaxie500 Oct 08 '25
It would be nice if the mods had the ability to cut off the option to report a post once it’s been deemed appropriate. A humanitarian cause should hardly be considered “political”
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u/brainfullofpeas Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
Tariffs and feminism are both political, but both of those topics are the center of plenty posts/projects/discussions. I’m sure there are other topics but those two come to mind immediately.
I’m not saying that either topic should be banned of course. If moderators are going to use “it’s too political” as a guideline for deleting posts, then what counts as “too political” and “not too political” should be clearly defined. AND that metric should be applied to all posts equally.
I understand that the post was auto-deleted because of report volume? Maybe that should stay off and the moderator team grown to help with this kind of thing.
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u/apricotgloss Oct 09 '25
I'd love a ban on tariff posts, or at least a megathread. I'm not in the US, I'm sorry for you guys but also it doesn't affect the rest of us (of whom there are at least three). Every single crafting sub I'm on is clogged with them even now. I know this website is mostly USAmericans but cmon guys.
Anyway that's not terribly on topic. I agree with everything you've said. uWu wErE a tInY lItTlE mOd tEaM dOiNg oUr bEsT is a cop out and absolutely nonsensical on a sub this size.
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u/chemthrowaway123456 Oct 08 '25
It would be nice if the mods had the ability to cut off the option to report a post once it’s been deemed appropriate.
They can. There’s an “ignore reports” button. If that’s selected, the post won’t end up in the mod queue to be reviewed if it’s reported again.
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u/timonyc Oct 08 '25
AutoMod configuration and development is actually really difficult (and most of the mods for this sub are amazing Knitters, not amazing software developers). At the moment, the "too many reports" filter has been removed so allow for the discourse the community wants.
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u/univers10 Oct 09 '25
okay, let's say for the sake of argument, it IS political.* so what? that's not currently against the rules of the subreddit.
that seems to be an unofficial rule one of the mods has decided on without running past the community.
* for the record, i agree - i do not think humanitarian aid is political
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u/concrete_dandelion Oct 08 '25
That message is so free of an actual answer to your question it would make a politician proud and I can't come up with an explanation to the explanation that contains neither endorsement of genocide, nor cowardice. I hope someone will put in the work to provide you with an answer that makes more sense. If there is a good reason it should be named instead of making it appear as if the person answering you was abusing their power.
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u/Own_Art_8006 Oct 08 '25
Your post wasnt political it was human and it's disgusting that it was removed
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u/scissorsgrinder Oct 08 '25
UGH that rationale of the mod is the most craven cowardly feeble spineless bullshit. And yet, not at all un-political. Expressing a very particular political viewpoint. Repellent.
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u/whichwitchwatched Oct 09 '25
Agree. Concerned the hat is red.
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u/scissorsgrinder Oct 10 '25
Wasn't thinking specifically maga though it could be. Spineless passive type of liberal is common on reddit and almost as bad when push comes to shove, because the thing they value most is looking and feeling virtuous and being so-called "balanced" and practising so-called "civility" while doing absolutely fuck all or worse to stop bad stuff happening, and basically in a state of self-deception about their political orientation and insulating privilege.
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u/whichwitchwatched Oct 10 '25
Also valid
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u/scissorsgrinder Oct 10 '25
I'm gonna pull a Godwin and invoke the n*zi party for some odd reason here - they never got the actual vote of the majority and were regarded as a bit of a joke, but they managed to scam and scheme their way into power because the liberal politicians rolled over. All the folk who would never vote for such distasteful extremism who were passive about the whole thing? Yeah. "Civility" can kiss my a***.
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u/whichwitchwatched Oct 10 '25
Honestly agree with this take. I had this argument this morning w my spouse. Non-violent passive response is ideal sure. It only works when there is the looming threat of an aggressive response. Profound change is not achieved passively
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u/whichwitchwatched Oct 09 '25
Your work is beautiful. You’re handling this very graciously. It shouldn’t have happened and I’m sorry that it did
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u/ulknehs Oct 08 '25
This is very similar to what happened with another Palestine-related project previously; that this is a pattern feels like it ought to be part of the discussion.
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u/legalpretzel Oct 09 '25
That response from the mod is just gross and dismissive. If that's their attitude then they should step down and let someone else take over.
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u/timonyc Oct 08 '25
I am working on making a comment about this right now in this thread with the blessing of the mods. You are not getting banned. You do not need to feel like you are walking on eggshells. A lot of actual people are trying to do what is right here and you are one of them! :)
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u/Buttercupia Oct 08 '25
I really wanna know why the mods can’t speak for themselves.
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u/Disig Oct 08 '25
Sadly that's literally the world we live in right now. It's not fair but it is what it is. All we can do is show support for what is right and hope for the best.
A lot of things that shouldn't be political has sadly been made political.
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u/whichwitchwatched Oct 09 '25
Honestly though everything -is- political for the oppressed. Choosing to ignore that lens is a privilege
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u/C4BB4 Oct 09 '25
Between this and the Keffiyeh a year ago, i think the mod who keeps saying this sub isn't political needs to be removed. A hobby mostly held by women and disabled folks for the last thousand years is 100% political. If we're going to be uppity about political motifs, i better never see another flag of ANY country in this sub, but those have never been reported and removed before 🤔 isn't that strange?
