I think the problem with Reddit is that its essential governance model is authoritarian not democratic.

Mods have absolute power and there is no due process, evidentiary standards, jury of peers, outside review, ombudsman office, etc.

Basically, suppose some users conspire to dogpile on you and file N complaints against you w/in a certain window… you get auto banned. If a tetchy mod doesn’t like something you commented, they can ban you from their sub on a whim. There’s not much in the way of an appeal process.

So it’s a bit like an authoritarian state where you can be arrested due to anonymous denunciation, or because the local chief of police doesn’t like you, and you’ve got no Miranda rights, there’s no habeas corpus etc. There’s no investigation or disclosure or trial process. If the mods of a sub are reasonable and ethical human beings, and you were unfairly banned, you can talk to them and get reinstated. But if the mods are arbitrary and capricious in their power, you’re without recourse. There’s no mechanism by which other members of the sub can vote on whether the mods were right or wrong to kick you out, for example.

I continue to think moderation is important and can’t be dispensed with altogether. No normal person really wants to spend their time in a hellhole of screamed insults, obscene threats, hate speech, legions of stupid bots etc (like the cesspit that Xitter has become, yikes). But I think it should be modelled a lot more on law enforcement IRL, with similar rules and guidelines for protecting civil rights and ensuring transparency and some limits on the power of individuals in authority.