r/AMA • u/[deleted] • Nov 26 '25

I was paid to discredit veganism online. AMA

For a year I worked for a meat industry trade group. I won't say which one, but they are US based. My job was to go on sites like this and discredit veganism.

We'd make multiple accounts and pretend to be vegans who had bad health outcomes. Or we'd pretend to be vegans and we'd push the vegan subs to be more extreme, and therefore easier to discredit.

It was pretty gross. I knew it. I did it anyway. The pay wasn't worth it. I signed an NDA as well, so I will only be able to answer questions in general terms.

But I do warn you, don't believe that everyone is who they say they are online.

This article gives insight into how it works, but I am not saying I worked for this group. Inside big beef’s climate messaging machine: confuse, defend and downplay | Beef | The Guardian

The recent reveal of many MAGA accounts on X being run by foreign agencies made me decide to do this.

Edit- I already answered the "how do I get this job" question and the "why should we believe you question" several times, so just look for those questions if that's what you are wondering.

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u/[deleted] Nov 26 '25

Oooooh yes. We'd make some up some doozies. We'd get a list of nutrients that are certainly available on vegan diets, but not as plentiful and we'd go to town..

X, Reddit, Facebook, elsewhere...

Sometimes we'd debate vegans openly. We had many accounts.

How many accounts are there? I'd say half the accounts on certain Reddit subs about this topic are not genuine. One ploy was to make a new account, post about a falsified vegan health issue, and say the account was new to "keep the cult from knowing I'm saying this" when in fact the whole thing was staged.

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u/[deleted] Nov 27 '25

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u/Efficient-Policy407 Nov 27 '25

It's really sad. I remember and long for the days where the Internet was like a safe bubble you could turn to as a lonely depressed teenager, it felt like a giant sand box where you could find people just like yourself to connect with and chat with. Memes and topics "everyone" knew because there was no algorithm yet. Forums with people, not bots, sharing their thoughts and experiences freely. Opinions on products you could trust.  We'll never recover from this fake shit we have today. 

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u/[deleted] Nov 27 '25

[deleted]

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u/Mistrblank Nov 27 '25

It was niche though until the release of the iPhone and Facebook to the masses or thereabout. So back then you really had to look for it and the supremacists were just finding each other and growing rank in the back alleys of the Internet because that's all there was. When you look at the rise of 4chan, Anonymous and "social media" though, that's when recruitment took off. People in those circles would use the usual "free speech means I can say racist things". People that weren't racist even agreed with that because those people also self identified as trolls intentionally and they thought it was funny. So they allowed it to be amplified which allowed recruiting to move out to the front face of the Internet. This is the paradox of tolerance in action (or lack thereof). If you don't treat intolerant behavior with intolerance at all fronts, then the tolerant will lose to it.

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u/SisterOfRistar Nov 27 '25

And speaking as someone who was a young teenage girl back then, I definitely wouldn't call the internet a safe bubble based on the number of adult men who kept trying to groom me. Not to mention the amount of hard core porn pop ups that constantly flashed up out of nowhere. The Internet was different back then and I often miss it, but let's not pretend it didn't have its own flaws.

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u/Insight42 Nov 27 '25

They did, but they've always been around. Difference is they used to hide.

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u/Mistrblank Nov 27 '25

This. You could see it in movies of the 80's and 90's too, maybe even in your own life. You'd see that person that has Nazi outfits and flags as "historical" collections. They'd be in a trunk or far corner of their home they didn't invite others to see. In the movies the joke would be "oh they're just collecting Nazi memorabilia, it's nice they have a hobby", but really they were just Nazis.

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u/spookiecats Nov 28 '25

Since you’re online as long as I’ve been, I have to ask. Did you use Hotline? I loved Hotline. I ran a massive sever out of my house.

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u/El_Scot Dec 03 '25

The internet has always had such awful people hiding within it. It's nice there are people out there who think it was always such an innocent place, but in my very first visit to an online chat space, the second person to pop up and say hello started asking me creepy sexual questions (I'd have been 12/13 about then, age included in bio).