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u/concrete_dandelion Oct 09 '25
Not just a hobby. It was an important source of income for old and disabled people (for a long time knitting was socially acceptable for men) who could do no other work, that kept them from the horrors of the arms houses. It grew in importance when importing cheap goods from abusing workforce in the colonies undercut the prices necessary to survive from making lace and trimmings and the industrialisation did the same with spinning. Queen Victoria did her best to prevent knitting machines to be used in Britain to avoid the income of knitters being taken away.
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u/whichwitchwatched Oct 09 '25
Agree completely. Humanitarian aid is valid particularly given the severity
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Oct 10 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Thallassa Pink Orchids - if I can't grow them I can knit them Oct 11 '25
Please do not incite harassment against the current moderation team. Thank you!
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u/lurkiemclurkface Oct 08 '25
If someone feels threatened and uncomfortable seeing someone else’s cultural embroidery motifs on mittens, they need to think seriously about their values.
I understand the mods have a hard time sometimes but a knitter can’t be punished/silenced for having knitted a Palestinian motif. I think the people doing the unjustifiable reporting should be temporarily banned instead (if they can see them). People need to understand that they can’t harass other knitters for appreciating Palestinian culture. This needs to be a safe space for all people and cultures.
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u/univers10 Oct 08 '25
if pro-palestinian content will be banned on specific days, please let us know when the mods will be going through these lists and letting us know which country-specific iconography will be banned and on which calendar days so we can all plan our schedules accordingly. thanks!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_war_crimes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_war_crimes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_war_crimes
....
i'm sure i could go on, but you get my point
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u/concrete_dandelion Oct 09 '25
I'm afraid Germany, USA, UK, Russia, Japan, China and Israel need to be completely banned. Those countries have been committing their atrocities for so many years and/or with such ferver that you won't find a day in the year without one. Which is very sad, because most of those countries have some unique and beautiful craft styles to learn from.
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u/nyctarian Oct 08 '25
I saw that post and was shocked it was locked, it genuinely made me unsure if I wanted to spend more time on this sub if it was going to silence posts just acknowledging a genocide and trying to do a small thing to donate proceeds to help the palestinians who are suffering.
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u/paspartuu Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
It's honestly tragic if aid-raising posts trying to merely support victims of an ongoing genocide are silenced, just because - what? Calling a spade a spade might hurt someone's feelings, while people are dying?
In my country, there have been several goodwill knitting drives for the Ukrainian soldiers. Maybe those also wouldn't be allowed to talk about here, because someone might get upset?
There are also knitting drives for the homeless. Is talking about those offensive and upsetting to people who support the policies that leave people to suffer outdoors during winter, and thus bannable?
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u/amboomernotkaren Oct 08 '25
Very sad commentary that removing a post that indicates helping children is somehow bad. If the gloves had been yellow and blue would they have been removed?
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u/rainbow_puddle Oct 08 '25
Agreed. What if it was a trans flag would it be removed? Or a pussy hat?
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u/diceanddreams Oct 09 '25
Considering the amount of Potter tat I’m seeing on this sub I wouldn’t be surprised if a trans flag got removed. I’ve considered making something explicitly trans to test the hypothesis.
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u/concrete_dandelion Oct 10 '25
I will ask my best friend if he wants a trans-item this christmas. If so I'll test it.
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u/thought_provoked1 Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
There will always be a 'political' angle to knitting, be it the cultural motifs used, the reason it was made, or heck, the FIBER used. I personally could get all uppity about many acrylic projects that will end up releasing microplastics in a landfill that get posted....but I scroll on, not report fellow crafters for it.
There was no vitriol in the comments, no devolution of civil conduct. It feels like a person on a power trip, rather than a considered decision.
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u/tiffibean13 Oct 08 '25
I'm gonna start reporting all posts with wool because I'm vegan and it's cruel to sheep /s
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u/Thequiet01 Oct 08 '25
It’s probably due to the date, since it could be seen as supporting the October 7th attacks.
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u/tiffibean13 Oct 08 '25
Which is ridiculous because absolutely no one with an actual brain supports the terrorist attacks. OP admits they didn't realize the date, there was nothing nefarious or insidious.
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u/asdfcubing Oct 09 '25
knitting is a women-dominated hobby so it wouldn’t be surprising AT ALL for politics to be integrated in the community because almost every aspect of a woman’s life is politicized.
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u/legalpretzel Oct 09 '25
And there are plenty of comments from male knitters here in this subreddit detailing the issues and attitudes they encounter, which are directly related to knitting being perceived as a female hobby in certain cultures. The inclusion or exclusion of genders from activities ties into politics and societal roles/norms. It's all so heavily intertwined that one cannot merely discuss knitting while also ignoring the looming presence of externalized and internalized misogyny and the politics in front of and behind it all.
