Bonum Certa Men Certa

Detecting and Undoing/Reversing Censorship of Microsoft Critics at Reddit

Assuming one wishes not to simply boycott the whole of Reddit

Some (wo)men @ work
Luddites defending same 'ol Microsoft by muzzling Microsoft critics



Summary: David from Ottawa suggests ways to track censored comments and restore them for readers to assess (in spite of overzealous and/or biased moderators)

The Rust/Reddit censorship of Microsoft critics was mentioned here the other day, both in IRC and in a short post. We lacked some background information and context, for it was removed. The censored person urged a developer to produce a "WATCHDOG WEB BROWSER PLUGIN and REDDIT-WATCHDOG WAYBACK MACHINE" for situations such as these, explaining that this developer had been "creating an app to capture video and send it to web sites to specifically help capture abuse by Police officers. Quite relevant now, but he wrote this years ago."



The person told me of the "Reddit censorship/moderation being biased and being controlled/supported by BIGTECH." Other readers previously reported the same to us; they also took screenshots, which we in turn published. A very long time ago we explained why Reddit as social control media was particularly bad if not malicious and censorious. I personally found it far too 'Microsoft-infested' (literal agents or employees of Microsoft burying stories).

"I personally found it far too 'Microsoft-infested' (literal agents or employees of Microsoft burying stories)."We now have the context of the latest incident: "To remind you of the context that brought about this idea, I will re-explain what happened this past week. I followed old.reddit.com/r/rust/. In it there was an entry posted mentioning this article. I posted some entries stating we shouldn't deem Microsoft in high regard because of their past behaviour and their history of legal suits against them. I said a few other not so nice words, but nothing inciting violence against them.

"BOTTOM LINE: My entries were at first downvoted, then deleted afterwards. I also received a follow-up mail stating my entries were breaking the rule of zealotry and were warning I was going to be banned. Afterwards I decided to de-activate my account, reason being too much censorship. I now suspect Reddit forums might be strongly influenced by Microserfs/"BIGTECH" and downvoting/deleting entries placing them in low regard.

"This kind of censorship is so subtle and difficult to identify as such. The way it is worded seems and feels as though the blame should be on the individual that posted some out-of-mainstream thought in the forum. Others would probably let it slide and follow the suggested advice. That's not in my nature having a free-spirit and a lucid mind."

The "rationale" of the technical response to such censorship was explained as follows: "As you know, there are no tools/services that track/log all entries within Reddit. When entries are posted, they may appear for a brief period of time, but once moderated, they may disappear/be deleted. We need more tools to: 1) detect and defeat censorship/corrupted moderation; 2) keep a watchful eye on those Web sites claiming to provide forums for free speech yet crushing their voices. This "WATCHDOG" tool may be an instrument for proving such events happened. 3) to store/capturing all Reddit is too costly, but could be achievable for smaller set of forums focused on Microsoft/"BIGTECH" like Linux, Golang, Rust, Zig and others one deems relevant matter."

The suggestion was put forth as follows: "The means to achieve this... "REDDIT-WATCHDOG" capability is to 1) have all Reddit users install a Reddit-watchdog Web browser plugin; 2) the Reddit-watchdog plugin would simply act like a front-end to Reddit, reading all entries to specific Teddit forum the user is interested in, then relaying all those entries to the Reddit-watchdog Wayback Machine server, recording all current entries viewed. If entries already exist within the Reddit-watchdog Wayback Machine, they simply will be ignored and not recorded."

"Resulting benefit" of this "REDDIT-WATCHDOG WAYBACK MACHINE," the person continued, "would allow: 1) searching for specific Reddit user history; 2) surfacing deleted entries; 3) surfacing extremely downvoted entries. Blocking the watchdog plugin would be unachievable because the signature of the Web client requests are the same as the Web browser itself. The unique IPs from the different Web browsers would also be difficult to block. Thank you for listening."

Recent Techrights' Posts

They Don't Tell Us that 'Digitalisation' (Now Sold as "Hey Hi") Just Means Customers Become Unpaid Staff and Are Made Accountable
People are being conditioned to associate technology with something undesirable, at times even unbearable
Amazon Web Services (AWS) Has Layoffs and Microsoft Gaming/Entertainment Division Has an Uncertain Future
it's good to see all those horrible things crashing and burning
 
