So I’ve noticed that there’s a little group of accounts all with the same name, presumably the same person with alts on several instances, and they all like to upvote their own stuff from their other accounts with the same name on other instances (and from other accounts which don’t have the same name but seem likely to be the same person). Here’s what it looks like. (I have redacted their actual username, since I’m not sure if that is acceptable to post in a bigger and not-drama-centered community.)
Each of these little groupings is multiple votes from accounts with the exact same name, all applied to the same comment within a few minutes of each other from (for example) the programming.dev and slrpnk.net accounts, a little while after the infosec.pub account posted it:
SELECT p.actor_id, cl.score, cl.comment_id, cl.published FROM person p, comment_like cl WHERE p.name = 'redacted' AND cl.person_id = p.id ORDER BY published ASC;
actor_id | score | comment_id | published
------------------------------------+-------+------------+-------------------------------
(some excerpts:)
https://infosec.pub/u/redacted | 1 | 1961075 | 2025-02-22 16:22:56.014731+00
https://slrpnk.net/u/redacted | 1 | 1961075 | 2025-02-22 18:00:51.325286+00
https://programming.dev/u/redacted | 1 | 1961075 | 2025-02-22 18:03:18.236992+00
https://programming.dev/u/redacted | 1 | 1958485 | 2025-02-22 18:03:19.371003+00
https://slrpnk.net/u/redacted | 1 | 1958485 | 2025-02-22 18:00:50.886344+00
https://infosec.pub/u/redacted | 1 | 1958485 | 2025-02-22 11:23:42.226386+00
https://programming.dev/u/redacted | 1 | 1958643 | 2025-02-22 18:03:19.093138+00
https://slrpnk.net/u/redacted | 1 | 1958643 | 2025-02-22 18:00:50.944788+00
https://infosec.pub/u/redacted | 1 | 1958643 | 2025-02-22 11:57:14.571075+00
https://infosec.pub/u/redacted | 1 | 1958775 | 2025-02-22 12:18:29.561662+00
https://slrpnk.net/u/redacted | 1 | 1958775 | 2025-02-22 18:00:51.007097+00
https://programming.dev/u/redacted | 1 | 1958775 | 2025-02-22 18:03:19.019653+00
https://programming.dev/u/redacted | 1 | 1958789 | 2025-02-22 18:03:18.814704+00
https://slrpnk.net/u/redacted | 1 | 1958789 | 2025-02-22 18:00:51.063719+00
https://infosec.pub/u/redacted | 1 | 1958789 | 2025-02-22 12:20:44.963274+00
https://slrpnk.net/u/redacted | 1 | 1958826 | 2025-02-22 17:59:48.55791+00
https://programming.dev/u/redacted | 1 | 1958826 | 2025-02-22 18:02:49.300343+00
https://slrpnk.net/u/redacted | 1 | 1958827 | 2025-02-22 18:00:16.302578+00
https://programming.dev/u/redacted | 1 | 1958827 | 2025-02-22 18:03:20.336056+00
https://slrpnk.net/u/redacted | 1 | 1958832 | 2025-02-22 17:59:48.497287+00
https://programming.dev/u/redacted | 1 | 1958832 | 2025-02-22 18:02:49.359749+00
https://programming.dev/u/redacted | 1 | 1958871 | 2025-02-22 18:02:49.420568+00
https://slrpnk.net/u/redacted | 1 | 1958871 | 2025-02-22 17:59:48.43862+00
https://slrpnk.net/u/redacted | 1 | 1958873 | 2025-02-22 17:59:24.697018+00
https://programming.dev/u/redacted | 1 | 1958873 | 2025-02-22 18:04:55.884635+00
https://programming.dev/u/redacted | 1 | 1958875 | 2025-02-22 18:04:55.795094+00
https://slrpnk.net/u/redacted | 1 | 1958875 | 2025-02-22 17:59:24.792819+00
https://slrpnk.net/u/redacted | 1 | 1958877 | 2025-02-22 17:59:24.743799+00
https://programming.dev/u/redacted | 1 | 1958877 | 2025-02-22 18:04:55.84273+00
https://slrpnk.net/u/redacted | -1 | 1958982 | 2025-02-22 18:00:51.647423+00
https://infosec.pub/u/redacted | -1 | 1958982 | 2025-02-22 12:55:05.047563+00
https://programming.dev/u/redacted | 1 | 1959091 | 2025-02-22 18:03:18.551263+00
https://infosec.pub/u/redacted | 1 | 1959091 | 2025-02-22 12:55:40.650352+00
https://slrpnk.net/u/redacted | 1 | 1959091 | 2025-02-22 18:00:51.138157+00
The reason I’m bringing this up:
- Isn’t this a problem? I get that it’s hard (impossible) to prevent this type of thing, but it seems weird that the infosec.pub admins weren’t into the idea of it being a problem when I pointed out this super-blatant instance of it to them. I do feel like dealing with blatant Lemmy-fraud when it happens is kind of a good instance hygiene type of thing to do.
- You should know that this user also talks pretty constantly about how the Democrats are bad, and anyone who votes for them is a fool, and Kamala Harris was the one who invaded Gaza, and so on. And they like using their multiple alts to upvote that content of their own. I feel like having that confluence pointed out is relevant.
- Is there something that I should be doing different than just pinging the admin and then moving on with my life if they don’t do anything?
I can’t exactly articulate why I feel like this is an issue, but I do. This also doesn’t necessarily seem like the right place to post this, but also, I wasn’t sure where to post it, and so…
Then it was the right place.
I agree that this kind of behaviour goes against the spirit of the threadiverse (or whatever you prefer to call it) but I wonder how it would be combatted? Would each instance admin team have to address it individually?
I think you have to. If you’re running an instance, it’s your responsibility that bullshit doesn’t fly off your instance and affect the rest of the network. That applies to spam, unrepentant disruption of communities, whatever it is.
I think it is impossible to really detect this kind of vote rigging if someone is trying to be stealthy about it, no matter how much database analysis you do. Here’s why I think it is a somewhat important thing anyway to get rid of it if someone’s being blatant about it: Part of making a good place to be involves aspects that aren’t technical. They are cultural. People don’t lie, people don’t deliberately try to cause damage or distortion. By banning someone who’s being overt about rigging votes or lying about it when they’re caught, you’re sending a message that really needs to be there if you’re going to be able to build a good foundation. By allowing it, you instantly engage people’s cynicism, and so why bother try to do anything.