This makes one so depressed, realizing it was better a few years ago, like 2019 the vibes I got from these sites was different.

active subs like … r/news r/politics ?

I guess manipulating those is seen as essential by some.

In the future they can always block or shadow-ban such conversations with keyword-search and AI.

why did you get shadow-banned? Did you make any controversial statements?

there are many more forums on the internet on the fediverse. They could also just have joined facebook.

alt text: A screenshot of the reddit app. It is of a sub-reddit called r/AskSocialScience “Why did America quit Cigarettes, while Europe and Asia only …”. A series of deleted replies to the question from 3-4 days ago is shown like:

[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
> Join the Conversation

This seems as problematic, since reddit will not exist as a place for organic conversation like this any longer but an over-moderated place.

is this a new hoop you have to jump across to be considered a valid user?

Thank you for your service of the fediverse. You can be proud of yourself. I could never do something like run such a big instance.

Thank your for your service to the lemmyverse.

What. The. Fuck. surpressed news subreddit is banned? It is over.

I still think shadow-banning and manipulation of the front-page is worse to be honest.

This sounds like a star wars reference. The old republic trailers?