Before I was banned, I had a post and a bunch of comments removed and I inquired as to why: >I'm curious why my post here was removed along with all the comments I made in that thread. https://np.reddit.com/r/ActiveMeasures/comments/m761qg/reuters_bbc_and_bellingcat_participated_in_covert >What a complete waste of my time and why censor and stifle debate? Seems a rotten and unethical thing to do. This was my reply: >??? What you saw was healthy debate and your exaggerated aside, I behaved in kind and no differently than this other user which you no doubt did not penalize, as I can still see their comments. You are just engaging in mod abuse now and censorship because I spoke wrongthink and offered a different perspective that challenges the Russiagate narrative and McCarthyist paranoia. Despicable modsmanship and you should be ashamed over it. >exaggeration* and a perma ban is overly harsh but again, you don't care because you are abusing your power and enforcing the rules with bias and don't want people commenting who offer a different perspective that challeges the official narrative. Received no response and was muted. This was the comment that I think (not certain) triggered the ban and it was in response to someone smearing Max Blumenthal/Aaron Mate/Ben Norton as bad faith Russian assets spreading disinfo to sow discord etc and indirectly (than later directly - with an entire posted dedicated to it on TheseFuckingAccounts) accused me of being a Russian troll / Russian Active Measure's Agent for defending those journalists and providing them with citation that debunked Russiagate and vindicated these journalists on Syria as well. >https://np.reddit.com/r/ActiveMeasures/comments/m761qg/z/grenptm My reply that likely got me banned: I'm serious, the McCarthyist paranoia is not a good look. Neither is your response to this totally reasonable article. https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=The_Grayzone https://moderaterebels.com/censorship-new-cold-war-china-aaron-mate/ I am also pretty sure the person who was smearing Max Bluementhal / Aaron Mate / Ben Norton and others (there was this list of leftist journalists and Twitter/YouTube commentators that was being spread as being a list of "Russian assets"), was himself discredited. Edit: I will look for more info on that and get back to you (and I did, see below.) This guy: >Alexander Reid Ross https://www.thedailybeast.com/these-dirtbag-left-stars-are-flirting-with-the-far-right And this guy: >Eliot Higgins (who the mods of ActiveMeasures promotes) https://mobile.twitter.com/eliothiggins/status/1203785396603248640?lang=en Both work for Belingcat who works with The Atlantic Council who works with social media to get content removed. Another guy: Dave Weigel https://caityjohnstone.medium.com/cia-funded-washington-post-smears-indie-media-for-covering-dnc-fraud-lawsuit-59d3fc8cc5ae >More about the OP article and more. https://youtu.be/eJ8mycEVgGQ https://youtu.be/7Lis_hzSLVc https://youtu.be/yI4AuWlO9iA https://youtu.be/xQfGVpU1Eg0 >But also the Russian asset smear list: https://theintercept.com/2016/11/26/washington-post-disgracefully-promotes-a-mccarthyite-blacklist-from-a-new-hidden-and-very-shady-group/ >And another Russian asset smear list: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2019/09/30/pro-assad-lobby-group-rewards-bloggers-on-both-the-left-and-the-right/ https://medium.com/muros-invisibles/grayzone-grifters-and-the-cult-of-tank-fbd9b8e0dbe2 >From this post: https://np.reddit.com/r/ActiveMeasures/comments/l2ct01/can_we_talk_about_prorepublican_takeovers_of/gk9kcbj/ More from this user: https://np.reddit.com/r/ActiveMeasures/comments/mtspgj/us_treasury_finally_sanctions_media_outlets/gv9k8u6 >And more: https://np.reddit.com/r/ActiveMeasures/comments/l2ct01/can_we_talk_about_prorepublican_takeovers_of/ https://np.reddit.com/r/ActiveMeasures/comments/lc5gvl/why_is_a_us_green_party_reddit_account_posting/ Smearing of WOTB community by those who frequent Active Measures and similar subs https://np.reddit.com/r/ActiveMeasures/comments/d5onxn/prominent_prosanders_subreddit_wayofthebern/ >Seems this sub (activemeasures) is littered with state propaganda. >But listen, I know you probably think you're being a patriot, like that guy in that video hunting Russian trolls, but you are a tool being used. Patriotism means putting the American people over the govt/security and military industrial apparatus. It means questioning authority and holding our leadership accountable, not blindly following and defending them without question. It means being anti-censorship and pro-whistleblower. If you want an example of an American patriot, see Edward Snowden and Tulsi Gabbard. Edit: (I added more links later on that were relevant but also for reference) https://archive.is/zbXhr https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ew47zWAXMAQUPkW.png https://mobile.twitter.com/search?q=list%20from%3A%40iamchanteezy&src=typed_query