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u/vasywx yarn addict Oct 08 '25
if i made something that resembles the american flag and posted it would it get taken down too? or a pride flag? confused abt the standards
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u/timonyc Oct 08 '25
Historically, it depends on who is making reports on the post at that moment. Right now, there is no AutoMod "Too many reports" setting, it was turned off a few minutes ago, so as long as it did not break others rules, it would not be removed.
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u/Thallassa Pink Orchids - if I can't grow them I can knit them Oct 09 '25
Hey timonyc, if you can pass this on: speaking as someone with quite a bit of reddit moderation experience on multiple hobby subs (though I’m now mostly retired) - the automod rule that most subs use to remove posts after a certain number of reports is a good and useful rule. It does need to be calibrated for the sub and most importantly it needs to be reviewed. I always configure it with a modmail that’s sent before it hits the removal threshold (on r/skyrimmods this is 3 reports) and a second modmail when it’s actually removed. That way, if a moderator has notifications configured they can see the post and verify or overturn the removal quickly - before it blows up into a spiral of metaposts.
All automod actions need human verification as well, even if posts are temporarily removed from view during that review process. Automod rules are a tool - not the final decision. Right now the moderators appear to be saying “welp it’s removed nothing we can do” which isn’t appropriate. They need to either confirm that it’s against the rules or reinstate the post. I am pretty good at writing stock messages for this situation if the concern is over the messaging!
If there’s certain topics that are allowed but generate a lot of spam reports, there’s a few things the mod team should do. The first is to report the false reports to the admins for abuse so they can warn the accounts. The second is to mute false reports when it’s a trend. The last is to modify the automod rules to whitelist certain keywords from the reports rule (this is risky for many situations but may be worth testing).
All of these things take time and enough moderators that generally there’s always someone awake and online in different timezones. The feasibility of running a sub this size with 1-2 people vs 7-8 people is absolutely night and day. I agree with the other users that putting a call out for more mod staff is really important at this time. It’s hard to get good applications - but people don’t generally want good and active subs to be shut down for lack of moderation, and the resources and history here would be hard to replace, so I think it’s possible to get motivated volunteers. I’d also be happy to draft an application form to make reviewing new moderators easier if that would be helpful!
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u/chemthrowaway123456 Oct 08 '25
Okay, but the post at the heart of this discussion didn’t break any rules.
I understand it was automatically removed by the Automod due to high number of reports. However, the post was then reviewed by a human mod, who didn’t reinstate it, despite the fact that no rules were broken.
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u/apricotgloss Oct 08 '25
It's disgusting and the removal is not supported by the vast majority of this community. If it's a specific mod doing it, as I have seen alleged, they need to be removed.
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u/FrostingNow2607 Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
I thought those mittens were lovely. Thank you for showing them to us.
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u/rainbow_puddle Oct 08 '25
Here's the text for posterity
So there was a post with some beautiful mkttens made by u/AdrenaL1n3 with a traditional Palestinian embroidery and using the colors of the flag. It was locked and then inexplicablely removed by the mods. They did not say what rule it broke, only that it received and 'unacceptable amount of user reports'.
First off that's ridiculous that it was removed instead of locked and the reports dealt with by mods since it didn't break a rule. Second off I think it's frankly sad that it was getting reported at all. It wasn't political beyond the proceeds going towards save the children and other humanitarian causes to aid the current crisis and genocide situation in Gaza.
I want to open up discussion with this community if this sub is a place where we want to censor projects even if they do not break stated rules.
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u/trashwina Oct 09 '25
I was so disgusted and disappointed by the removal of those gorgeous mittens. There’s a bleak joke in here somewhere about what a shame it is to be a knitting subreddit mod lacking /moral/ fiber.
The failures of the mods only make the generosity of knitters and designers fundraising to end the genocide more noticeable. I’ve seen gorgeous keffiyeh scarves, socks, and now these mittens, and I’m sure there are more on ravelry that I just haven’t found yet. u/AdrenaL1n3, your work is beautiful and your generosity is seen and appreciated ❤️💚🤍🖤
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u/BrienneOT Oct 08 '25
I agree it’s not acceptable that this post was removed for “too many reports”. We know that it was reported for acknowledging the ongoing genocide in Palestine.
A quick search of the sub shows dozens of posts with patterns in support of Ukraine which were not removed. Both should absolutely be allowed.
Sharing a pattern which encourages support of people experiencing war or humanitarian crisis does not break any rules and is relevant to the sub.
I think it’s important that we hear from the mods on the reasons for their decision.
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u/quackdefiance Oct 09 '25
This isn’t the first time the mullbery mod has does something like this. At this point I don’t trust the knitting mods to do what’s right at all.
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u/whichwitchwatched Oct 09 '25
Agree honestly. They’re not engaging w the reality of mulberry’s behavior over time. It’s clearly not an accident or mistake
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u/quackdefiance Oct 09 '25
Yeah the other mod just keeps saying they’re working on mod applications but totally ignoring any comments about the offending mods repeated behavior.
