I keep running into comments where users are arguing for avoiding Lemmy, claiming that Lemmy supports authoritarian governments, supports the CCP, sides with Russia in their invasion of Ukraine, denies genocides committed by nominal communist governments, and other similar political claims. I know there are communist instances and whatnot, but I’m well aware that identifying as a communist doesn’t mean that someone wants a dictatorial government or denies genocides.
- Can we figure this out and have any supporting evidence either way to end the rumors?
- Is there any evidence that Lemmy is advocating against democracy, pro dictatorships, denying and/or advocating for genocides?
- Is there evidence that using Lemmy supports genocidal aspiring dictators and their accomplices?
- Even if there is one instance that advocates for atrocities, genocides, dictatorships, and clearly false revisions of history, what does that have to do with the Lemmy as a system? Can’t those instances just be defederated?
To be 100% clear, I am not a communist, aspiring dictator, or support genocides. I also do not believe that communism = dictatorships and the end of human rights. I believe in democracy, equitable distribution or power, individual human rights and freedoms. If I had to define a personal political identity, I would mostly fall under the term anarchist and do not advocate for violence against innocent people despite their political viewpoints (except Nazis because they’re not innocent. Fuck Nazis).
Fuck nazis indeed. If Lemmy really is this nefarious entity these individuals claim it to be, the user base would just migrate again.
Personally Communists dont bother me much, and tankies are manageable. If this platform takes a shit we’ll all head to another one.
Enjoy the ride it’s been pretty chill so far.
Before the Reddit mass migration it was a lot more obvious. lemmygrad was like the largest instance of lemmy and the defense of the Ukraine invasion was crazy. There were also a few of these people posting nonstop, such as Yogthos (spelled with different characters). You might still be able to find his posts in politicalhumor
From what I understand Lemmy was created by people who support Russia, China, etc. But if we avoided all platforms run by people we disagree with there’d be no platforms left.
At the end of the day there are many servers, each with their own vibe and values. You can just pick one that doesn’t ick you out. (Not YOU you, whoever is wary of Lemmy)
Just my $0.02 Back in ~2020, the only Lemmy instances which had activity were the ones that people flocked to when their Subreddit was shutdown. It went something like:
1 - Group sets up a hateful Subreddit 2 - Group members begin to repeatedly violate Reddit’s TOS 3 - Reddit bans the Subreddit 4 - Some groups had enough cohesion to send their subscribers to a Lemmy instance to try and salvage the situation
As a result, when I joined the Mastadon Fediverse in 2021, I heard the rumors about “Lemmy is only used by people who were banned by reddit. That’s why it’s only Tankies there.”