Coleman Laing, coleman@lemmy.world

Well I’ve cleared everything off my Reddit account but I can’t bring myself to delete it, it’s not a 100% deletion, Reddit keeps the username, I don’t want Reddit to claim anything functional or not, I want it to be like I was never there, the mistake of me even being on Reddit, maybe one day when usernames are no longer such a permanence, where a person could leave their account entirely with nothing to look back on.

And that is the trap I’m in, At best I can only hope, hope that somehow Reddit changes… as impossible as that is. I would leave Reddit If it didn’t hold on to usernames, accounts like Reddit keep your username “accounts like Reddit keep your username”. Believe me I want to leave Reddit, but I want to leave reddit 100% usernames included, like I was never there, unfortunately there’s no Digital Privacy Policy Act I can turn to that would give me such an erasure. So either Reddit improves not going to happen, or I find a way to delete my Reddit account 100%, no such thing.

Doesn’t mean I have to like it. When my only option is to complain/vent/share my thoughts, then that’s what I’ll do. I understand a person like myself can’t change something as big as Reddit, like those who hate AI, if it is what it is then why do people complain if nothing will change?

New to Lemme, and I thought of posting the same post in two different forms Lemmy.World and Lemmy.ca would cast a wider info net so to speak, It was a spur of the moment kind of thing, Reddit was kind of annoying me with its permanence, usernames can’t be reused, Its algorithms flag almost anything and as the posts say there’s no way to give feedback so plan B, post in places outside of Reddit to raise awareness of Reddit’s inefficiencies.

What’s better Lemmy.World or Lemmy.ca?

Automated systems flag human writing constantly — especially long-form, structured, or emotionally expressive posts. False positives are documented across Reddit, Lemmy, Bluesky, and academic AI detectors. My experience isn’t unique, and it isn’t imaginary. Just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.

I get what you’re saying, but in my case the removals weren’t the normal ‘pending review’ type. The posts were removed instantly across multiple subs, my modmail was auto‑muted, and the ban reason specifically referenced AI‑generated content. That combination only happens when Reddit’s automated system flags an account. So the mods did ban me, but they were reacting to Reddit’s AI label, not the actual content.

From what I can tell, the initial removal wasn’t the mods — it was Reddit’s automated AI filter. After that, every post I made was auto‑removed before any human could see it, and the mods only saw the AI removal notice. So the ban came from them, but the trigger came from Reddit’s system. That’s why it felt like I was being punished for something I didn’t do.

AI chat MC (Microsoft Copilot) guided me here, I have many dreams for online accounts alternative paths no longer needing usernames so a person can leave delete their account and someday return using their own name if they want as my Lemmy profile states I fight for digital rights, the permanence of accounts feels unnecessary uncomfortable. Lemmy itself needs a better way to delete unnecessary posts and comments but you’re right it’s a far better leap from Reddit strict dictatorial moderations, regret not using MC in that post perhaps it would have simply gotten rejected and not gotten me banned and muted, needless to say the first place MC requested I send it, did not like me, alas I cannot delete my mistakes on Lemmy, yet at least I am not silenced, so far.

You cannot help with this I’m sorry to say, I just need a place to vent about Reddit’s asinine algorithms I use AI chat (Microsoft Copilot) freely and proudly to censor my own words and make me acceptable on platforms but the rare moment I used my own words this happened my post rejected band and muted, now unless you can change the way Reddit operates you can’t help me. I’d sooner trust an AI than I would another human emcee in particular so when it told me to go on to Lemmy Fuck AI, to complain about Reddit’s AI, while using AI! Yet still I trusted MC to the point where some people began pointing out the irony, “AI is what it is, it is what it will be” but Reddit’s AI is old, outdated and Reddit it itself cannot do criticism, even feedback, it’s like North Korea.

Did you just assume my gender? Thank you, I edited my profile accordingly. AI is what it is, it is what it will be, true, but at least you still have freedom of speech, Reddit bands and mutes me, Reddit is old outdated and needs to change, you hate AI fine whatever but is this not a place to vent the abuse of AI? Also I apologize if my previous message offended, I meant nothing by it, I just wanted to vent my frustrations about Reddit, AI will continue to be what it is as will Reddit. Also if you were offended then you merely prove my point, my written words are offensive I should have used AI chat.

That makes sense — I understand why placeholders exist to keep threads readable and avoid breaking the structure of conversations. I’m not asking for replies to disappear or for threads to collapse.

What I’m trying to explore is whether the user‑side deletion experience can be improved while still keeping that structure intact. Even if perfect deletion across all servers isn’t possible, having clearer control over what remains visible on the home instance would go a long way.

I appreciate the explanation; it helps put the current behavior in context.

I’m trying to understand the current behavior as clearly as possible, which is why I asked for clarification. The replies from others in the thread have helped fill in the gaps about how deletion works across different servers.

