this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2026
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[meta] pls stop banning people (discuss.tchncs.de)
submitted 5 days ago by gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de to c/comicstrips@lemmy.world
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I noticed in the last few days, at least two very active posters got banned:

  • @Laguriz@piefed.social
  • @foyuka@sh.itjust.works

They are probably new people here trying out the fediverse because a friend recommended it to them, seeing that it's lal not-so-active as they're used from other sites, trying to populate it with content, and getting banned for it.

As far as i can see, they didn't post highly-controversial stuff or sth. Just random and sometimes slightly-critical-of-society (but not very critical of society) comics, just as good comics should do IMO. I don't see why they got banned?

This is not how the fediverse becomes popular among the population. This is how to convey an elitist look of "being sceptical towards new users".

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[–] A_norny_mousse@feddit.org 32 points 5 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I have noticed people complaining about this. Looks like a normal newbie who, after a few days of browsing, decided to post several comics in quick succession, then nothing again. Not necessarily bot behavior, since they post in the correct community and the comics are relatively funny and do not ptomote anything.

But then I noticd that there's several such accounts.

It's a mystery. One that might be solved by looking at the users' IP addresses. I can't, but mods or admins can. So I'm going to trust their judgement.

Some transparency would be appreciated though.

Edit: this community has only one mod. I looked at their posting history; they apparently made a web app to make the lives of mods easier. I also read them mention somewhere that they'd have preferred to just remove an offending comment, but the admins decided to ban that person completely. Maybe these are partial answers to the question OP asked.

[–] nocturne@slrpnk.net 25 points 5 days ago (3 children)

There has been a spate of new users rapid fire posting in here and then deleting their accounts.

[–] CombatWombatEsq@lemmy.world 6 points 5 days ago (2 children)

We think it’s abuse by actors who want to cause excess load by rapidly posting, and then delete because otherwise it would lead to traffic? It’s to use resources without improving experience?

[–] GrantUsEyes@lemmy.zip 4 points 5 days ago

I've been trying to make sense of their mo, and this could be it. I've resorted to not interact ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[–] Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I assume it’s ban evasion related, and they just don’t care if it ruins anyone else’s experience.

[–] CombatWombatEsq@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago (2 children)

But the posts are inaccessible after account deletion, yeah? Aren’t most ban evaders trying to get objectionable content displayed on Lemmy for as long as possible?

[–] OpenStars@piefed.social 1 points 2 days ago

PieFed now allows reading deleted posts, if you have the URL. Example

Though its more for Q&As where if requested the Q would be deleted by the person who offered it while the As would remain visible by those who offered them.

I also am absolutely in love with how it doesn't show just a blank page if you try to access the URL, and instead says the very helpful and informative:

The author of this post has been banned/deleted so they might not see your reply.

Damn I love PieFed!

[–] Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone 7 points 5 days ago

If 90% of the interaction comes in the first day and they leave it up that long, then they’ve basically achieved whatever goal they have. Even if the only goal is evading a ban.

[–] TheV2@programming.dev 5 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

In that case I have a few doubts:

  1. Why is the given ban reason for these accounts "bot", when that doesn't describe the actual issue here, and why isn't there a clear transparent explanation how these accounts were identified as part of this self-destruction scheme?
  2. What exactly is the issue with self-destructing accounts other than losing the comments, discussions, etc. associated with the posts? Because if that's the only thing, I don't see the severity.
[–] IcedRaktajino@startrek.website 13 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

What exactly is the issue with self-destructing accounts other than losing the comments, discussions, etc. associated with the posts? Because if that's the only thing, I don't see the severity.

It's unfair to anyone and everyone who participates. It's a PITA to save a post to have it just disappear later. Or remember a post and want to go back to it only to find it self-nuked. Yeah, some stuff may get modded but at least there's a usually correct and valid reason attached. The people doing this and self-destructing are basically unmarked spambots. I fucking hate bots.

The disposable troll account elsewhere in the comments here said "Content is king" which is the only thing in their statement I agree with. Well, when that content is ephemeral, then it's not really "content".

[–] TheV2@programming.dev 3 points 5 days ago

I can see the issue with spam-bots, regardless of the self-nuking, and how especially this community is targeted. But I wouldn't consider the accounts marked in this post as spam-bots at all.

If this community or instance considers a couple of posts a day, perhaps specifically from new users, spamming, then as a user I'd expect that rule to be written before actions are taken.

In general, I'm not disputing the actions of the mods and I hate to be the guy who expects something from people who contribute to this platform in their free-time, but for these kind of bans based on suspicions and patterns, I just wish there would at least be more transparent communication.

