Okay maybe I'm just being salty over it because I got permabanned a week ago but the mod-mob has been an issue for a long time now. And ever since I got banned, I've tried to create two accounts, and both of them have been immediately shadowbanned by reddit.
I'll be more specific. The subreddit in question is r/Islam. There was absolutely nothing malicious about the comment I made on the post that got me banned. I know this because the comment was, “Do you have some kind of proof to back your claim?” I used to have two accounts on my reddit app and this comment was made through an alt account. A few minutes later I switched back to my main account and kind of forgot about it. I also used to engage with r/Islam through my main account so after a comment I made on a different post, I got the message that my account was permanently banned from reddit. I switched to my alt and there it was. The first message of how because of my comment, my account was banned from that sub and because I used my alt account, reddit flagged it as ban evasion and evoked a site ban. I appealed of course and tried my best to explain how there was a mistake while still being apologetic. My appeal was denied of course and the permabanned remained in order. The next day, my wife tells me her account was banned as well. She said she tried to make a new account but was shadowbanned immediately. I tried to create a new account through first my office wifi but same device and then on a different device on my home wifi. Got shadowbanned immediately both times. When I made an appeal, I believe their words were, and I'm paraphrasing here, “When we ban you permanently, we don't ban your account, we ban the person.”
This got me thinking. How would reddit even know I was the one making those accounts later? Surely they collect much more information than they let on? Device fingerprint for example, IP and/or mac address. Either way, I guess that's the end of my journey on reddit. And it got me into thinking how many subs I've been banned from for no apparent reason at all. Mods will just ban you for amusement sometimes, while other times they'd just do it as a power move. It's becoming the next Facebook with each passing day.
Data and metadata about you are a kind of digital noose that hangs loose about your neck, until a third party* pulls it tight to hang you.
You're right to feel bitter. You're the victim of an abusive software stack. But it's important that you come away with an understanding of why R_ddit was able to identify you individually, and why the ways in which we interface with the web really do matter, despite normie's typical self-justifying complaints.
*Anyone, identifiable or not, without warning, for any reason, at any time