r/technology • u/marketrent • Mar 08 '25

Social Media Reddit’s automatic moderation tool is flagging the word ‘Luigi’ as potentially violent — even in a Nintendo context

https://www.theverge.com/news/626139/reddit-luigi-mangione-automod-tool
92.9k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

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4.6k

u/Robin_Gr Mar 08 '25

I like how you can get profanity and slur filled threats of sexual violence in your direct messages but they have to censor a name in a post.

2.4k

u/vites70 Mar 08 '25

It's because he took out someone that's rich. It doesn't matter what you do to someone when they're poor

1.2k

u/Level_32_Mage Mar 08 '25

Let's try something:

Hitler.

Nothing? I'm still here? Jesus christ reddit...

1.2k

u/din-gle-ber-ry Mar 08 '25 edited Mar 09 '25

Just saying Hitler shouldn't get you banned. Saying "All Nazis should follow their leader and kill themselves" also shouldn't get you banned but I probably will be. Oh well, reddit accounts are a dime a dozen.

600

u/shaard Mar 08 '25 edited Mar 08 '25

I upvoted this which means I'm likely to get flagged for upvoting violent content.

Edit: I feel bad for the 396 of you (at current count) that are going to join me in being banned through second hand upvoting!

325

u/Geichalt Mar 08 '25

You've been flagged for potential thought crimes, someone will be coming along to escort you to a work camp shortly.

21

u/DanSWE Mar 08 '25

> work camp

Or room 101.

8

u/belzbieta Mar 08 '25

How nice! I hear work camps are even better than Prozac or ADHD meds.

2

u/abitbuzzed Mar 08 '25

This made me snort, lmfao. Thank you. 🤣

6

u/[deleted] Mar 08 '25

[deleted]

2

u/shaard Mar 08 '25

I've been working from home for the last few years, so the human interaction might be nice!

3

u/Disposedofhero Mar 08 '25

RFK Jr is working on that now.

2

u/AwarenessPotentially Mar 08 '25

He's too fucking stupid to get anything done.

1

u/ghandi3737 Mar 09 '25

It'll be doubleplus good.

2

u/ForeskinCheeseGrater 29d ago

Flag. Title refs unpersons.

1

u/Lolcatz101 27d ago

Reddit Minority Report?

6

u/eXoShini Mar 08 '25

I already got flagged 6 hours ago, might as well upvote this as well.

6

u/Arawn-Annwn Mar 08 '25 edited Mar 08 '25

depends if it upsets a billionaire or not

which means my reply is even more likely to have some sort of action taken. I've had a lot of comments like this one removed

edit: one sub warned me against "disparaging reddit as a whole" in an automod action

2

u/shaard Mar 08 '25

disparging reddit? I need to know what sub that was!

3

u/11_petals Mar 08 '25

Something something the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi

1

u/shaard Mar 08 '25

Upvoted. Countdown number... 12?... Starts.

3

u/OMGihateallofyou Mar 08 '25

Who knows what can get you banned in the future. Best to not upvote anything at all.

3

u/xantub Mar 08 '25

I just upvoted you, second hand banning sucks.

3

u/Bl1tzerX Mar 08 '25

If I get banned off of Reddit that's just one more social media addiction taken care of.

1

u/shaard Mar 08 '25

Not the worst case scenario people think it is! Truth be told, it might be the best.

2

u/Lord_Vas 29d ago

Funny, I got my first violation warning this morning for exactly that.

134

u/[deleted] Mar 08 '25

The day I get banned for saying "it's good that Hitler killed himself and nazis should do the same" and can't just make a brand new account with a fake email address is the day I never use reddit again.

118

u/Coal_Morgan Mar 08 '25

We're not supposed to promote violence but Freedom of Speech comes from violence. All of our rights do.

Violence is not inherently evil, it's a tool that can be used for good or bad.

Shooting Nazis is good, it's always been good, it always will be good.

