2025-22-08: Due to a (suspected .ml) troll spamming the comment section, you’ll now need to sort the comments by “Top” to see the actual comments from users on this post.

Good job everyone blocking and boycotting .ml! It’s having an effect, users are noticing and MAUs on their comms are falling!

And for anyone asking “Why are we boycotting/blocking lemmy.ml?” Here’s a quick recap:

Lemmy.ml is an instance run by admins who are hardcore tankies and will enforce their ideology on their instance through various means from allowing (and pushing it themselves) propaganda (Such as Russia being justified in some way to invade Ukraine) and known propaganda outlets (Like RT) to removing content on their instance critical of their favored authoritarian regimes such as Russia or China and even banning users for such speech or speech critical of them if it’s off their instance (Just like the Reddit mods of ol!).

If it was just some random instance it would have been defederated from long ago like the rest of the “Tankie Triad” (Hexbear and Lemmygrad), but they’ve positioned lemmy.ml as the “flagship” instance and abused that position and influence to become large enough to keep other instances from defederating from them.

Which I believe is harmful to the Lemmy-verse’s overall growth and outside reputation. I have seen it come up before on Reddit threads (and other testimonials from people who came back and tried it again) that “They tried Lemmy but it was a bunch of tankies and went back to Reddit”

I don’t know about you, but I’d prefer Lemmy to not end up with the reputation for being "Tankie Central " or even worse “Voat 2.0”.

So if you haven’t joined the boycott yet, join today and help us foster a better healthier Lemmy-verse!

You can take a look around here on !meanwhileongrad@sh.itjust.works for documentation of it or checkout this list of curated documentation

Noteworthy Selection

Full collection list at the end

Dessalines - Head .ml admin - Head Lemmy Dev

“NK is actually good, and anything counter to that is Western LIES” - https://lemmy.world/post/31595035

Showing support for Ukraine on .ml is worthy of a site ban - https://lemmy.world/post/32775563

Open declaration of support for Russia - https://lemmy.world/post/27352415

"Don’t worry guys, the Uyghur Genocide was REALLY just birth control! - https://lemmy.world/post/30580167

Censoring criticism of China while allowing fellow “in-crowd” user “concentration camps were just reeducation camps and weren’t that bad” misinfo to remain - https://lemmy.world/post/26985447

Censoring when users call out propaganda - https://lemmy.world/post/32776038 | https://lemmy.world/post/33416433 | https://lemmy.world/post/34051329

Davel - .ml admin

General negative sentiment to other instances who haven’t “seen the way” yet - https://lemmy.world/post/27426510

“See! nobody died IN Tiananmen Square, just AROUND it, so it doesn’t count!!” - https://lemmy.world/post/30673342

Response to a valid report of “NK is actually good” as propaganda/misinfo https://lemmy.world/post/32627834

Removal of a credible article that was on the Uyghur genocide - https://lemmy.world/post/33205310

It’s totally fine when Russia kills woman and children, war is war after all - https://lemmy.world/post/33224299

Nutomic - 2nd in command Lemmy Dev

Their continued transphobia - https://lemmy.world/post/29222558

General Tankie user behaviour

“The China censorship tool isnt actually censorship! And if it is, it’s actually a good thing a state has that much power!” https://lemmy.world/post/30010789

Rooting for Russia in the Russia-Ukraine war https://lemmy.world/post/29274763

Spreading Russia talking points like the Ukraine invasion just being a “negotiating tactic” https://lemmy.world/post/27012640

Biden is worse than Trump - https://lemmy.world/post/33631617

Uyghur Genocide denialism - https://lemmy.world/post/33873969

Full Collection

Evidence of bans, censorship and bias to push their 'ideology'