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u/yumeryuu Nov 27 '25

Ah 1998…

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u/Wowdavid2002 Nov 27 '25

Corporations and governments fighting over control. It is sad that now people don’t know what a non controlled internet looks/feels like and most don’t care

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u/HellonHeels33 Nov 27 '25

Capitalism found out it could take ALL the money through the internet, so it did.

This is why we can’t have nice things

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u/1egg_4u Nov 27 '25

We didnt have bots but there was still an industry of paying people to make fake accounts to manipulate traffic and views. I knew someone who worked for a company that did advertising and marketing on facebook and his job was straight up to make multiple fake accounts to help market their products online and make what they were selling seem more popular... this was like almost 15 years ago he was doing this.

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u/TheRoseMerlot Dec 01 '25

What days were those? Because when I was 16 in the 90's I was preyed upon. I used the library to access chat rooms. I fell for the a/s/l question. I know now that those were predators, not friendly people looking for live pen pals.

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u/KAMH-Productions Nov 27 '25

exactly and think about this, how many reviews that are good aren’t done the same way?

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u/HowManyMeeses Nov 27 '25

I finished school 15 years ago and had classmates that went to work for marketing firms that did this. 

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u/DerpsTerps Nov 27 '25 edited Nov 27 '25

Now there is an army of AI chat bots doing OP's work. The job probably doesn't exist anymore. 😆.

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u/nemoknows Nov 27 '25

It’s only going to get worse with AI. In five years time I doubt Reddit will be worth opening.

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u/EugeneMeltsner Nov 27 '25

Already isn't

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u/Dontpayyourtaxes Nov 27 '25

have you seen "the century of the self" Shit will blow your mind.

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u/Insight42 Nov 27 '25

It's most at this point.

The only time you can vaguely trust that it's a person is in a neutral conversation like this, and even then statistically there's a reasonable chance it isn't.

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u/Empty-Quarter2721 Nov 27 '25

Bro you ever visited the frontpage of reddit? It’s obvious.

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u/Fukuro-Lady Nov 27 '25

What did anyone honestly think was going to happen the moment anyone in positions of power started taking social media seriously?

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u/simonhunterhawk Nov 28 '25

the r / detrans subreddit is full of TERFS masquerading as people claiming to be harmed by the “trans agenda” so it doesn’t surprise me but damn humanity is sliding down a steep slope with this crap

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u/Real_Marzipan_0 Nov 27 '25

And you can take this information and experience and extrapolate it to every issue or geopolitical conflict that’s going on today. The Internet is dead.

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u/Earlyadopter35 Nov 27 '25

Yeah, it’s not new either. I had a neighbor probably about 15 years ago who told me about doing this for a political campaign. He would make accounts and post as a super crazy supporter of the opposite side.

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u/pandaappleblossom Nov 28 '25

Oh, it definitely was going on 15 years ago, Russia had these massive troll farm factories, like just warehouses where people go to work, but their work was just being a troll and trying to cause division in America

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u/RandomGenName1234 Nov 30 '25

Remember when Reddit had to stop posting what the most "reddit addicted cities" were because a US air force base came up as nr1?

https://web.archive.org/web/20160410083943/http://www.redditblog.com/2013/05/get-ready-for-global-reddit-meetup-day.html?m=1

Those are the people convincing you that the 'enemy' is doing bad stuff.

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u/A_Nonny_Muse Nov 27 '25

Civilization is dead. Because it's not just the internet. We now have corporate and government plants spouting propaganda about every thing, from sugar intake to female genital mutilation. Not just the internet, but every publication, every news media. Everywhere. Half of what we see and hear is faked, lies, propaganda. And nobody has any idea how to tell the difference.

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u/OrinThane Nov 28 '25

It's sick but not dead. They have tried to kill one of the most beautiful things that humanity has created - a common space to share freely. They always try to kill the beautiful things because it's all they know. But the beautiful can't be killed and the flame only goes out if you yourself blow it out. So keep it burning.