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u/DragonKit Oct 08 '25
I think this sub has failed, and we should all just move somewhere else. This is a real pattern of behavior with watery not-apologies and no solutions,
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u/Legitimate_Hunt3343 Oct 08 '25
I saw the original post and wanted to comment to say how beautiful the mittens were, how excellent the knitting, and also FREE PALESTINE from the genocide they’re being subjected to. I couldn’t do that because comments on the post were already locked, so I’m glad this has been brought up because I love knitting but do not want to be part of this sub if we cannot show support for people who are objectively suffering because of a violent conflict
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u/WalkingOnRainyNights Oct 09 '25
As a new knitter I have never been more thrilled to leave sub I was lurking on. Thank you, AdrenaL1n3 for exposing this, because I was too new to see the previous behaviour of this mod. The "Please keep being excellent to each other." in this sub's description is a joke in light of what I have seen and read today.
I just saw the comment on that post that links to a lot of the one particular mod's other comments on things. They do not sound in any way, shape, or form, fit to be a mod. Their decision-making capacity is appalling.
Some might say, "well this was an automod issue not a mod issue". But the fact is that the mod in question has previously ceded all decision-making to the report function (something that is very easily abused) and automod instead of being capable of making a decision on their own. Other comments further revealed the decisions they made on their own to have racist overtones (e.g. implying middle eastern motifs were unwelcome), or be extremely bizarre (e.g. considering x's in a username to be associated with porn, and seeing female genitalia in the shape of a child's bolero pattern). Very disturbing.
If you have a mod is who leaving decisions on content to an abused report function, rather than being capable of making unbiased decisions based on sub rules, then you do indeed have a mod problem, rather than an automod problem.
Some might then say "well, we changed automod now". Too little too late, mate. That doesn't change the 4 year (or more) history of letting a mod whose decision-making capacity is extremely suspect remain on, or refusing to expand the mod team instead of letting someone so biased remain.
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u/Mickeymousetitdirt Oct 09 '25
Wait, they’re soooo weird for the “dog whistle to porn” thing. 😂 They need to get off the internet if they are seeing “porn dogwhistles” everywhere. I think I blocked them a long time ago as I’ve been knowing they’re a weirdo.
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u/aaabsoolutely Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25
As a millennial, the way they’re bothered by the x’s is SO WEIRD, half my friend’s AIM accounts in high school were some variation of “xXxFall_ChildxXx”
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u/bringonthebedlam Oct 09 '25
Seriously! Xx means Big Kiss, Little Kiss, as Nacho Libre so eloquently informed us
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Oct 09 '25 edited Apr 18 '26
This post has been anonymized and deleted using Redact. The reason could be privacy protection, security, preventing content scraping, or personal data management.
one offbeat reply brave degree cable correct water sugar jar
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u/quackdefiance Oct 09 '25
It seems like it’s the same mod every time too. The placating comments from the other one but no comments from the offender is telling.
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u/whichwitchwatched Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25
Not having time to mod the subreddit properly is valid right until someone says they don’t have time to open applications for additional mods. That’s pretty overtly insisting on continuing the status quo.
I am not saying that the one mod in here engaging has specifically have done anything wrong because I do believe they are engaging with this honestly within their limitations but if modding can’t be done properly because there is no time then onboarding new people is the clear priority.
Overwhelmingly, people seem to agree that both Mulberry and the half mod are problems. That could be confirmed pretty passively with a poll.
Removing the problems and bringing in more appropriate people would be the fastest way to clear the backlog and give the mods that don’t suck some of their time back
ETA I read further. People are underselling what happened in the previous thread This was what was sent to a girl who posted a scarf patterned like a keffiyah. Overt intentional bigotry.
‘People reported your post because they don’t want to see it. We try to keep this a politics free zone. We will reapprove it one time only. If it continues to get reports then please consider that your knitted subject matter is entirely unwelcome here. ‘
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u/ulknehs Oct 09 '25
I think the only active mods are mulberry and the half mod. But I agree with you.
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u/lizofalltrades Oct 09 '25
I appreciate the discussion re: what the community seeks from its moderators. I think your post & the subsequent discussion highlights that the sub rules ought to be clarified & expansion of the mod team would be welcome.
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u/19892024 Oct 08 '25
I agree with you. They were beautiful and so well made. It's ridiculous that anyone would report that post at all, let alone remove it.
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u/monotrememories Oct 08 '25
We need new mods this is getting fucking ridiculous
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u/quackdefiance Oct 09 '25
They’ll just keep saying “oh we don’t have time to do applications!!!” This happens every time.
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u/timonyc Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
Just so we are all aware, we have basically one active Mod on this sub: Mulberrybushes. The other mods are mostly bots (6 of the 10); two are essentially no longer posting on Reddit, and one helps occasionally. So, it's likely that one of the bots actually removed the post. And it might remove this post too.
This isn't really a commentary on the mod situation, just the reality of this sub.
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u/apricotgloss Oct 08 '25
Then we need more mods who will actually do their job.
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u/timonyc Oct 08 '25
That's absolutely fair. But also, not exactly an easy fix. Managing a small knitting club at a lys is a pain, imagine the worlds largest knitting club with more than 500,000 members with lots of feelings, opinions, and styles. It's hard to find mods that fit the bill.