https://lemmy.world/post/34395059

https://lemmy.world/post/32720369

https://lemmy.world/post/32298242

https://lemmy.world/post/32471440

https://lemmy.world/post/32292143

https://lemmy.world/post/32222856

https://lemmy.world/post/32426343

https://lemmy.world/post/32058315

https://lemmy.world/post/32775892

https://lemmy.world/post/33554899

https://lemmy.world/post/33194656

https://lemmy.world/post/32825174

https://lemmy.world/post/32426884

https://lemmy.world/post/32191006

https://lemmy.world/post/32720652

https://lemmy.world/post/32676095

https://lemmy.world/post/32298242

https://lemmy.world/post/32292143

https://lemmy.world/post/32221990

https://lemmy.world/post/32222278

https://lemmy.world/post/32222991

https://lemmy.world/post/32223697

https://lemmy.world/post/32224698

https://lemmy.world/post/32425984

https://lemmy.world/post/31569892

https://lemmy.world/post/31368129

https://lemmy.world/post/31329952

https://lemmy.world/post/31596159

https://lemmy.world/post/30665418

https://lemmy.world/post/30876228

https://lemmy.world/post/31090903

https://lemmy.world/post/31329952

https://lemmy.world/post/31368129

https://lemmy.world/post/29490804

https://lemmy.world/post/29507466

https://lemmy.world/post/29878102

https://lemmy.world/post/29980157

https://lemm.ee/post/65494823

https://lemmy.world/post/28480760

https://lemmy.world/post/28481615

https://lemmy.world/post/28482147

https://lemmy.world/post/28480936

https://lemmy.world/post/28482273

https://lemmy.world/post/28481272

https://lemmy.world/post/28481064

https://lemmy.world/post/27674360

https://lemmy.world/post/27674117

https://lemmy.world/post/27673934

https://lemmy.world/post/27673724

https://lemmy.world/post/27577337

https://lemmy.world/post/27378634

https://lemmy.world/post/27346630

https://lemmy.world/post/27341283

https://lemmy.world/post/27288224

https://lemmy.world/post/27156418

https://lemmy.world/post/27054157

https://lemmy.world/post/27008261

Allowing known propaganda outlets, altered headlines and general misinfo tactics

https://lemmy.world/post/32764202

https://lemmy.world/post/32323822

https://lemmy.world/post/32283425

https://lemmy.world/post/32289824

https://lemmy.world/post/32337368

https://lemmy.world/post/30843744

https://lemmy.world/post/28275465

https://lemmy.world/post/27428838

https://lemmy.world/post/27416097

https://lemmy.world/post/27314050

https://lemmy.world/post/27288953

Update 6/1/2025 - adding additional links since original post

Update 6/14/2025 - adding additional links since last edit

Update 6/19/2025 - adding additional links since last edit

Update 6/30/2025 - adding additional links since last edit

Update 7/03/2025 - adding additional links since last edit/formatting changes

Update 7/09/2025 - adding additional links since last edit

Update 8/13/2025 - adding additional links since last edit/formatting changes

  • Jmdatcs@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    4 months ago

    I actually like seeing their posts on my main account. It allows me to keep up with their lingua franca, so I can more easily identify their alts on normal instances, so I know not to attempt to engage in good faith.

  • Empricorn@feddit.nlEnglish
    5·
    4 months ago

    Every time a ml/hexbear community that I might be interested in pops up on my feed, I block it, then manually search for a non-tankie version of the same thing and immediately subscribe. The amount of pro-authoritarian content I’ve been exposed to has dramatically dropped.

  • walden@sub.wetshaving.socialEnglish
    2·
    4 months ago

    In a recent discussion in the Matrix chat, it was mentioned that donations to support development have recently fallen off quite steeply. I mentioned my reason for not donating anymore is because I can’t support anyone who runs an instance like .ml. @nutomic@lemmy.ml said I could donate directly to him since he doesn’t do as much moderation over there, but also mentioned that donations for development go towards server costs for .ml. Hell no.

      • UnburdenedOne@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        03·
        4 months ago

        Checks the screenshots. Extremely mid take regarding sports that’s shared by a lot of people that aren’t terminally online. Transphobe, alright.

        • Taleya@aussie.zoneEnglish
          1·
          3 months ago

          This is the idiot who was saying the Queer comm are the bourgeois and that trans women in sport are a dead cat strategy. fuck’em

    • socsa@piefed.socialEnglish
      1·
      4 months ago

      Nutomic also said that trans identity was western propaganda and has doubled down on that statement several times.

    • cm0002@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      1·
      4 months ago

      I could donate directly to him since he doesn’t do as much moderation over there

      I’m in the modlog a lot so I can confirm that that is true, however, like @fiddlesticks@lemmy.dbzer0.com mentioned, he shares a transphobic flavor of their mindset sooo yea

      but also mentioned that donations for development go towards server costs for .ml. Hell no.

      LMAO “Donate directly to me and you won’t have to worry about it! Butttt it’ll still go to the exact thing you’re opposed to.”

    • diffaldo@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      If we all stop donating to Lemmy just because the devs are being tankies, how will Lemmy survive?

      I don’t want to go back to the bot-ridden reddit with its elon-simping CEO.