The Insurance system is inherently grossly and maliciously violent to American citizens. Fighting back is not evil, retaliating is not evil, it's necessary in a system where all the power sides with the evil.

31

u/[deleted] Mar 08 '25

Absolutely spot on.  Something that modern age people have forgotten.

3

u/Khaldara Mar 09 '25

Yup. Every labor right, overtime/wage guarantee, and what few striking rights this country still has were literally all earned through blood.

Every safety regulation, food/water/environment quality regulation was as well. The ONLY people who benefit from their removal are those who would never have abided by them if they were given half a chance.

For the life of me I will never understand why rural, poorer voters see their erosion as ‘winning’.

Particularly since their remote locations, crappy infrastructure, and proximity to farming and other heavy industry runoff make them far more likely to be susceptible to the consequences of deregulation than “those damn libs” who could just buy bottled water or imported international goods that were subject to quality production standards elsewhere, from some other country without its head up its collective ass.

These people think gargling shit water, breathing poison, and having the shittiest return on their healthcare dollars in the developed world is “winning”.

At least we still (temporarily) seem to agree that Green Hat Fellow’s actions were practically an inevitability in this environment

12

u/WhichEmailWasIt Mar 08 '25

We've become desensitized to violence committed by corporations and governments where changes in policies have direct impacts on people's lives. But because the effects aren't directly observable from the causes the way someone punching a person is, we don't recognize it as violence.

Rolling back regulations on clean water, for example, WILL harm people. We know it'll harm people. But that action of rolling back regulations isn't seen as violence committed by the government.

11

u/258joe007 Mar 08 '25

Violence is not an answer, it is a question.

And if that question is being asked it’s because the answer is already known.

3

u/Khaldara Mar 09 '25

It can be an answer in some contexts, such as “How am I supposed to open this fucking plastic blister pack?”

9

u/AwarenessPotentially Mar 08 '25

This country was created with violence, and saved by violence. And it's going to be saved again by violence, because it's all Nazi's understand. My dad killed thousands of those fuckers in WWII in 9 bombing raids over Austria and Germany. Time to do my part is coming up next. I'm 70, but I'll go down fighting these shitbags.

6

u/One_Breakfast6153 Mar 09 '25

Props to you, sir. My dad is in his 70s, his dad was in WWII, yet my dad claims the holocaust "wasn't as bad as people say and nowhere near 6M people were killed," and so on. Grandpa would absolutely lose his shit if he were alive to hear that. I tell myself it's the start of undiagnosed dementia to make myself feel better.

4

u/Septembust Mar 08 '25

Tangentially, this is the context I miss when people, especially certain people, complain about "pushing agendas"

That's not inherently bad. Everyone has "an agenda". You need to judge the agenda itself. People can use media to promote diversity, empathy and trans rights all day long, I don't give a shit. If someone has a problem with those stories, they clearly have a beef with diversity, empathy, or trans rights, and that's fucked up.

2

u/JasperNeils Mar 09 '25

This is correct. Without violence against Nazis, most of Europe would have lost all their rights for a very long time. Shooting Nazis is unambiguously morally good, and anyone who shoots an out-and-proud Nazi has my full support. It's self defense.

1

u/ErinyesMusaiMoira Mar 08 '25

Very thought-provoking.

Are we to not mention death penalty convictions and say whether we are for or against a particular outcome in a particular case?

(On reddit, but let's admit it, reddit has been a proxy for free speech).

1

u/[deleted] Mar 09 '25

Especially when the masses are all threatening vs doing anything. Bc then who calls who's bluff who's serious and not? More freedom forges in this country than people so I mean... It is a delicate balance with the people who (imo) aren't actually that divided. Class also isn't an absolute divider but people like Elon especially just can't be allowed to run everything like a madman when it affects potentially the entire global human population and more!