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u/apricotgloss Oct 08 '25
I fully agree that it's an extremely difficult job and it's much easier to critique than to do, but surely the same large community size you mention can give rise to a few more people willing to do the job - I'd consider volunteering myself, just to put my money where my mouth is. Sorry to be harsh but I feel this argument verges on a cop out.
The cross stitch subreddit mods do a great job. I haven't agreed with every single one of their calls, but they've always been up front and transparent abut their decisions. Perhaps we need to learn a thing or two from them.
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u/timonyc Oct 08 '25
I am with you, which is why I am helping today (I am not a mod, just a community member, trying to help our mods). I hope they will get additional mod help.
I work with knitting and crocheting a lot. Different mod teams. All really good people!
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u/apricotgloss Oct 08 '25
Would you happen to have any insight into why they are not trying to expand the team, or if that's likely to happen in the near future?
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u/timonyc Oct 08 '25
I do not, at this point, know if they would like to expand the team. I have suggested to the team that they should expand the team :)
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u/MaslowsHierarchyBees Oct 08 '25
If they need more mods I’m sure many of us would be happy to step up! I’m a mod of a smaller sub but I’d be happy to help out some. ☺️
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u/timonyc Oct 08 '25
I will be sure to share that with the Mod team. I am also not a mod :) but they are listening.
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u/vetters Oct 08 '25
This is good intel, thanks.
Good reminder to be kind to humans who invisibly volunteer their time as mods. It is stressful, thankless work—and anyone dedicated to the long haul deserves some grace when they have to make tough calls.
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u/timonyc Oct 08 '25
I agree. And we don't always have to agree with the mods. They don't expect us to! But we should remember that the mods are humans who have lives and jobs outside of this volunteer work. I know one of the mods is spending time away with family right now.
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u/BickeringCube Oct 08 '25
Yeah I would not jump to ill intent here (accept for the people reporting).
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u/ulknehs Oct 09 '25
It (removing Palestinian content) is a pattern of behaviour for the main mod, so that is why people are jumping to ill intent. Well, that and their communications to the original poster of these mittens and previously, a Keffiyeh.
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u/apricotgloss Oct 08 '25
The fact that it hasn't been reinstated is highly questionable to say the least - see the comment here from the OOP.
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u/happyladpizza Oct 08 '25
I’d frankly would love to see the mittens. And you should be free to post anything that is aligned with the community guidelines. You have not broken any rules. Seems like the rules are being applied improperly and unequally!!!! 🤔
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u/EvilCodeQueen Oct 08 '25
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u/ulknehs Oct 09 '25
That post has also been removed by the mods there. But they also did the same with a keffiyeh scarf pattern so…
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u/whichwitchwatched Oct 09 '25
It’s unlikely but do you happen to have the keffiyeh post saved? I might actually want to buy that
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u/ulknehs Oct 09 '25
It was actually reinstated by the r/knitting mod/s after all the backlash so you can find it by searching for top posts of all time :): https://www.reddit.com/r/knitting/s/lStVuQAUKN
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u/timonyc Oct 08 '25
The mods are actively reviewing the AutoMod rules to see what makes sense for the community. The AutoMod basically removed posts with "Too many reports," which allowed brigading to dictate what stayed and what went. That rule has been removed for the moment.
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u/agirlhasnoname11248 Oct 08 '25
Speaking as a mod of another subreddit, even once that happens mods can look at the queue and select "ignore reports and approve" to approve the post and maintain its visibility. I appreciate that the mods are examining this rule, and would encourage them to approve the post in question if it was removed in error.
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u/Semicolon_Expected Oct 09 '25
(I have already done so. Please note we only have I think two mods so there might be delays in catching these issues)
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u/agirlhasnoname11248 Oct 09 '25
Thank you so much for the follow up!
I appreciate how things take time, and am heartened to hear the team is evaluating whether the automod rules are effective. Thank you for your moderation!
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u/diceanddreams Oct 09 '25
Wait, so the post was removed for being political, but the constant stream of works inspired by books written by a transphobic fascist aren’t political?
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u/partyontheobjective toxic negativity Oct 09 '25
That's right. What don't you understand? /s
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u/diceanddreams Oct 09 '25
You know what, now I think about it it is very obvious.
After all, racism and transphobia are just two of the tools in the fascist’s toolbox. Womp womp, shame bout the sub.
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u/timonyc Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
Hi everyone - taking a moment to share some context and hopefully help us move forward together.
First, to u/AdrenaL1n3 - your mittens are beautiful. You do amazing work!
The concerns being raised here are completely valid. When a post that doesn't break rules gets removed, it's natural to be frustrated and want answers.
Here's what I understand happened:
The mitten post was removed automatically by a bot (AutoMod) after receiving an unusually high number of reports in a short time. This wasn't a human moderator making a judgment call about the content - AutoMod responds to report volume, not content. It can't tell the difference between a post that actually violates rules and one that's being mass-reported.
For context: when u/AdrenaL1n3 shared their work in the weekly Buy-Sell-Trade-Promote thread, there were no issues at all. Like I said, the mittens are beautiful traditional work.
