this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2026
207 points (82.2% liked)

Ask Lemmy

40487 readers
889 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !uspolitics@lemmy.world


7) No Hit-and-Run questions.
Please don't delete your post for no apparent reason. If you plan on deleting a question later, say so in the post, or if you feel that you have a good reason to remove it, message a mod beforehand. It's not fair to the ones who took their time to answer, and it's not in the spirit of the community.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

In the past week I've been absolutely roasted for criticising two different countries. Normally I'd be okay with that, I can handle a mild toasting and after all debate is a good thing.

On both occasions though I was flamed for mentioning human rights issues that are established facts and have been known for many, many years. I was critical of the actions/laws of their governments and not the people, their race, religion, general political ideology or nationality.

On both occasions I was bombarded by long posts that parroted propaganda, and in the case of one country I was told (on multiple occasions) that I was ignorant, racist and even fascist for mentioning the issues I did. I'm not complaining about how I was treated, but as a reminder, I was discussing internationally-recognised human rights concerns that can be verified and based in fact.

I could just be paranoid but I'm fairly convinced the responses weren't from patriotic citizens. I think they were paid trolls or bots, and I think their purpose was to quiet negative talking points about the countries that were mentioned.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Objection@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

I could just be paranoid but I’m fairly convinced the responses weren’t from patriotic citizens. I think they were paid trolls or bots

Possibly. Me personally, I'm not getting paid to post. Not yet. I'm working up to that. Eventually, I plan to print out pro-China comments I've made and fax them to the Chinese embassy in the hopes that they'll hire me. For now, I'm just padding out my CV.

This whole conspiracy theory is so bonkers. Lemmy was created by communists. You look inside, you find communists, and then it's all this "What!? People who disagree with me!? On the internet!?!?!? Impossible! They must be paid secret agents!!!!"

If you want to avoid the existential horror of realizing that people exist with different views from you, different instances have different user experiences, and you're free to choose one that doesn't federate with communists.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It's very well documented that Russia, China, Iran and others operate troll farms to influence people on the internet.

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 3 points 22 hours ago

I remember in 2016 when all those pro Trump comments on reddit were being made by users only active during Russia working hours until it got pointed out.

[–] NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world 2 points 21 hours ago (1 children)
[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 0 points 20 hours ago

They're the top three.

[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com -4 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

There are levels.
And your instance is on a particular one. More so than other ones.

[–] BrainInABox@lemmy.ml 3 points 17 hours ago
[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca -5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

This is not about having different opinions, this about a solid group within Lemmy spouting oblivious propaganda

[–] BrainInABox@lemmy.ml 4 points 17 hours ago

"Its not about X, it's about X!"

You really can just say anything

[–] Objection@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 day ago

Where "propaganda" is defined as "having different opinions," yes.