Good read, gives me a lot of hope for this project.
I look forward to an exciting future with all of you.
(Also- hopefully this wasn’t posted already)
https://join-lemmy.org/news/2023-06-17_-_Update_from_Lemmy_after_the_Reddit_blackout
This was written by the Lemmy devs.
Update 3: @dessalines@lemmy.ml did stated they (singular) disagree that a genocide is taking place.
Update 2: My conclusion
- @dessalines@lemmy.ml, one of the developer of Lemmy, is a “tankie” who refuted the Uyghurs genocide.
- @dessalines@lemmy.ml is also an admin of and funds the website Lemmygrad.ml.
Update: So I dug around a little deeper, and found that
- @dessalines@lemmy.ml is /u/parentis_shotgun on Reddit. Source: https://archive.is/Ky9vd
- /u/parentis_shotgun moderates some subreddits, including r/InformedTankie, r/asktankies, r/GunZedong. Source: https://www.reddit.com/user/parentis_shotgun
- /u/parentis_shotgun got banned from r/socialism for “refuting the ‘China is genociding Uyghurs’”. Source: https://archive.is/CwFZC
- /u/parentis_shotgun then launched lemmy. Source: https://archive.is/132fW
- @muad_dibber@lemmygrad.ml, one of the admin of lemmygrad.ml, referred to themself as @dssalines@lemmygrad.ml in a post on lemmygrad. They also claimed that they built Lemmy. It seems like @dssalines@lemmygrad.ml changed their username. Source: https://archive.is/LlzKb
- At this point, I am convinced that the admin @muad_dibber@lemmygrad.ml is @dessalines@lemmy.ml.
- Another admin over lemmygrad.ml said that Lemmygrad is paid by @muad_dibber@lemmygrad.ml, while another mod said that @muad_dibber@lemmygrad.ml is funded by the NED. Source: https://archive.is/G5Dh7
- What is the NED? I have no idea, but Google suggests that could be The National Endowment for Democracy (NED), an independent, nonprofit foundation dedicated to the growth and strengthening of democratic institutions around the world.
- Lemmy was also funded by NLnet with financial support from the European Commission’s Next Generation Internet programme. Source: https://nlnet.nl/project/Lemmy/
On another topic, there are rumors circulating that we are fascists or supported genocide. These claims are completely false, and like most viral twitter threads, are coming from a single Mastodon user on a personal vendetta who didn’t provide any sources. Such slander doesn’t deserve any response and is best left ignored.
- Previous discussion on the moderation policy on lemmy.ml including response from @dessalines@lemmy.ml : Expressing concerns about moderation policy on lemmy.ml
- Accusation of a Mastodon user (probably the one they are referring to): https://mstdn.social/@feditips/106835057054633379
- Essays from @dessalines@lemmy.ml: https://github.com/dessalines/essays/blob/master/socialism_faq.md
Update: More info about @dessalines@lemmy.ml
Wow…thanks. I had no idea this was ongoing. As someone living in Asia and seeing these issues from up close, these ring close to home. I’ll be paying attention for any of these…moderations.
It’s definitely good to have people like you investigating the backgrounds of key developers, as there might be ulterior motives behind them developing open platforms that compete with established Western companies outside of loving the free web and open source. Thank you!
However, I wonder how many opinions we disagree with would be unearthed by doing this kind of research on every core developer of Chrome, Windows, MacOS, Google or whatever. I think you would find a lot if you get people to air their honest opinions. In today’s climate, if these people were open about certain opinions they might hold (not saying they do, but statistically it’s likely some do) they would just be fired, so it’s easy for large corporations to shake damage to their reputation from having certain staff members. For OSS it is a bit harder, since although developers can be pushed out, and software can be forked, it’s all open and it’s harder to understate the contribution to the source code etc. that such a person could have contributed.
It does kind of suck when you hear that developers working on software you like have wildly different worldviews to your own, but sometimes you have to put things in perspective. Having said that, if this guy is the only developer I might feel less than happy about using Lemmy instead of Reddit.
another mod said that @muad_dibber@lemmygrad.ml is funded by the NED. Source: https://archive.is/G5Dh7
lmao you actually believe that us joking around that we’re being funded by the NED is evidence that muad’dibber is funded by them?
For your information the NED is a CIA front created by an Act of Congress, it’s a tool of regime change established after the CIA lost their capabilities to simply go change presidents in other countries in the 60s-70s.
The running joke on Lemmygrad is that we’re all feds. You’re wayyy out of your depth lol
I believe those people saying lemmy is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy were being sarcastic. Thanks for rounding this up though, I appreciate people who do the due diligence.
(lemmygrad.ml) “funded by the NED”
Must have been stated as sarcasm if Ned is : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Endowment_for_Democracy
since they are fighting specifically against this kind of United States’s actions.
@dessalines@lemmy.ml is /u/parentis_shotgun on Reddit. Source: https://archive.is/Ky9vd
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There is nothing that links to @dessalines@lemmy.ml there.
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What are you gaining from spreading misinformation, or trying to make people to hate Lemmy developers?
This is so weird to me lol, maybe I’m just odd but it’s so weird seeing McCarthyism still rearing it’s ugly head after what… 5 decades? I am by no means an ML (can’t stand them as an anarchist) but this is wildly blowing out of proportion what @dessalines@lemmy.ml has said and done.
I mean like why link a ‘Socialist FAQ’ that’s literally just a ton of links to education on socialism and the different schools of thought it has? Not all communists are tankies (not even most) lol. Just generally shows a lack of familiarity with actual leftists / anticapitalists.
What happened in this thread lol, complete change in retoric and basically only posted about programming afterwards https://www.reddit.com/r/SocialistRA/comments/y2rzhg/interview_with_anarchocommunist_combat/is5kna7/
Sure, but as I said, I don’t see any of this as relevant as long as it doesn’t affect the platform.
You leave reddit because the ceo introduces shitty pricing but you don’t mind the main devs being literal fascists?
They specifically address this in the article and say it isn’t true.
On another topic, there are rumors circulating that we are fascists or supported genocide. These claims are completely false, and like most viral twitter threads, are coming from a single Mastodon user on a personal vendetta who didn’t provide any sources. Such slander doesn’t deserve any response and is best left ignored.
Here is Dessalines denying that any genocide is taking place: https://lemmy.ml/comment/471382
They can say “we don’t support genocide” all day long, but denying that any genocide is taking place and actively trying to persuade others that no genocide is happening isn’t any better.
I argue that it unintentionally supports a genocide since they’re using a platform to (inadvertently) hide the genocide from the public by convincing others that nothing of the sort is happening.
Refutation of a baseless claim from a geopolitical rival, is not the same as denial.
I saw someone else did a bit of research deeper down in the thread. It seems it’s questionable but they at least “only” control like two federated instances, lemmy.world not being one of them. Of course, still not good to have someone like that in the dev team :/