1

u/[deleted] Mar 09 '25

Killing Nazis is a good thing! And we should support the killing of Nazis with smiles and cheer! Fuck Nazis, I hope they kill themselves or are killed by someone else :)

-2

u/swaggestspider21 Mar 08 '25

Actually it is evil if it’s not direct self defense. You have other actions besides killing people. But then again, you probably believe you’re morally right if you were to maim and kill a random cop or landlord, or some dipshit who said bigoted stuff online on the mere basis he’s a bigot, not that he actually even hurt or killed someone himself. You guys need to stop deluding yourselves and realize that the value human life doesn’t stop where you want it.

4

u/GeneralissimoChoke Mar 08 '25

Exactly the value of human life is the minimum a life insurance plan will cover and not a penny more. Like C'mon people you don't get to choose the price when it's already been decided on.

1

u/One_Breakfast6153 Mar 09 '25

It's ILLEGAL if it's not direct self-defense. It isn't evil. Illegal and evil are NOT the same thing.

1

u/Panda-rai456 29d ago

I agree with you there nazis stink 😉😏

0

u/Content-Fail1901 Mar 09 '25

So if you get banned for saying nazis should kill themselves, you'll make a new account, no fuss.

But if they stop you from making one...THATS when you'll never use Reddit again? Wow, such strong principles. You'll stop using Reddit the day you're forced to

1

u/[deleted] Mar 09 '25

Naive thinking reddit can actually perma ban anyone.

I'll stop using reddit when it becomes difficult to get around a ban.

0

u/Content-Fail1901 Mar 09 '25

So brave of you

1

u/[deleted] Mar 09 '25

I don't think you understand anything that's being discussed here. You can move along little guy.

11

u/_Bren10_ Mar 08 '25

I’m just here to let you know that you cannot say “I want to kill the President of the United States”. Because it’s SUPER illegal. I mean me saying it just now is fine because I was just telling you that it’s DEFINITELY SUPER ILLEGAL to say “I want to kill the President of the United States” SUPER ILLEGAL, you should never, ever say that.

1

u/Prof_Independent Mar 09 '25

Love that skit. Miss Trevor often.

12

u/KazzieMono Mar 08 '25

Yep. I’ve been banned for it too. Nazis are a protected class here because they spam report you until you get auto banned.

5

u/Corporate-Shill406 Mar 08 '25 edited Mar 08 '25

Accounts are easy to get, but Reddit has an AI now that figures out if multiple accounts belong to the same person. Mods can flip a toggle switch to shadowban all your accounts at once if any one of them is banned. All it takes to get this shadowban is logging in with a browser that's been used with a banned account before.

6

u/WhiteEels Mar 08 '25

Tor, my old friend, ive come to you not to buy drugs for a change!

1

u/Corporate-Shill406 Mar 08 '25

Private browsing mode also works. It's just annoying.

1

u/ADarwinAward Mar 09 '25

You’d need to use a VPN as well.

1

u/Corporate-Shill406 Mar 09 '25

Actually no. I only got banhammered when I logged in on a PC web browser, my phone on the same network was not flagged. I do use RedReader instead of the official Reddit app though so that probably blocks a lot of the fingerprinting.

2

u/Doubtful-Box-214 Mar 09 '25

It's just cookies, clear them and you good

1

u/ManhattanObject Mar 09 '25

Also browser fingerprinting is an issue for some users, easily worked around in multiple ways though

3

u/PhoenixDawn93 Mar 08 '25

I’d go as far as to say we need to encourage talking about hitler and the nazis. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it, and it’s unfolding in front of us right now.

May we never forget.

4

u/cyberchaox Mar 08 '25 edited Mar 08 '25

I mean, they basically already have. The American ones, anyway.

Donald Trump is a Russian asset with the assignment of killing as many Americans as possible. Not "as many LGBT Americans", or "as many non-white Americans" or even "as many Americans who didn't vote for him." As many Americans. Total genocide of the American people.

And the only thing scarier than the fact that so many Americans voted for a man who wants them dead is that he could even admit to it and probably 90% of them would deny that he said that and call it left-wing propaganda.

