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Tell HN: My Reddit account got suspended because I used different browsers
5 points by thatwasunusual on Oct 25, 2023 | hide | past | favorite | 8 comments
I usually use Chrome for "everything", but lately I have wanted to use Firefox for more stuff, because I "politically" might not be aligned with Google.

So I fired up Firefox, browsed around and was quite happy with the experience, and then logged into OLD.reddit.com. (I can't stand the new UI).

After some "messing around", my account was suspended, with this message:

  Evading your ban in r/... from 2023-09-29 on a connected account. Moderators get to decide who can participate in their subreddits. Using alternate account(s) to circumvent a subreddit ban makes it more difficult for moderators to effectively run their communities and is a violation of Reddit's rules.
Yes, I was banned from a subreddit. And that was by bad, and is totally OK. Three weeks later I was banned for using a different browser, with no reason given.



I would suggest that you are not providing all the facts.

I am banned in 2 subreddits (run by the same group of mods). I was banned for breaking the rules. Fair enough. Like many people I have more than one reddit account and while logged into an alt made a comment on the sub I was banned from.

Different account name, same browser, probably the same IP and it was a perfectly innocuous comment. Nothing bad, nothing rule breaking. I assume the mods joined the dots, told the reddit admins and I was suspended from reddit for I think 2 days. Maybe 5. Maybe 7. I really cannot remember.

I also use Firefox, Firefox Dev, Edge, Safari and Brave to access reddit but FF is my main and old.reddit.com is always on.

What I suggest you did was to login with a different account and then comment in the sub(s) you are banned from. They suspended you which is fine - they do make this very clear. They got me, they got you.

It has nothing to do with browsers.


This was the same account, as I have only one account. Not sure the same IP address can be used as "identifier" either, because I use Reddit both at home and at work.

Ref. my ban, I'd call it a soft ban: I posted a meme based on an image that didn't belong to me. I thought it was a bit harsh, because I see that all over the place, but it's true, and totally OK.

But I never touched that subreddit again. And everything was fine until I started using Firefox for my day to day browsing habbits.


Why do you say you were suspended for using a different browser, when the message from Reddit says you were suspended for using a different account and evading a ban?


Because I never used a different account. My point is that I think there's some "AI" at work at Reddit that think I'm two different people because I change my day to day browser.

My ban reason was reasonable enough, and the post I made was deleted, so I'm not sure how I could potentially influence it in any way, even as a different user.


It's easier to blame Reddit (or any service) than it is to take accountability for one's actions.


I totally take responsibility for my initial ban; I created a meme from an image that I didn't own. I understand that that isn't OK, but I naively thought for memes it was somehow OK.


This post makes no sense, so you evaded a ban, what does that have to do with different browsers?


That's my question: I have never tried to evade a ban. I started using a different browser, and after a day+ using Firefox instead of Chrome, I got that message.




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