>Your account has been permanently banned for breaking the rules.

>This account has been permanently banned due to multiple, repeated violations of Reddit's Content Policy on your other account(s). For more information about what rules you broke and how to appeal, check your account inboxes.

>If you feel like this account was banned in error, visit our Help Center to learn more how to file an appeal.

Neither of my accounts had done this, and neither of my accounts received "information about what rules you broke and how to appeal"

When I filed an appeal stating the above: that I only have two accounts, neither has repeatedly violated the content policy, and I appear to have been lumped in with another user who uses the same wifi I do.

(I don't have a big data plan -- I usually use the wifi at coffee shops etc rather than pay for data)

I chalked it up to an algorithmic error, and figured if I just do as I was before... post in a wholesome and engaging way, and avoid logging in over Tor or VPN, it wouldn't happen again.

Today I got the same message on a brand new account: I'm banned, check my "other" account for information on how to appeal.

This is extremely troubling -- Reddit is a resource for legal, medical, and technical advice. Not being able to spin up a throwaway and ask a programming question, get insight on a dispute at work, or otherwise engage in civil society has a huge chilling effect.

Has anyone else on HN dealt with something like this?

I understand HN has a very different culture -- the admins prefer one nym forever, but on Reddit it's fairly accepted to use a nym.

IMHO it echoes the founding fathers, who published anonymously.

I may sometimes express controversial opinions, but I'm not a troll in the sense of doxing, threatening, or otherwise crossing the lines that would cause someone to nuke my accounts from orbit when they're created.

I know Reddit is a private site and can theoretically do whatever they want, but given their colored history[1] I'm surprised that someone like myself who isn't trading CSAM, expressing hatred towards women, or doing other extreme things would suddenly be targeted in this manner.

I spoke with a friend who's a journalist who said it might be an algorithm gone awry but if true... where do I go from there?

I feel like the main character in "The Trial"[2]

>The Trial (German: Der Process)[A] is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously on 26 April 1925. One of his best-known works, it tells the story of Josef K., a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, with the nature of his crime revealed neither to him nor to the reader.

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20121012213707/http://gawker.com/5950981/unmasking-reddits-violentacrez-the-biggest-troll-on-the-web

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trial#Development