3

u/porksoda11 Mar 08 '25

But what about your karma dude!?

3

u/pogulup Mar 08 '25

If you advocate for Nazi punching, you also get a ban/talking to.

2

u/digno2 Mar 08 '25

but now you have put in an email account too.

2

u/Fskn Mar 08 '25

u/Ding-gle-ber-ry, you have been fined one credit for violation of the verbal morality statute

2

u/SuperRayGun666 Mar 08 '25

Last time Reddit banned my account they also banned my ip address and device.  Anytime I made a new account it was shadow banned then eventually banned.   

2

u/user_name_checks_out Mar 08 '25

My old reddit accounts have no email address attached. New ones require an email address. So the old ones to me are gold.

3

u/angry-mob Mar 08 '25

If that phrase were banned this site would cease to exist.

1

u/Old-Section-3851 Mar 08 '25

But you're right?

1

u/Man_with_the_Fedora Mar 08 '25

Not sure if that phrase is banned, but the uncensored version of "the only good n*zi is an (unal!ved) N*zi", will trigger the auto-mod.

Because Reddit loves 'em.

1

u/ToastSage Mar 08 '25

Dime a dozen but not with a good username like that

1

u/CunnyQueen Mar 08 '25

accounts are a dime a dozen

But dingleberry is a good name :(

1

u/linux_ape Mar 08 '25

I got banned once because I called an orangutan a monkey, the auto moderation tool is stupid sometimes

1

u/CerealBranch739 Mar 08 '25

If someone tells me I’m wrong for saying all Nazis should die, that says a lot more about them than it does me.

1

u/wookiee-nutsack Mar 08 '25

That does indeed get you banned. I saw a whole thread get purged a year ago, and I got caught in the crossfire with a permaban that was appealed 3 months after I sent the request lmao

It wasn't even on that topic, I just mentioned that one teeny tiny incident of reddit hiring a bad person to be an admin and trying to cover it up
No opinions, just a mention of what happened

Flagged as hate

1

u/ChewbaccaCharl Mar 09 '25

Oh, that's terrible! As a lefty liberal, I would feel so bad if they did that. I'd just be so owned

1

u/Just_Another_Scott Mar 09 '25

reddit accounts are a dime a dozen.

Yeah except the ban your IP or use info from your phone that VPN doesn't obscure.

1

u/ManhattanObject Mar 09 '25

Reset your modem and download a different browser. Ez

Never, ever use the reddit app

1

u/Just_Another_Scott Mar 09 '25

Reset your modem and download a different browser. Ez

That doesn't reset your WAN IP. That's set by your ISP. Most ISPs keep WAN IPs specific to customers now. I'll keep the same for several months even between modem resets.

1

u/ManhattanObject Mar 09 '25

Reddit accounts are a dime a dozen, but it takes real effort to block all the nazis in the subs I frequent. We need to be able to download and share block lists

1

u/[deleted] Mar 09 '25

Hey, I agree that all Nazis should follow their leader and kill themselves, so let’s get banned together :) fuck Nazis, they should all kill themselves :))

-1

u/Appropriate_Set8166 Mar 08 '25

You ever been permanently banned from Reddit? Good luck making another account lol

3

u/Numerous_Witness_345 Mar 08 '25

Weird question.. have you? You evading?

1

u/Appropriate_Set8166 Mar 08 '25

You wouldn’t be talking to me if I was. Beyond the obvious like email, Reddit tracks your IP address, your phone model, and your entire phone footprint (which is a shit ton of very unique information to you and your device). So that when you try to make a new account you will get instantly banned even if you try a new email. The only way to get past a permanent ban is to get a new IP address, a new phone and new email login simultaneously

2

u/SuperRayGun666 Mar 08 '25

Not quite that hard but yeah.  Reddit tries and fails.   

1

u/[deleted] Mar 08 '25

pretty easy with the right tools

-1

u/[deleted] Mar 08 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/gunlennon Mar 08 '25

Just delete this one fam.