[–] Sergio@piefed.social 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

when that content is ephemeral, then it’s not really “content”.

I personally agree, but I can see how others might not. I never used 4chan, but wasn't it like that? People used temporary names, and content was deleted after a short while?

[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

could you link an example? also maybe there should be a lemmy-built-in feature to restrict new posts to maybe 10 per day or sth.

[–] IcedRaktajino@startrek.website 19 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

They are probably new people here trying out the fediverse because a friend recommended it to them

Yet every one of those "new people" beelines straight to this community and starts posting like a power user right out of the gate. Yeah, that seems legit 🙄. The chances of that happening organically and without some interaction elsewhere is slim to none. The accounts that are finally getting banned are ones that have been posting and self-deleting for months or more.

could you link an example? also maybe there should be a lemmy-built-in feature to restrict new posts to maybe 10 per day or sth.

  1. Literally no because it just comes up as "Error" and the users don't come up in search because they delete themselves.
  2. I've stopped interacting with accounts less than a month old because they just up and delete themselves taking any of my contributions with them. Like, what's the point? That's to say I can't just go into my history and pull up a dead post link for you.
  3. This has been going on for months if not longer
  4. Such a Lemmy feature does not exist and does not appear to be on the horizon
  5. Even if the number of posts is limited, it doesn't do anything to stop the self-destructing accounts.

I had saved several comic posts that just up and disappeared. One of them I remembered who posted, so I checked their history and "Error: person_not_found". Or I'll recall a comic from a few days ago and try to find it, and it's long gone along with the account that posted it. Not modded, not banned, but self-deleted.

Until there are built-in tools to assist with this and some major change to how Lemmy handles user deletions, I'm 100% in favor of the mods taking whatever measures necessary to keep the community fair to everyone else. These self-destructing accounts have a pattern, and the mods seem like they've caught on.

These self-destructing jerks are the ones you should be upset with, not the mods. Like I said, I've completely stopped interacting with any new accounts because of this hit-and-run, self-deleting bullshit. The only ones working against legit new users are the people who keep doing that.

[–] Dupelet@piefed.social 14 points 5 days ago (1 children)

FYI, piefed has new features to keep deleted posts accessible precisely for this reason.

[–] squirrel@piefed.kobel.fyi 15 points 5 days ago

And they just added another feature to tackle this

new users can only do 3 posts in their first 24h

[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 5 days ago

ok thanks for the info, i had completely not noticed that before, but i'll take your word for it :)

[–] GrantUsEyes@lemmy.zip 13 points 5 days ago (3 children)

They are not legit users. This weird behavior pattern has been going on for months, and I'm annoyed that all the discussion generated under their posts vanishes on a whim everytime these accounts self destruct.

[–] OpenStars@piefed.social 2 points 2 days ago

PieFed now both retains deleted posts (not the actual OP content but the discussions beneath it) for those who have the URL and also offers helpful labels rather than simply showing a blank page, like:

The author of this post has been banned/deleted so they might not see your reply.

Example: https://piefed.social/c/comicstrips/p/1660086/taco-tuesday

Hot damn how I love my PieFed!! 😻🍰😋

[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 5 days ago

This weird behavior pattern has been going on for months,

ok i simply haven't noticed it before, but if you say it, i'll take your word for it :)

[–] hzl@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It's probably just Stamets.

Honestly, though, I don't see what the fuss is. Laguriz seemed like a decent contributor who wasn't spamming.

[–] OpenStars@piefed.social 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

What is the story there? I've mostly ignored Stamets lately so it seems I missed some drama?

[–] hzl@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Huh? No, he's just mentioned that he has active alt accounts with different names. Honestly I imagine it's pretty common, but I do sometimes wonder if other prolific posters are also him.

[–] OpenStars@piefed.social 1 points 1 day ago

Oh... that makes sense, thanks! I wondered why he was singled out specifically by name. I guess just more as an example of a common poster who is known to use alts. I myself have several, though I retained the name and icon to make it easier for people to follow.

[–] cyrano@piefed.social 12 points 5 days ago (1 children)

4days old account spamming borderline comics smells karma farming except there is no karma and no farm. Sir this is a Wendy’s

[–] mrmaplebar@fedia.io 5 points 5 days ago

What?? I hope the reason people are being banned is a little bit less stupid than whatever this is...

[–] InEnduringGrowStrong@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago

foyuka wasn't even banned, they deleted themselves.
Which is annoying in itself but nothing mod related as the post implies.

[–] Auster@thebrainbin.org 2 points 5 days ago

Dunno what happened, but if it's a case of abuse of power, the fediverse easily allows for making alternatives and finding them. Else, maybe try to find the modlog for them?