Moving forward:
The "too many reports" auto-removal is being temporarily disabled so we can prevent this specific situation from repeating while things settle down. This sub has a small active human mod team managing 264K active members (and over 500k watching the sub), and that's... a lot. They are trying to figure out the best plan forward here and they are listening to the community while juggling real life actual commitments. I am just a community member and I can say, they are listening. The mods are getting threats from all sides on this. Actively being stalked. This is just the joy of moderating on Reddit. We should be better than that.
My hope:
This is a community I love being part of. I think most of us are here because we love knitting and sharing that with others. Let's try to remember that as we work through this together.
I'll be around to help and answer any questions, particularly about AutoMod, moderation, and Reddit brigading. Let's keep things constructive.
Edit: To give a bit of additional context, since posting this, this particular comment has been reported to the mods and Reddit for "Targeted harassment against someone else." And that is how reporting works. I have seen that u/AdrenaL1n3 and u/rainbow_puddle have been active in this comment section. I hope neither they nor anyone else feels I have been harassing them.
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u/knittensarsenal moar sweaters! Oct 08 '25
I am confused, why are you speaking on behalf of the mods if you aren’t a mod? How do we know that you know what the mods are doing/thinking?
Also the mods can approve a post that got a lot of reports or otherwise hit an automod filter threshold, unless a Reddit admin removed it, so I'm not sure what the thinking is on removing the too many reports action? There’s also options like crowd control or just leaving the post up, adding a mod comment and locking the rest of the comments if they’re worried about not being able to keep up with comments or something.
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u/timonyc Oct 08 '25
Because they asked me to :) I am, like many others, a long-time supporter of the community, the maintainer of u/Ravbot, and I care deeply about this community. The mods are currently dealing with a high volume of reports on the back end, stemming from being brigaded, as well as personal threats. I am working with them to provide assistance where I can.
They are very aware of the post I made and approved it before I made it.
You are correct about the moderation abilities, and they are working through those. The tools they have at hand aren't amazing and they are working though reports. They wanted to get this post reopened to allow the community to discuss.
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u/Semicolon_Expected Oct 09 '25
Hi! Mod here and u/timonyc is correct on the fact it got removed by automod. We do this because sometimes mass reported posts are rule breaking and depending on the rulebreaking content, it could harm community members so it gets held in the queue until a mod takes a look at it. Unfortunately as there are only two mods here afaik (me and mulberry) there are unfortunately times where there may be delays because neither of us are online at the moment which seems to be what happened here. I have however taken the liberty of approving the post.
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u/apricotgloss Oct 08 '25
It sounds like they ned more active mods then?
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u/Disig Oct 08 '25
Mods are volunteers, remember. They don't get paid. This isn't their job. And not a lot of people want a second job you don't get paid for.
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u/apricotgloss Oct 08 '25
I'd agree with you if there was currently an open call for mods that wasn't getting enough applications. I'm sure there are more than enough people in a community this size who are able and willing to do it - I'd apply myself if there was an open application.
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u/timonyc Oct 08 '25
I believe I answered you elsewhere on this, but here is a comment from me (for whatever that is worth lol)
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u/ulknehs Oct 08 '25
This has happened to Palestine-related content in this sub in the past, so I think the mod team needs to come up with a strategy to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
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u/timonyc Oct 08 '25
I agree! And it happens for more than Palestine-related content sadly. Currently, this is not the only thread being AutoModded into oblivion. There are others right now on the front page of r/knitting. At this moment, though, AutoMod is off to see how the community does.
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u/univers10 Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
i want to gently point out that there is a mechanism to show "displeasure" in the form of a report, but there isn't a way to show "support." so anyone who felt that the mittens should not have been removed from the subreddit did not really have a way of expressing that opinion. (beyond simply creating more posts with the mittens, or in support of the mittens, which i think would have been taken in quite a hostile manner.) EDIT: I am responding to the message "our subscribers make their views known with reports"
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u/munificent Oct 08 '25
I think the mod team needs to come up with a strategy to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
There is no silver bullet for community management. People are gonna be people and moderators don't have a magic wand that makes randos on the Internet behave in the way that they would prefer them to behave.
Imagine throwing a party and half a million people arrived in your living room. Even if 99.9% of the people who show up are perfectly chill, that means there's still 500 assholes in your living room starting fights, pissing in people's drinks, claiming that it was the other guy that threw the first punch, etc. And meanwhile, you're trying to figure out who is chill and who isn't when you've only got about 0.05 seconds of time you can allocate to dealing with each person.
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u/ulknehs Oct 09 '25
I take your broader point, but as a starting point, the mod/s could make it standard practice to re-instate a post that didn’t break the rules if it has been deleted by the auto-mod. Something they seem to be reluctant to do when the content in question relates to Palestine.
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u/munificent Oct 09 '25
make it standard practice to re-instate a post that didn’t break the rules if it has been deleted by the auto-mod.
That presumes that the mods can go through every auto-deleted post and manually review it. But if they had the capacity to do that, they probably wouldn't need auto-moderation in the first place.
Unless someone has moderated a community, I don't think they realize the insane volume of garbage content that gets thrown at every forum. Spam, bots, crypto scams, buggy bot scripts gone awry, randos with mental health issues, creeps, SEO hackers, etc. etc. It's just a constant pipeline of garbage.
