this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2025

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Is Lemmy Becoming a Hub for Conspiracy Theorists? (kbin.melroy.org)

submitted 2 weeks ago by Oofnik@kbin.melroy.org to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

17 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The Epstein case has a lot of evidence supporting a conspiracy, and I certainly think there is more to it than we know. But in recent days I've seen upvoted comments about (a) the NYC shooter not actually targeting the NFL despite all reporting suggesting otherwise, and (b) that Russia intentionally caused the Earthquake.

I think given the self-selective nature of a federated social network we already need to be vigilant about preventing any kind of 4chanification. I'm not calling for censorship of any kind, but I do find it raises some beige flags for me about Lemmy...

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[–] actionjbone@sh.itjust.works 17 points 2 weeks ago

The Internet is a hub for conspiracy theorists.

[–] Diva@lemmy.ml 16 points 2 weeks ago

(b) that Russia intentionally caused the Earthquake.

I missed that one, open xenophobia about Russians is a common theme on lemmy

[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I've not really noticed it, but who knows what instances are or aren't. Personally I don't think it's "censorship" when good modding steps in and says "No, that's blatantly false and you're just trying to stir the pot, removed"

[+] TheLeadenSea@sh.itjust.works -6 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Ah yes, the most rational Lemming claiming that removing content isn't censorship - rather than arguing that censorship can be good, actually

[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Censorship is saying that you aren't allowed to say something out in the open. The fediverse is a wonderful place, where anyone can host their own server and say whatever they like out in the open.

There is nothing though that says that any one of us are forced to host your opinions, and none of us are forced to federate with a server that does allow it. In short, you may have the freedom to say what you like - but we also have the freedom to choose not to listen to it, and the freedom to not host it. None of that is censorship.

[–] TheLeadenSea@sh.itjust.works -4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

'The freedom to choose not to host it' is such an insidious way to frame censoring opinions you don't like on your platform. So the tankie triad can censor anarchist opinions, and that's fine, because they're just choosing to not host your content'?

[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 4 points 2 weeks ago

Correct, because on this world-wide-web you are free to host it yourself. I will be up in arms with you however if the internet changes and declares that we don't have the rights to host our own servers.

[–] hedgehog@ttrpg.network 4 points 2 weeks ago

If the instance or community guidelines state “X isn’t allowed,” then it isn’t censorship to remove X. It becomes censorship when mods start removing things for reasons other than enforcing instance or community guidelines. Until that point, it’s just content moderation.

If the c/Androids community guidelines state that “This community is about human-like robots. Posts regarding the phone OS are unwelcome” and a mod removes such a post, that isn’t censorship. Likewise for spam, or reposts, or any number of other things.

On the other hand if the mods remove a post about a human-like robot built in China because they’re sinophobic, that is censorship. Likewise if the human-like robot was built by Tesla, if the lead engineer were a woman, or anything along those lines. Likewise if the post were instead critical of such a robot - still censorship (unless it’s a news only community and the post was free text or a meme).

Likewise if a community’s guidelines state that controversial statements without reputable sources backing them up, statements known to be false, or statements that have been flagged as false by a fact checker are prohibited, then removing such statements isn’t censorship. It’s moderation.

[–] djsoren19@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 2 weeks ago

I haven't seen either of these takes, and I'm on this platform like 4-6 hours a day at least. I think you have to look at the instances you're on and the content you're consuming. I know my instance, blahaj, doesn't federate with some of the more insane instances, and I've personally blocked some of the few problematic ones left like .world.

[–] furrowsofar@beehaw.org 8 points 2 weeks ago

You have to be channel selective. There are popular channels I stopped following because of the propaganda issue for example. There are whole lemmy nodes that my node does not federate with for various reasons. The fediverse is a diverse shit show as a whole but one can choose to not follow crap or federate with nodes that allow crap. People can publish what they want but I do not have to listen to it. Nodes can moderate but if people do not like it, they can move to a node that better suits them. This diversity of content plus ability to filter the crap is a the huge power of Lemmy.

[–] Mangoholic@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 weeks ago

The russia thing is wild

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I mean, it's been "outside the mainstream" since the start.

[–] dontbelievethis@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

What's your plan to prevent this?

[–] Oofnik@kbin.melroy.org 1 points 2 weeks ago

I don't have a plan or agenda. I think it raises interesting issues about the Fediverse - there is a kind of selection effect in who joins the Fediverse, which I think in some ways can be good (e.g. access to political opinions that aren't taken seriously elsewhere), but I also think as a community we should be wary of its potential downsides. I wasn't calling for censorship of conspiracy theories. It annoys me that they are proliferating, but I wouldn't call for their censorship. But if the situation got super bad (and it is far from super bad at the moment!), I'd probably seek somewhere else to discuss stuff online.

[–] KingThrillgore@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 weeks ago

These conspiracies are fucking dumb

[–] golden_zealot@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

As far as I understand it, lemmy is a hub for anything and everything anyone wants it to be.

You can block instances, communities, and accounts to resolve the problem as you see it if you wish, but in my opinion the real move is to learn to be able to read anything and everything in order to obtain the widest view possible without allowing it to affect you personally.

I feel that if people learned to respond honestly and rationally without logic fallacies and worrying about things as paltry as votes, then we would be better off ultimately.

That's not to say that it is easy - but I firmly believe it would be beneficial, specifically because I think it would cut down on echo-chamber effects.

[–] SugarCatDestroyer@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Oh no, just not censorship, damn, just not that, I don't want a second reddit here.