TL;DR: Got permanently banned from r/interestingasfuck for commenting about Chinese surveillance, because I posted a news article in a different subreddit. Bots ban you across subreddits based on where you’ve posted, not what you said. Reddit allows it. Protect yourself.
Full text: Today I commented on a post in r/interestingasfuck about a compulsory surveillance app installed on Indian phones. My comment? “Okay but no one bats an eye when China does this?” Within minutes, I was permanently banned. Not for what I said but because I had previously posted in a completely unrelated subreddit.
The ban message: “This action was performed by a bot which does not check the context or content of your comments.”
The bot openly admits it doesn’t care what you actually said.
Here’s something most users don’t realize: when you post in a subreddit, the moderators of that subreddit can see your entire Reddit history for 21-28 days after your last interaction there.
My “offense” was sharing a news article about X unmasking fake Gaza influencer accounts. It had 69 upvotes and 97% approval. Didn’t matter. Bot saw “participated in subreddit on our list” and executed. A command set up by a human moderator. To get unbanned, I have to delete my posts there and recite this exact phrase: “I have read the ban message, deleted all posts and comments in that subreddit and am now ready to be unbanned.” Wrong words = auto-muted by another bot.
That’s not an appeal. It’s a loyalty oath enforced by automation.
Why This Matters
- It creates echo chambers: If participating in one community gets you banned from others, people stop engaging with diverse viewpoints.
- It punishes good-faith engagement: I’ve seen people banned for criticizing a subreddit — the bot doesn’t know if you were agreeing or disagreeing.
What You Can Do
- Block the bots. (list of 52 bots I have found will be in the comments)
- Adjust your privacy settings. Go to Settings > Profile > Content and activity > Hide All. This hides your posts and comments from public view (though mods can still see your history for 21-28 days after you interact with their subreddit).
The Bottom Line: I shouldn’t have to maintain a blocklist of bot accounts and hide my post history just to participate normally.
When the best advice for using a platform is “hide everything about yourself and fragment your identity across multiple accounts,” something has gone fundamentally wrong with how that platform is governed.
Suggestion - Reddit should introduce like X(Twitter) the account created location and where they are currently logged in from.
Edit: from u/boredbythechore Pasting the list of usernames instead of links. I found it quicker to go to Settings -> Privacy -> Blocked accounts and add users that way instead of having to click each link.
hive-protect BotBouncer bot-bouncer Saferbot SaferBot2 SafestBot safebot BotDefense USLBot AutoBanBot MisandryBot banhammerapp evasion-guard SpambotSwatter SpamBustr bot-swatter purge-user RepostSleuthBot MAGIC_EYE_BOT DuplicateDestroyer InstantPeopleSearch ContextModBot modqueue-nuke floodassistant comment-nuke mod-mentions flairassistant auto-modmail toolboxnotesxfer interactive-workflow admin-tattler ChromaticHammer bingo-post automod-sync modmail-userinfo discord-relay modlog-archive AssistantBOT anti-evil erase-user staydownremoved comment-rinse ban-purge title-rinse queue-pruner ai-banning-automation subguard read-the-rules ignorit-app modmailassistant user-flair-bot trendingtattler manipulation-pi videosbot subscriber-count
Edit 2: For making this post on r/self and r/theoryofreddit (which ended up getting removed and this post only remains) the moderator u/kezika has banned me on r/nottheonion for simply making this post, not even making a post there or commenting. Just a warning to anyone who wants to speak up online. And yes I have posted in r/nottheonion but that was a while ago and NOT today and the ban happened today over my disagreement with their comments on these posts and their apparent witch hunt against my opinions. We are allowed to have different opinions man, we are all entitled to them. But silencing me for having one that is different from yours is censorship. If anyone needs proof please DM me I took screenshots before they deleted some of their comments here and on the other subreddits.
If the moderators of this subreddit have an issue with my post please let me know and I will remove, I do not want to break any rules.