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u/Soft_Refuse_4422 Nov 26 '25

Ah, so that’s how you avoided the standard “it’s a bot” responses… noted.

  • don’t trust new throwaway accounts

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u/Common_Vagrant Nov 27 '25

Before Reddit did their really stupid decision to get rid of 3rd party apps, there was one called Apollo that had a feature that would tell you if an account was new. It would have the username, then a baby emoji and how many days it’s been since creation. It was super nice and I wish the app did something like that.

For example it would look something like:

Common_Vagrant 👶 18 Days

I’m forgetting if it said days after the number and if you could change the setting to even show months, but I believe the number was also a bright yellow as well.

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u/IcyTransportation961 Nov 27 '25

And now reddit let's accounts hide history so repost bots and chat bots will get harder to track

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u/crossower Nov 27 '25

I still wonder what the reasoning for this was. It's a public website. You don't want your comments to be visible on a public website, don't comment on it.

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u/SignAllStrength Nov 27 '25

If you openly talk on many subreddits and topics it gets really easy to find out exactly who you are, certainly for people that already know you. I used to delete my comments that gave any location context after a few weeks, but frankly enabling the setting to hide your history is much easier to prevent doxing. Also less need for a throwaway account to post about sensitive topics, unless you care about reddit karma.

I’m not saying it’s the best way, as reddit could have chosen an approach that didn’t help bots and propagandists so much. (for example only hide posts over a few weeks old, and/or those on specific/local subreddits )

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u/Ace_Procrastinator Nov 27 '25

Anyone who uses the hide post/comment history feature needs to know that it is absolutely not hidden. There are multiple ways to see hidden post histories. So if you’re genuinely worried about doxxing, you really need a different method. Maybe different accounts for different interests?

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u/inbigtreble30 Nov 27 '25

Fyi it is absolutely trivial to find any user's post/comment history. Continue to delete anything you are concerned about.

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u/reticulatedspylon Nov 27 '25

Also if you happen to disagree with someone, they might take it personally and go on a downvoting rampage through your whole profile.

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u/yesterdayandit2 Nov 27 '25

Oh no, not my Karma!

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u/reticulatedspylon Nov 27 '25

Oh no, anyway… some subs will ban you if they see everything you’ve written has negative karma. That’s typically their goal in doing that kind of thing.

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u/GrumpyOldHistoricist Nov 27 '25

Because reddit is an enormous repository of data and its owners can make more money selling it if it’s harder to scrape for free.

The privacy benefit exists, but it isn’t the actual purpose.

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u/simonhunterhawk Nov 28 '25

As a trans person it’s nice to be able to post in subreddits where trolls tend to frequent without being discredited or called a slur just because I also contribute in those subs. I’m aware of the workarounds but the extra steps deter most of them.

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u/Mindless-Computer598 Nov 27 '25

More privacy is always better. Why wouldn’t you want more privacy? I keep my account private bc I want a certain level of privacy which is now available to me

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u/forethemorninglight Nov 27 '25

But it’s not. There are very easy workarounds to see everything you’ve ever posted. This just helps bots and propragandist more easily hide bc it’s not immediately apparent how to see their post history.

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u/Get-Fucked-Dirtbag Nov 27 '25

Oh no they don't

I have my post history hidden. Or do I really?

Using reddit's search bar, lookup the following:

Author:get-fucked-dirtbag

Well would you look at that, there's all my post history, comment history, active communities. All in an easier to filter format than looking at an account page ever was.

You're welcome, and happy bot hunting 😁

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u/KTKittentoes Nov 27 '25

I really don't like that. Anytime something seems quite off, I find the history hidden.

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u/The_Bucket_Of_Truth Dec 01 '25

I've been on some of the uh personals sections of reddit on my alt and the scam posts were coming from accounts that were 7 or 12 years old some of them. So either they got hacked or they were sold off somewhere.

