this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2026
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Creating an anonymous Reddit account without getting shadowbanned (quokk.au)
submitted 2 days ago by dreamy@quokk.au to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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I sadly kinda need Reddit because it's the only place where I can talk to other Turkish LGBTQ+ people, and I need my account to be anonymous because of the recent developments in Turkey, where the majority government is about to propose a bill that will literally make publicly identifying as LGBTQ illegal.

Any comment I make in my current account just shows up as [removed] and my account doesn't even show up in redlib like it doesn't even exist. Can't send any DMs either, it just gives me a very vague error.

The way I first signed up was pretty suspicious tbh (Mullvad VPN + Browser and cock.li e-mail address). Is there a better way I could do this without sharing any PII?

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[–] undefinedTruth@lemmy.zip 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I tried many times during the past year. SimpleLogin aliases with and without a custom domain, Mullvad and ProtonVPN, etc. No matter what I did I always ended up being shadow banned the moment I posted pretty much any comment. In the end I decided it just doesn't worth my time.

If you really have to, the only way that I think it would work reliably is buying an aged account that already has a bit of karma behind it for some XMR. Plenty people are selling them, but I am not gonna pay $30 for the privilege of using fucking Reddit.

[–] dreamy@quokk.au 2 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Thanks for the answer!

Do you have a link for where you saw those? I'm also not paying 30USD for a Reddit account :D, but I wouldn't mind paying a smaller amount.

[–] RheumatoidArthritis@mander.xyz 1 points 1 day ago

They're for like 50 cents on accsmarket

[–] undefinedTruth@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I saw a few listings on XMRBazaar. Just search for "reddit" and you will find several. XMRBazaar itself is trustworthy but I cannot vouch for any of the sellers. Think of it kind of like Craigslist for Monero.

[–] dreamy@quokk.au 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

There are some pretty cheap listings, some even having escrow. I think I'll go with this if I can't find another solution. Thank you!

[–] TauZero@mander.xyz 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

An aged account is not even a panacea. I had a reddit account of many years that I haven't logged into for the last two. I check online, it still exists, in good standing. I login one time, post one helpful comment (through a VPN of course, same as I always did), try to log in the next day to check replies - login error. Check through a third party - account page no longer even exists. All comments completely wiped. Thanks reddit! Saved me the trouble of deleting my account manually.

[–] FineCoatMummy@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

They def do that. I think what happens is, you make the account in year X when their anti-bot rules are laxer. Act hangs around, works fine. Then more stricter rules roll out in year X+5 or w/e. You login again in year X+5, suddenly you're violating the new checks. Boom, sudden ban.

The fuckers. I get that services have to fight abuse. And that's getting harder b/c of AI bots. And political influence campaigns and shit. But the colateral damage is HUGE. Ppl like you are getting caught in the crossfire.

[–] undefinedTruth@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Since Reddit started preparing to file for the IPO it has really gone to shit. That is around the point I just gave up and went read-only. If you just want to find information RedReader is amazing. At least for the time being it is the absolute best way to browse Reddit privately. Even when the Reddit website blocks the IP of the VPN server I am using, RedReader is not affected for some reason.

[–] NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I last created an account using temp-mail to comment on a post in my local sub, but then I found out they were no longer publishing comments from brand new accounts which resulted in me deleting that account and limiting my view of the local sub.

-Also, if you have Mullvad, then you're going to get tired of switching servers real fast just to access reddit. I would bet less than 1-in-10 servers is unblocked on reddit and it typically doesn't remain unblocked for more than 24-48 hours. -Just don't post on Reddit. It's become an outdated platform anyway.

[–] undefinedTruth@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I use Mullvad too and I have the exact same experience with having to keep switching servers until I am able to access the website. For some reason though RedReader does not appear to be affected by this. I guess they must be treating it differently since it is using the API. RedReader was one of the very few third-party clients that was spared during the APIcalypse.

[–] hperrin@lemmy.ca 6 points 2 days ago

Use a https://port87.com/ mailing address. We don’t require your real name and there’s no IP ban, so you can access it from a VPN. Delete all the emails (both trash them and then delete them from your trash) after you get them.

VPN is good, but Reddit might ban you. Just try a different location through your VPN so you get a new IP address. Make sure you always do all of this in a private window in your browser.

[–] teyrnon@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 days ago (2 children)

That is a good question, I would like to know this as well. I was told there is no such thing as an anonymous account there anymore but idk. You can use a temporary email to sign up but they can follow your mac address and whatever.

