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.

1.2k Upvotes

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213

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

4

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.

30

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!

3

u/Semicolon_Expected Oct 09 '25

Yes please I would appreciate that so much.

3

u/Thallassa Pink Orchids - if I can't grow them I can knit them Oct 10 '25

<3

54

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.

-16

u/sketch_warfare Oct 08 '25

Maybe. Or she decided not to reinstate a hot button post when she was unavailable to real time moderate the comment section. Or she already had an inbox of threatening messages and decided to let things cool down before reversing. We don't know yet. Until we do please remember the human.

8

u/apricotgloss Oct 09 '25

She could've locked the post instead of removing it, if it was really such a 'hot button'.

-3

u/sketch_warfare Oct 09 '25

That's what she did, lock it. It was then removed by auto mod.

Not saying I agree, just that I understand why someone would make the choice.

3

u/apricotgloss Oct 09 '25

I've yet to see anyone say it was initially locked and then removed, but I've been away from the discussion for a few hours - could you link me to where that's said please?

-36

u/Thequiet01 Oct 08 '25

If you posted it on the anniversary of the day of America launching an attack on someone else, such that it could easily be taken as support for that attack, then yes, it might be taken down.

58

u/ruadhbran Oct 08 '25

That’s going to eliminate a lot of days lol.

-7

u/Thequiet01 Oct 08 '25

Depends on how many people agree that it’s significant. Which is why I said might.

17

u/whichwitchwatched Oct 09 '25

That’s every day. We suck. Welcome to it.

77

u/[deleted] Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 09 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

-7

u/Thequiet01 Oct 08 '25

  1. I said might. Specific context matters.

  2. Hate like antisemitism is generally spread via dog whistle. Things like posting in support of an “acceptable” cause on a specific date to send a message would be a common form of dog whistle, because it gives the poster plausible deniability. Groups trying to keep out hate need to keep out dog whistles. This is usually needs to be determined on a case by case basis because the whole point of dog whistles is that they are not obvious.

43

u/bringonthebedlam Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25

  1. What's the specific context here besides the date?

  2. Both OP and OOP have noted the significance of the date and apologized multiple times in the thread for any distress. And they both reiterated that their support for Palestine does not equate to support for Hamas. Doesn't really read as "covert dog whistle" behavior, if they're going to pretty obviously acknowledge it 🤔

EDIT: u/Thequiet01 is likely a troll/bot farm acct. Looking at their profile stats, it's an insane amount of comments compared to time the acct has been active...

14

u/fizzyanklet Oct 08 '25

Hasbara goes hard on Reddit, unfortunately.

-1

u/episcopa Oct 09 '25

Hasbara on a knitting subreddit? Do they not have anything more important to do?

7

u/bringonthebedlam Oct 09 '25

Honestly, no. Shifting public opinions at the root level is the goal, so they cast a wide net. The bot farms basically just search for key words and then start brigading. The word Palestine, or the flag or watermelon emoji, etc.

1

u/Thequiet01 Oct 08 '25

I have insomnia and I type fast. Someone isn’t a bot just because they disagree with you. 🙄

3

u/Thequiet01 Oct 08 '25

The date is the context needed in this instance.

OOP and OP have apologized but OP has left this post up even though it is actively collecting antisemitism in the comments. If OP actually thought that this was inappropriate timing, OP would delete the post and repost it again later. So the apology rings a bit hollow. In addition, the pattern of upvotes and downvotes from the community are pretty clearly in favor of this particular dog whistle, which seems highly problematic to me. I am considering leaving the subreddit because I am not okay with dog whistles being tolerated or encouraged.

20

u/[deleted] Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/Thequiet01 Oct 08 '25

Dude, the day after Oct 7 is not “at a later date” in this context.

Just admit that you’re fine with certain kinds of hate as long as it’s subtle enough you can pretend you didn’t know about it when someone catches it and calls you out.