Moderator Misconduct on /r/cannabiscultivation

I recently experienced a troubling interaction with the moderation team of /r/cannabiscultivation that raises serious concerns about moderator accountability and user safety on the platform.

During a routine discussion, where all I had done is repost the name of the cannabis strain (totally legal information that was already posted by the original poster), the moderators proceeded to falsely accuse me of engaging in illegal activity—an allegation that was completely unsubstantiated and entirely untrue. Such claims are quite serious on Reddit, where accusations of illegality can expose users to reports, account sanctions, or permanent bans.

When I explained to them that I am a neuromuscular patient who uses Reddit for support groups and these false accusations could jeopardize my account, they proceeded to laugh at me. I then tried to explain to them again that their actions could potentially get my account banned, they told me that it was a big joke and actually told me to **** off. This sort of interaction should not be received from people who are, in a way, representing Reddit, and it goes against Reddit’s Moderator Code of Conduct.

This interaction highlights a broader issue with unchecked moderator behavior. Reddit moderators hold significant power over users’ participation and reputation, yet there are limited safeguards when that power is exercised irresponsibly or abusively. False accusations combined with hostile language not only undermine trust in moderation but also discourage good-faith participation within online communities.

Users should not have to fear retaliation or harassment for simply pointing out legitimate risks to their accounts.

*Feb 17 Update: I just received notification that these ‘moderators’ officially banned me from participating in the subreddit. This is funny to me, because I actually wanted to be banned at one point, so that I didn’t accidentally post in there and get wrongly accused of illicit activity again, so you know, I don’t really care about that in the first place, and I found out that I could just mute the subreddit anyways. This is days after any interaction with them at all, and they are using the notifications to harass me, with muting and muting, and so forth, so this is obviously some sort of ego-trip retaliation, and this is the exact sort of thing that I mentioned earlier in this article. It’s important to mention that these ‘moderators’ are not Reddit employees and are simply volunteers. I ignored the message from them regarding this because I do not want to interact with them.

*Feb 17 Update #2: I have been ignoring the harassment messages, but this has been going on for days now. The harassment is coming directly from the subreddit and moderators involved with it, but this article may or may not apply to the moderators at a future point in time, so these are the listed accounts at this current time:

Subreddit Mod Account: https://www.reddit.com/r/cannabiscultivation/
Account 1 (Moderator): Basementgrown – https://www.reddit.com/user/basementgrown/
Account 2 (Moderator): Chester Copperpot – https://www.reddit.com/user/Airborne82D/

Here is the most recent harassment message, which has nothing but an emoji, because he is trying to upset me and provoke a reaction out of me. They also unmuted and muted me again from the subreddit, and unbanned and banned me again, because they know that the messages will show up as notifications. This is an attempt at bullying me, and these people should be ashamed of themselves. These people are considered ‘moderators’ on Reddit, and in my opinion, they should be held to a higher standard than this. I don’t want to be harassed while I use Reddit. Look how annoying this is.

If this sort of thing has happened to you, you can use this form on Reddit to report a Moderator Code of Conduct violation, or if you would like us to share your story about being harassed by ‘moderators’ on Reddit, email us and let us know!