Links 22/07/2025: "Blog Restart" and Microsoft Clobbered by “ToolShell"
Links for the day
Global Warming and Global GAFAM Energy-Wasting
Burn more money (borrowed, loans), then hope the waste will somehow translate into profit?
No Compliance With the European Patent Convention (EPC) at the European Patent Office (EPO)
It's about preventing competition against this autocracy
Blue-Collar Trolls vs White-Collar Trolls
Examples of white-collar trolls
Apple Vision Pro Failed So Badly That Its Sales Are About 2,000 Times Smaller Than iPhone Sales
What's left for Apple to offer other than hype?
To Millions of People "Year of the Linux Desktop" Was Some Time in the 1990s (Bootable GNU/Linux as a Complete Operating System is Over 33 in Age)
In some sense, "year of the Linux desktop" was 33 years ago
Make No Assumptions (or Demands) About the Screen Resolution Used by Other People
There are usability aspects, aside from accessibility aspects
Why Wayland (and XWayland) Won't Solve the Key Problem It Proclaims to be Tackling (the Same Is True for Rust)
The problem isn't Wayland per se but the false promises and efforts to force everybody to move to it whilst insulting or demonising everyone who won't play along
Diplomatic Immunity Should Not Exist for Anybody
The EPO in its current form gradually 'normalises' the end of European democracy
Brett Wilson LLP Stopped Sending Me Papers When I Showed It had Sent Me Over 5 Kilograms of Legal Papers
A week ago we lodged our third lawsuit
Microsoft Mass Layoffs and Shutdowns Became the New Normal at Microsoft
Microsoft mass layoffs became a topic of everyday media coverage since May
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 21, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 21, 2025
FSF "Raised Almost $139,000 During This Summer Campaign"
"Thank you for making a stand against dystopia!"
Gemini Links 22/07/2025: VPS Exploited and Fear of View
Links for the day
LLM Bots vs Techrights
Slows things down a bit
New Publication Sheds Lights on Abuse of Workers at the European Patent Office (EPO)
Put in simple terms, they're killing the Office, harming remaining staff, try to hire rubber-stampers
Links 21/07/2025: Hardware, Health, and Imperialism
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/07/2025: "When Buying Isn't Owning" and "CMS Special Edition"
Links for the day
Links 21/07/2025: Indie Web and Toxic Politics
Links for the day
[Meme] Microsoft Lawyers Throwing Stones in Glass Houses
threatened me with bankruptcy
Google "AI Overview" is Not AI and Not Overview
do not be misled; what Google does isn't smart, it's just ripping off the sites it already crawled for as long as 27 years
Making the Case to Dump Microsoft and GAFAM for National and Digital Sovereignty
"Sovereignty is difficult"
The Tactics of the Opposition (Microsoft Lunduke): Associate With K00ks, Throw in Vaccines to Muddy the Water
Who stands to gain from this?
Europe's Second-Largest Institution (EPO) and Largest Patent Monopoly Office Needs More Transparency, Not Less Transparency
In the EPO, what good are elections when one candidate literally bribes all the voters?
How Not to Report News About Microsoft
This pattern of misreporting is so widespread that it's hard to believe it's not intentional
Computer Science is Under Attack, They Want Everyone to be a Consumer
If people can no longer acquire Computer Science education and real Computer Science experience, they will not know how to control their own digital destiny or emancipate the very same universities that now control the syllabus and instead of teaching Computer Science encourage the outsourcing of systems
The Best Tools Are the Simplest Tools
There's a hidden message here about the merits of sticking with X
Ofcom Online Safety Group Speaks of Protecting Women Online, Will Brett Wilson LLP Ever Listen?
They've essentially became like the Taliban's "burka police"
Social Control Media Relies on Advertisers, So It'll Always Be Hostile Towards Free Software
Sales, sales, sales
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 20, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 20, 2025
Fragmentation of Data
Life is too short to "hoard" data
In Defence of "Spinning Rust"
Just because something is "old" (or older) doesn't mean it ought to become extinct
Using Free Software to Prepare Legal Documents
LibreOffice is openly complaining about OOXML as an obstacle
Tech and Technology Are Not the Same Anymore
"Are you into tech, Sir?"
Our Articles About SLAPPs Receive Recognition and Interest
This week we shall continue writing about the 3 lawsuits we filed
Are You Served?
For many people, advocacy of Free software and GPL enforcement are assumed to be happening
Conspiracy or grooming? Alex Jurado, Voice of Reason compared to Outreachy
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 20/07/2025: Security Breaches and Former 'Open' 'AI' Engineer on Hype and Culture Issues
Links for the day
Links 20/07/2025: Fending Off BRICS and US Government Attacks Its Own Media (Like China and Russia)
Links for the day
Framed by social control media: Alex Belfield, Voice of Reason
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 20/07/2025: Summertime and OCC25 Wrap-up
Links for the day
Jamie Zawinski Complained About Wayland, Then Decided to Give It a Go, Now Complains Again About Wayland
Ask IBM (Red Hat) why it's worth throwing so much away just for Wayland fanaticism
Slopwatch: Planet Ubuntu, LinuxSecurity, and More
former "Linux" blogs which basically became slopfarms
Russia Set to Ban Facebook?
If WhatsApp is made to "leave", that means Facebook or "Meta".
Links 20/07/2025: More GAFAM Lawsuits, Layoffs, and SLAPPs
Links for the day
Taking Stock of a Good and Productive Week
We shall now be taking a break, unpacking the new hard drive (8 TB), and making backups of everything
Nice Recovery (From Actual Fire) by PCLinuxOS, New Version of PCLinuxOS Released, Now Top of DistoWatch
PCLinuxOS is a community-driven distro
More Microsoft Shutdowns That Mostly Slipped Under the Radar
Remember what happened to books 'sold' by Microsoft?
Microsoft Lunduke Still Fighting Cancel Culture With... Cancel Culture
There will be no "winners" in such 'debates'
The History of Daily Links and Politics
"I support Wayland, but I also support abortion..."
Ageism in Tech
Your protocol is "old"...
Microsoft is at 0% "Market Share" in Most Areas
Depending on the taxonomy chosen, there may be dozens of categories other than desktops and laptops
"The moment MSFT stock fails to start tumbling, that’s the beginning of another corporate giant going under."
There are far more layoffs at Microsoft than at Intel, but you would not get this impression based on Wall Street media
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 19, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 19, 2025