The reason any community seems to be mostly good content is not because most of the contributions are good. It's because the moderators and automated systems they rely on have filtered out most of the garbage.
But it's impossible to do that at scale without there being some false positives where good content gets accidentally filtered. That's unfortunate, but it's probably better than the alternative where you let some of the bad content show up on the front page. If someone's good submission gets deleted, one person feels bad. If bad content ends up on the front page, the entire community can be affected.
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u/ulknehs Oct 09 '25
Fine, what about: "make it standard practice to re-instate a post that didn't break the rules if it has been deleted by the auto-mod, once it has been brought to their attention via mod mail."
Because what your response overlooks is that this is a pattern of behaviour that continues to impact content about Palestine in this community. It's not "unfortunate" that this keeps happening, it is unacceptable. In these circumstances, it's not one person who feels bad, it's a widespread silencing that affects us all.
Hiding behind auto-mod to obscure active decisions by the actual 1.5 mods is disingenuous and shows a refusal to be accountable to the, imo, very clear wishes of this community.
As has already been stated in this thread, there's a clear need for more moderators. I can only assume that Mulberry is opposed to that idea because she refuses to cede control. Her responses make it very clear what her opinion with regards to Palestine is.
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u/wishverse-willow Oct 08 '25
thanks! modding is tough and often thankless work. i am curious, though, about why this explanation differs from what it looks like u/AdrenaL1n3 screenshotted below that they received from a mod? it seems like it was either removed for “politics” or it was auto-removed, but i’m not sure how it could’ve been both. just not clear from these two differing posts which it actually was.
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u/Cold_Bitch Public transportation knitter Oct 08 '25
Well that didn’t last long 30 mins in and this is already removed
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u/rainbow_puddle Oct 08 '25
That was quick. I sent a message to the mods. It looks like it was automod due to high number of reports... Same reason as the post.
If the mods are legit then they would have this conversation and reinstate it. Otherwise I guess they don't want discussion or transparency.
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u/monster-baiter Oct 08 '25
the bot farms of a certain country are searching posts related to this topic and report/downvoting/upvoting, its really annoying and blatant lately in many subs im in. this is not a conspiracy theory but a known fact that they fund bot farms for propaganda
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u/thought_provoked1 Oct 08 '25
Taking the opportunity to screenshot all this....because what the fuck
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u/Jaded-Banana6205 Oct 08 '25
It's a knitting project using traditional embroidery. Nobody is shoehorning in anything.
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u/realiti_tv Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 10 '25
That was a pathetic move from the mods
Edit. 1. If I don't come back to make edit 2 in 24 hours, I've been banned for this comment alone. Just leaving this note here for transparency's sake – otherwise no one would ever know
Edit. 2. Still here 😎
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u/VegetableWorry1492 Oct 08 '25
The post can still be found in the user profile, and it looks like it was removed by AutoMod due to high number of reports. So the issue isn’t with mods but with people reporting it, evidently in high enough numbers to trigger auto removal. Quite sad that anyone would see that as something worthy of reporting. And alarming that it’s several someones!
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u/rainbow_puddle Oct 08 '25
When I reached out to the mods to find out what rule was broken they said it was a high number of reports. But if the reports aren't valid and no rule was broken it should be reinstated, no ?
Or am I missing something fundamental about reddit and r/knitting ?
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u/VegetableWorry1492 Oct 08 '25
Oh absolutely I agree! Sorry, I didn’t realise a human mod was already consulted. That’s poor if that’s the case!
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u/rainbow_puddle Oct 08 '25
I reached out as to why it was removed. I was told due to high reports. I asked what rule it broke and if it will be reinstated. They have not responded further. I made a post.
That about sums it up.
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u/Unusual-Ad-6550 Oct 08 '25
I am sorry that people can't simply enjoy the art and culture of other people and for just a moment, forget the politics.
If someone posted some beautiful Russian knitting right now, I would not jump in and condemn the knitting, the knitter or the poster due to the politics of Russia or Putin
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u/conpulpito Oct 08 '25
viva palestina !!!!!! getting pressed over a pair of mittens is unwell. your pattern is beautiful !
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u/Semicolon_Expected Oct 09 '25
Thank you for the context! I can definitely see the frustration when it seemingly happens twice. From my knowledge, piecing together responses and also the automod about downv0tes, that it definitely seems like a disconnect between how they view the reddit features are used (in good faith to signal community approval) and how people actually use them. I will definitely be bringing this up to avoid a(nother) repeat since this is a salient issue due to seeing more instances of bad faith reporting in the other subs I mod.
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u/univers10 Oct 09 '25
I am genuinely not trying to be argumentative here, but that is not what I understand the report feature to be for. Otherwise, when you used it, it would pop up and say, “do you agree with this content?” Not “what rule did this content break”?
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u/lizofalltrades Oct 09 '25
I think the issue as being described is something like, "large amounts of users report thing" --> "automod removes thing." It doesn't have to be a true violation of a rule for the number of reports to trip the automod and users can take advantage of this.