      • SoftestSapphic@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        4 months ago

        If the devs being tankies kills this space then it doesn’t matter.

        I like Lemmy too, but i don’t like it enough to financially support transphobic fascists.

        • diffaldo@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          0·
          4 months ago

          Every service or product we use is owned by powerful people far worse than the Lemmy developers.

          If we all boycott lemmy and let it burn then we have go back to profit oriented bot infested social media at the end. By design lemmy isnt owned by lemmy devs and we can block their instance by a single click.

          • Alphane Moon@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            4 months ago

            How are pro-genocide fake-communists (russia is an authoritarian capitalist state, China is a capitalist society) any better than American oligarchs?

      • walden@sub.wetshaving.socialEnglish
        1·
        4 months ago

        That’s a fair question, and maybe we should be concerned. They’re already saying development will stop without more donations.

        There are alternatives. Projects have died or been forked before because of the actions of their developers. OrganicMaps comes to mind (they are both a fork of something, and recently a new fork was started to detach from the developers (I can’t think of the name).

        I’m just one person, but I’m not going to give .ml any financial support, you can be sure of that.

    • cashsky@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      Cutting off funding because of political differences is stupid. Would you rather this go down the same path as Reddit?

      • FooBarrington@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        4 months ago

        (different user here)

        No, but I want the funds to only be used for Lemmy development, not for their tankie server. They are the ones that make it impossible to do one without the other.

          • FooBarrington@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            4 months ago

            Ooor I can make it clear where I draw the lines, and hopefully get the developers not to spend the donations on their tankie server. Weird how that works, right?

              • FooBarrington@lemmy.worldEnglish
                2·
                4 months ago

                And why should I? Can you make an argument for how using their platform is supporting their tankie server on a comparable level to sending them money?

                • cashsky@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                  01·
                  4 months ago

                  A bit hypocritical to continue benefitting off of their labor and time by using the platform but their political views is where you draw the line, yet you continue to use the platform. Maybe if you actually believed in what you said you would stop using the platform and go back to reddit. But do go on and preach from your virtue signaling high horse about how paying $30/per month for their server coet (which they use as a testing bed) is too much for you to handle.

      • walden@sub.wetshaving.socialEnglish
        1·
        4 months ago

        It’s not political differences, really. Go ahead and be communist, I don’t care. It’s the heavy handed moderation style. It’s a 1 sided instance and anything to the contrary gets deleted and a time limited ban. They go against exactly what they think they stand for.

      • Annoyed_🦀 @lemmy.zipEnglish
        1·
        4 months ago

        If the political difference is between building a multistory carpark or underground carpark with a park on the ground level, sure, it’s stupid. If the political difference is “Russia does nothing wrong, Ukraine deserved to get invaded because of nazi” and “Russia is to blame for being the aggressor”, then it’s definitely not.

        You’re allowed to fund propaganda machine, and people allowed to not do it.

  • TeoTwawki@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    13 days ago

    The behavior of the head lemmy dev makes me regret migrating to lemmy on any instance, and makes me think I should seek something else entirely until a hard fork is adopted by mutiple large instances. I don’t want even steps association removed with such people.

    • cm0002@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      3·
      13 days ago

      Come over to PieFed, fairly certain all the major instances have launched parallel PieFed instances. There’s PieFed.world and PieFed.blahaj.zone off the top of my head

      Real blocking, faster development, third-party apps like Boost are now adopting support and no toxic political string attached

  • Log in | Sign up@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    4 months ago

    I got banned to 40 days from .ml memes for arguing that the republicans were worse than the democrats or something mild like that.

  • Avicenna@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    4 months ago

    cause nobody wants to get dragged into a ten page discussion about why China and Russia are the most democratic countries in the world

  • biggerbogboy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    This just made me realise my feed is just that bit cleaner and there’s so much less news, it’s actually quite calming.

  • Jumi@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    I just block every site and user with that ending that I see. I’ve been banned on almost any of their sites anyway.

  • SharkAttak@kbin.melroy.org
    1·
    4 months ago

    I think the whole “saying anything different from what we like? You’re banned” thing is also playing a good part.

  • SoftestSapphic@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    Yay another thread where .ml users will post so I can block them!

    Hopefully we can grow up as a community and defederate completely one day!

  • DarkFuture@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    I joined Lemmy in November. By New Years I had independently figured out what was wrong with .ml and its users.

    The less of that garbage, the better.