Bots
- https://www.reddit.com/user/hive-protect
- https://www.reddit.com/user/BotBouncer
- https://www.reddit.com/user/bot-bouncer
- https://www.reddit.com/user/Saferbot
- https://www.reddit.com/user/SaferBot2
- https://www.reddit.com/user/SafestBot
- https://www.reddit.com/user/safebot
- https://www.reddit.com/user/BotDefense
- https://www.reddit.com/user/USLBot
- https://www.reddit.com/user/AutoBanBot
- https://www.reddit.com/user/MisandryBot
- https://www.reddit.com/user/banhammerapp
- https://www.reddit.com/user/evasion-guard
- https://www.reddit.com/user/SpambotSwatter
- https://www.reddit.com/user/SpamBustr
- https://www.reddit.com/user/bot-swatter
- https://www.reddit.com/user/purge-user
- https://www.reddit.com/user/RepostSleuthBot
- https://www.reddit.com/user/MAGIC_EYE_BOT
- https://www.reddit.com/user/DuplicateDestroyer
- https://www.reddit.com/user/InstantPeopleSearch
- https://www.reddit.com/user/ContextModBot
- https://www.reddit.com/user/modqueue-nuke
- https://www.reddit.com/user/floodassistant
- https://www.reddit.com/user/comment-nuke
- https://www.reddit.com/user/mod-mentions
- https://www.reddit.com/user/flairassistant
- https://www.reddit.com/user/auto-modmail
- https://www.reddit.com/user/toolboxnotesxfer
- https://www.reddit.com/user/interactive-workflow
- https://www.reddit.com/user/admin-tattler
- https://www.reddit.com/user/ChromaticHammer
- https://www.reddit.com/user/bingo-post
- https://www.reddit.com/user/automod-sync
- https://www.reddit.com/user/modmail-userinfo
- https://www.reddit.com/user/discord-relay
- https://www.reddit.com/user/modlog-archive
- https://www.reddit.com/user/AssistantBOT
- https://www.reddit.com/user/anti-evil https://www.reddit.com/user/erase-user
- https://www.reddit.com/user/staydownremoved
- https://www.reddit.com/user/comment-rinse
- https://www.reddit.com/user/ban-purge
- https://www.reddit.com/user/title-rinse
- https://www.reddit.com/user/queue-pruner
- https://www.reddit.com/user/ai-banning-automation
- https://www.reddit.com/user/subguard
- https://www.reddit.com/user/read-the-rules
- https://www.reddit.com/user/ignorit-app
- https://www.reddit.com/user/modmailassistant
- https://www.reddit.com/user/user-flair-bot
- https://www.reddit.com/user/trendingtattler
- https://www.reddit.com/user/manipulation-pi
- https://www.reddit.com/user/videosbot
- https://www.reddit.com/user/subscriber-count
How to block: Click each link > click “…” menu > Block account
Privacy tip: Settings > Profile > Content and activity > Hide All
Easier way to block the bots
Pasting the list of usernames instead of links. I found it quicker to go to Settings -> Privacy -> Blocked accounts and add users that way instead of having to click each link.
hive-protect BotBouncer bot-bouncer Saferbot SaferBot2 SafestBot safebot BotDefense USLBot AutoBanBot MisandryBot banhammerapp evasion-guard SpambotSwatter SpamBustr bot-swatter purge-user RepostSleuthBot MAGIC_EYE_BOT DuplicateDestroyer InstantPeopleSearch ContextModBot modqueue-nuke floodassistant comment-nuke mod-mentions flairassistant auto-modmail toolboxnotesxfer interactive-workflow admin-tattler ChromaticHammer bingo-post automod-sync modmail-userinfo discord-relay modlog-archive AssistantBOT anti-evil erase-user staydownremoved comment-rinse ban-purge title-rinse queue-pruner ai-banning-automation subguard read-the-rules ignorit-app modmailassistant user-flair-bot trendingtattler
That’s ironic, because this post was written by a LLM. The edits are human but the bulk of the initial post is LLM text.