https://mobile.twitter.com/search?q=list%20from%3A%40iamchanteezy&src=typed_query https://mobile.twitter.com/agspeed226/status/1382203079164977153 https://youtu.be/IEUhvJdQjvc https://youtu.be/ZcPkNx_d3OQ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aq5cXK6TJVQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmP6gUwEDxw https://moderaterebels.com/censorship-new-cold-war-china-aaron-mate/ https://thegrayzone.com/2021/02/20/reuters-bbc-uk-foreign-office-russian-media/ https://williambowles.info/2020/12/07/richard-medhurst-bbc-attacks-journalists-challenging-narrative-on-syria-and-white-helmets/ https://pixcayanmacuahuitl.medium.com/slapsy-maxies-misadventure-23a60a4eaa47 https://pixcayanmacuahuitl.medium.com/a-convenience-of-corruption-8aeb9247b75a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pY_bPsYunM&t Jenna Beck (co-founder Undercovered Magazine & Our Revolution of SoCa) also did a hit piece on Max. https://medium.com/muros-invisibles/grayzone-grifters-and-the-cult-of-tank-fbd9b8e0dbe2 https://archive.is/wGKvA Updated for an ActiveMeasures threads targeting the above-mentioned leftist commentators/journalists. https://np.reddit.com/r/ActiveMeasures/comments/mox7wi/a_case_study_in_how_the_russia_today_grayzone/ https://np.reddit.com/r/ActiveMeasures/comments/moxp29/highly_gullible_glenn_greenwald_smears_bellingcat/ https://twitter.com/im_PULSE/status/1381261879159496710 https://pulsemedia.org/2017/08/22/did-a-kremlin-pilgrimage-cause-alternet-bloggers-damascene-conversion/ https://np.reddit.com/r/ActiveMeasures/comments/mr0exs/enemy_number_one_how_the_russian_regime_has/guj9kd2/?context=3 https://www.salon.com/2017/04/02/dictator-vs-democrat-not-quite-russian-opposition-leader-alexey-navalny-is-no-progressive-hero/ https://np.reddit.com/r/WayOfTheBern/comments/mp58ch/draft_debacle_bellingcat_smears_opcw/gu7qctd/?context=3 Media smearing Dore: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/12/jimmy-dore-aoc-medicare-for-all-strategy.html https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/01/29/dore-j29.html Both Sam Seder (liberal) and VaushV (socialist) and or their supporters, have smeared Dore over #forcethevote https://youtu.be/IEUhvJdQjvc My defense over the reason given for the ban: I was not hostile towards other users and the mod would not point to any comments I made that supported the reason they gave me for the ban. A similar thing happened over at Journalism. It's strange that my "combativeness" came from users who would reply to my content posting ad hominems and smears, yet those users were always allowed to continue posting unabated, but not considered combative or hostile or uncivil, despite their blatant incivility. They removed all my comments, but if you can see removed comments, you could see I was not being hostile and I was only engaging in healthy debate and I was offering a different perspective that challenged the official narrative be that on Assange or Glenn Greenwald or Syria or on Russiagate. Didn't the mod just say there are different ways to communicate? Yes, one of those ways is refusing to self censor and bringing info that may conflict with the official narrative, often known as wrong-think. For those thinking I am a troll/shill or Russian. I'm none of the above. I'm an American and a leftist/progressive who is passionate about politics. I have a great dislike for astroturf and smear campaigns and censorship. I am pro whistleblower and pro free press and anti regime change wars. Update: https://np.reddit.com/r/WayOfTheBern/comments/mp58ch/z/gu7qctd Now it's clear why I had my comments removed and was permabanned. The people I called out (with connections to Belingcat and The Atlantic Council) for smearing a handful of leftist commentators and journalists), are being promoted by a mod in ActiveMeasures - who also promotes Belingcat and pushes these same smears against these journalists and independent media commentators, on Reddit and on Twitter. This person also stated that: "Alternative media is a force for evil." Now I'm being attacked and accused of acting like a "Russian Active Measures agent." On top of having users who DM me accusing me of being a Russian troll and or right-wing shill and troll my posts, spamming copypasta opposition research to smear Dore/Greenwald etc. https://np.reddit.com/r/ActiveMeasures/comments/m761qg/reuters_bbc_and_bellingcat_participated_in_covert/greigky/?context=3 https://np.reddit.com/r/TheseFuckingAccounts/comments/m8iz12/karma_farming_as_an_artform_while_acting_like_a/ Updated: I surprisingly got unbanned and by the mod I thought did the banning - apparently it was another mod. It appears one of those mods has left or was kicked. Strange as it was the one I had never downvoted or had a disagreement with, and the other - who I have had negative interactions with - stayed on as a mod. Surprise, surprise, that person also mods Digital_Manipulation and frequents Neoliberal.