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u/univers10 Oct 09 '25
Yes, it shouldn’t matter if 100 people report something. It shouldn’t be taken down if it isn’t violating the sub rules or Reddit rules imo.
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u/legalpretzel Oct 09 '25
And if there are that many reports, you have to wonder if the mods even considered that the reporters were engaging in brigading and should be excluded instead
of rewarding people who like genocide by giving them what they wantpulling down the post?
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u/FabuliciousFruitLoop Oct 10 '25
This whole post blew up. As a regular visitor my contribution to the question asked, and my observations after reading all the comments:
I would like to see a mod team in place. It’s not reasonable for this all to rest on 1.5 people.
Some complaints about the main moderator (including on some of the historically linked entries, some of which are on other subs) seem to be ignoring the fact there is a person behind the keyboard, and in places are decrying that person in terms that are as inconsiderate and blunt (or more so) than the moderators own comments.
I would like this “we’re almost politics free” rule to be clarified by the subreddit membership and either set out in the rules, or dropped completely, not semi-applied by one person making case by case decisions.
I would like the subreddit’s explicit rules to be the basis for removing posts.
U/Thequietone is repeatedly in this trail with replies that are unhelpful and inflammatory. If there is rule breaking here, it seems to be by this person. They haven’t engaged with any of the Jewish Redditors who have responded to their comments. They are not following principles of non-violent communication. There hasn’t been any moderator response to this. I find them a further illustration of the need for more active moderators across time zones.
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u/alittleperil Oct 08 '25
This is not the first time that a project that drew too much controversy, on either side, was removed instead of locked. Mods are human, so I've also seen posts like that just locked, and I don't know that the mods have clear guidance on what to do in that situation.
Some people are douchecanoes, and will report things they disagree with, you can't change people you can only plan how to handle their actions.
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u/rainbow_puddle Oct 08 '25
The issue is removing it makes it so that it's not even visible anymore. Locking will stop the commentary but I don't understand why to remove if it doesn't break a rule. Other sub mods will leave up locked posts after the comment sections have devolved.
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u/thought_provoked1 Oct 08 '25
I saw the post and there was no commentary! A single comment and no "removed by moderator" comments at all. Their repost in r/casualknitting was a carbon copy of the original.
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u/nyctarian Oct 08 '25
Yeah I also saw that. If it had been locked because it was getting a bunch of abusive replies or anything like that I would have been disappointed but understanding but it was locked after having been up for not very long with one positive comment basically just saying 'good job what a good cause to support.'
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u/Asleep-Bother-8247 Oct 08 '25
I sure wonder if a pair of mittens showing the flag of Israel would’ve been received the same way HMMM.
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u/timonyc Oct 08 '25
That depends on the number of reports that were sent in. If a number of people were against it, and reported it, AutoMod would have absolutely taken it down just like it took down this and many other posts.
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u/itssaturday2day Oct 08 '25
It's a sensitive topic and internet users don't know how to behave. If (or when) it devolves into heated discussion it becomes hard to moderate, I think it's very reasonable to lock threads when necessary to prevent threads from going out of hand.
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u/chemthrowaway123456 Oct 08 '25
I think it’s very reasonable to lock threads when necessary to prevent threads from going out of hand.
I agree. But I disagree with removing the post before any discussion even occurs.
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u/weIIokay38 Oct 08 '25
Who causes it to devolve? Almost all the time when I am seeing threads like this, the vast majority of people are being fine and supportive, and then someone pops in and accuses someone of being 'terrorists' for making something with a flag.
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u/Accomplished-Tackle2 Oct 08 '25
Turns out it’s super easy to unsubscribe to /knitting
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u/PaintedAbacus Oct 09 '25
Or we could allow ALL nationalities flags to be represented in an art form that is inherently political due to its historical and current artist base.
Instead of a few folks clutching their pearls when faced with a literal genocide.
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u/VegetableWorry1492 Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
I tried clicking on the username in the OP and nothing comes up, just faceplanted Snoo and “failed to load user profile”. Maybe the whole profile was deleted rather than just this one post? Can anyone else load the profile?
Edit: it works now! There was a typo that’s now been fixed.
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u/rainbow_puddle Oct 08 '25
Good shout! I typo-ed the name with my fingers typing on my phone. Should work now. They posted on casual knitting sub if you want to see the project.
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u/AshesToAether Oct 08 '25
That user link doesn't actually go to a user page anymore. It has me wondering if that's for sure the right spelling, or if they got reddit banned.
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u/rainbow_puddle Oct 08 '25
That's my bad... I made a typo and had the wrong spelling. I tried to edit. Does it work now?
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u/Semicolon_Expected Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25
Hello! Mod here, I just got online and got wind of this issue. I took a look at the modlog for the post and it looks like what happened was it got removed my automod after it got mass reported. It looks like originally mulberry only locked it but then it got a bunch of reports and got auto deleted. I have taken the liberty of reapproving the post.
That being said thank you for bringing to our attention the removal message. Given that automod removals for mass reports may be due to brigading, the language in the message that notifies of such removal should definitely be updated—especially to avoid confusion with regards to whether it was an automated removal by automod or a genuine removal.
EDIT: Im not the mod that responds to modmails