[–] Auli@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

They cannot follow your MAC.

[–] teyrnon@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago (3 children)

What do they follow?

[–] gnuthing@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 2 days ago

IP address, cookies, tracking pixels, browser fingerprinting, device identifiers used by apps, advertising in apps

[–] FineCoatMummy@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

What do they follow?

Guessing you might have meant IP address, not MAC address. Without a VPN or w/e, the IP for most ppl is assigned by the ISP and damn near pinpoints you. Not exactly, but it's real close.

MAC address on the other hand, that you can change yourself (prob).

With a legit VPN, they don't get your IP. They do get other fingerprinting signals tho! Maybe lots of them. If you ALSO mask those, that makes your abuse likelihood score even higher. IDK waht the threshold is, but it seems anymore that a VPN alone is "almost" a surefire ban. Maybe some ppl get it to work, but I think that's b/c reddit can fingerprint them in enough other ways.

There's a whole ass industry about this! It's called identity resolution. Most of the big site use it now. It uses any and every signal to ID you. Even things that are near impossible to hide. They're shitweasels.

[–] archy@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Who?

[–] Solumbran@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

You can spoof your mac address every 5 minutes if you want, what are they going to track?

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

What solutions are other Turkish LGBTQ+ people using?

[–] dreamy@quokk.au 3 points 2 days ago (2 children)

They're still on Reddit and Discord 😭

Most of them don't seem to care. I saw one comment that said even if only 1% of the population identified as queer, they couldn't fit all those people in prison. I think they really underestimate the amount of people that will comply with these laws.

[–] vapor_body@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 days ago

There is a lot of stuff in between chilling, chilling in prison, and being dead. People already put up with all kinds of workplace discrimination. Turkey, Ghana etc have a strong intelligence apparatus relative to their size and influence. I would be really careful, try to get people to use e2ee

[–] FineCoatMummy@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago

they couldn’t fit all those people in prison.

Govs have lots of ways to make ppl's life hell short of prison, ofc.

[–] the_abecedarian@piefed.social 3 points 2 days ago

you may be able to find them on matrix, mastodon, or even start a piefed community. good luck

[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

FYI you should either use a separate device to access it, or use VPN split tunnelling to avoid what data leakage you can (separate device is better though)

I believe Graphebe lets you split tunnelling by app, so all the tracking etc. that can be used against you goes through the VPN.

I would not rely on Reddit not sharing your IP with your government. I would not rely on the ad providers on Reddit not sharing your IP either.

Isolate all Reddit activity and only Reddit activity to that VPN. Make sure they don’t store logs and are reputable.

[–] dreamy@quokk.au 2 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Mullvad VPN is always enabled with lockdown mode on my PC and my phone, I'm supposing that they've shadowbanned me because I'm using a VPN. I also don't think Reddit is going to keep my IP private from the government so that's why I do not plan on creating an account without a VPN.

I guess I could go to a cafe and try signing up via public Wi-Fi, but most of those in my city require a phone number to connect to, so I'm currently trying to find a way to do this without searching for a cafe that doesn't have such a requirement :(

[–] FineCoatMummy@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago

I’m supposing that they’ve shadowbanned me because I’m using a VPN

Almost for sure.

It used to be possible to sign up like that. Now, you can sign up, but if you try to post, boom, shadowban.

I once had an account I used to answer some help request posts like computer stuff, how do I do this or that. I eventually noticed nobody ever replied to my posts. No upvotes. No downvotes. Nothing! So I looked without being signed in. Sure enuf, nobody but me could see anything I posted. I didn't know that was a thing reddit did. I was genuinely trying to help ppl. I got shit on for it. Felt bad, man.

[–] SaneMartigan@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Can you buy a sim card from a tourist leaving the country and ask them for access to add funds to the account? Then have a "reddit only" phone?

[–] RheumatoidArthritis@mander.xyz 2 points 1 day ago

No nedd to ask a tourist, we live in the age of anonymous esims

[–] ratrace@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 days ago

Or just stay away from reddit

[–] Rod_Orm@piefed.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Oddsrabbit

[–] ghodawalaaman@programming.dev 2 points 2 days ago

is this thing foss or federated?

[–] Anon518@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Isn't there a way to appeal the shadow ban?

[–] SaneMartigan@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

They don't care.