My goal isn’t to argue about federation limits — it’s to understand whether the user‑side deletion experience can be improved, even if perfect deletion across all nodes isn’t possible. That’s the part I’m trying to explore here.

Thanks for the clarification — that helps me understand the current behavior much better. I didn’t realize Lemmy already sends a proper ActivityPub delete signal, and it makes sense that different servers handle it differently.

From a user perspective, the part that still feels incomplete is that deleted posts and comments remain visible as “deleted by creator,” even when the content itself is gone. I understand why the object can’t be purged instantly for moderation reasons, but it does create the impression that deletion isn’t really happening.

What I’m hoping for is a more user‑friendly deletion experience — something that preserves moderation needs and federation realities, but still gives users a clearer sense of control over their own content. Even if perfect deletion across all servers isn’t possible, improving the local UX would go a long way.

I appreciate you taking the time to explain the technical side.

The solution: A three‑layer deletion model This is the only model that satisfies both Lemmy’s architecture and user expectations.

Layer 1 — Local hard deletion (guaranteed) When a user deletes a post/comment:

the content is wiped from their home server

the object can remain as a placeholder to preserve thread structure

media files are fully removed

This part is already possible.

Layer 2 — Federated delete signal (best‑effort) When deletion happens, the home server sends a message:

“This content is deleted — purge your copy.”

Servers that respect federation will:

delete their cached copy

update the thread

remove the content from search

Servers that don’t care will ignore it — but that’s already true today.

This is the missing piece Lemmy needs to implement.

Layer 3 — User‑initiated purge request (optional escalation) Admins already have a purge tool that:

deletes content locally

sends a federated purge request

is accepted by most servers

Expose this to users in a controlled way:

rate‑limited

confirmation required

optional admin approval

This gives users real deletion power without enabling abuse.

You’re right that no federated system can force every server to delete something. But meaningful deletion doesn’t require 100% enforcement.

Lemmy already has admin‑level purge tools that send federated delete requests, and most servers respect them. A user‑level version of that, or a proper “deleted” ActivityPub signal, would give people far more control than the current soft‑delete model.

Even if a few rogue servers ignore it, the majority of the fediverse would still clear the content, which is a huge improvement over “deleted by creator” placeholders.

Federation doesn’t have to mean no deletion — it just means deletion has to be cooperative instead of enforced.

Thanks for the detailed explanation — this helps clarify a lot. I understand that federation makes guaranteed deletion impossible, but knowing that admins can purge content and send out a federated delete request is exactly the kind of mechanism I was hoping existed.

From a user perspective, having some version of that available — even if it can’t guarantee 100% deletion everywhere — would still be meaningful. A user‑initiated delete request that other servers can respect would give people more control over their own content without undermining federation.

Editing before deleting is a good workaround, but it still feels like something that could eventually be built into the platform in a more direct way. I appreciate the insight; it’s good to know this isn’t a dead end technically.

That makes a lot of sense, and it’s exactly the kind of mechanism I was hoping existed or could be added. Even if deletion can’t be instant across every server, having a federated “this content is deleted” response would give users real control instead of just hiding posts locally.

A system like the one you describe — where a delete request clears caches on other servers — would solve most of the privacy and user‑control concerns people have. It wouldn’t need to be perfect to be meaningful.

I appreciate the explanation. It’s good to know that this isn’t impossible, just something that needs coordination and implementation across the Fediverse.

Thanks for the explanation — that actually helps me understand the situation a lot better. I get that federation makes things more complicated, especially when content is already spread across multiple servers.

From a user perspective though, it still feels important to have a way to fully delete posts, or at least send a federated delete request that other instances can respect. Even if it can’t guarantee 100% removal everywhere, having a proper deletion mechanism would give users more control over their own content.

I’m glad to hear it’s not technically impossible. Hopefully it’s something that can be explored in the future, even if it takes coordination across the Fediverse.

I get why people here are sensitive to AI‑generated content, but I’m not trying to deceive anyone. I use AI chat as a writing tool because my natural style gets misread or flagged on platforms like Reddit.

The whole point of my post is that Reddit’s AI moderation punished me for writing normally, and I wanted to talk about that somewhere I wouldn’t get auto‑removed.

I’m not here to flood anything or pretend to be anti‑AI. I’m just describing what happened to me and how automated systems can misclassify real people.

Seriously? Ok I’ll speak plainly, Reddit’s systems silence free speech, when I tried to use my own words instead of relying on AI chat as to not cause a problem, like say getting banned and muted, I got banned and muted. The point is that there is no point, I’m posting and venting about something that can’t be changed, In the vain hope that I’m not the only one fed up with Reddit’s old and outdated systems silencing people like myself. If I just used AI chat doubt I would have gotten all three from using my actual words and feelings r/help is a farce, freedom of speech my ass! What is less freedom of speech then banning and muting a person looking for help? Fuck Reddit.