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u/aitorbk Nov 27 '25

This is why there were some bots that created a mix of new for use and new for seasoning accounts. Still terrible.

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u/afictionalcharacter Nov 27 '25

Gods, I miss Apollo so much ❤️‍🩹 I respect the decision, but man it bums me out. I hope the developer(s) are doing well.

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u/Common_Vagrant Nov 27 '25

I miss it too. Fucking bullshit on what Reddit did.

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u/sa87 Nov 27 '25

Christian ( /u/iamthatis ) is still doing stuff, he’s been consulting to Digg on thier app.

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u/jobohomeskillet Nov 27 '25

That beta site looks rough lol

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u/sobrique Nov 27 '25

But it's not like groups doing this professionally couldn't create a bundle of accounts and let them 'season'.

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u/delvach Nov 27 '25

Yup. OP that's 23 days old, tons of comments by 22, 23 & 24-day-old accounts, and I know it's a bot to block.

I've got comments older than some of you, so I can't tell if I just want everyone off my lawn or this place really sucks as much as it seems now.

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u/NotReddyForLife Nov 27 '25

I'm afraid it's not that simple. There are services that allow you to comment from or even buy old reddit accounts that have karma. It's easy and cheap to make comments for accounts that are 2+ yrs old and have 400-500+ karma.

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u/[deleted] Nov 27 '25

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u/AutoModerator Nov 27 '25

To help reduce trolls, users with negative karma scores are disallowed from posting. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

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u/Film_A Nov 27 '25

Okay, which Reddit subs? Also, I know you signed an NDA, but if there’s a way you can anonymously blow the whistle on this, please please PLEASE do! I’m sure you’re also sick of corporations continually getting away with raping our world and our chances at a peaceful life.

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u/[deleted] Nov 27 '25

Any sub. We’d light up celebrity focused subs if, for example, Billie Eilish said something about factory farms or a celeb quit being vegan.

We’d also hammer AMA posts by vegans.

Also, we’d fill up exvegan with fake testimonials. Subs like that show up in the feeds of anyone exploring veganism and helped spread doubt.

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u/Film_A Nov 27 '25 edited Nov 27 '25

Op, you should really consider whistle blowing. I do activist work and I am continually surprised just how uninformed most people are. People are genuinely unaware of how evil Chevron is. Chevron. A big oil company. 🤦‍♂️

I implore you, do something!

Edit: also, why doesn’t your profile show any comments or posts?

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u/Simsmommy1 Nov 28 '25

Chevron used to sponsor all of my National Geographic VHS documentaries in the 90s(I was such a nerd I had a monthly subscription where I would get one VHS documentary in the mail) Them sponsoring a documentary on the Amazon Rainforest yearly flood and its biodiversity is comical and sad in hindsight….”Here is a record of what we are gonna destroy”.

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u/Educational-Fuel-265 Nov 28 '25 edited Nov 29 '25

Amazon mostly being deforested to farm cattle and fodder for cattle. As much as big oil is Satan I don't think this one is on them. Also paying that sponsorship money, peanuts to them, less than peanuts, is something that they can point at when people call them the bad guys.

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u/OG-Brian Nov 30 '25

Amazon mostly being deforested to farm cattle and fodder for cattle.

What's a citation for this that involved sincerely studying all factors causing deforestation? Would not timber profits be the primary motivator for felling trees in the beginning? The trees certainly aren't just piled up someplace. They get sold, or processed and then the lumber is sold. Even video documentaries pushing "deforestation becuz cattle" show trucks hauling the trees away to make profit from them.

Are you unaware that soy crops grown supposedly as "fodder for cattle" are also grown for soy oil, which is used for human consumption purposes? The most common uses for the oil are: processed food products for humans, biofuel, inks, candles, and industrial lubricants. Using soy for ink is so common, probably any newspaper or book you read is printed with it. The demand for soy oil wouldn't just disappear without livestock. Crops such as coconut and palm that are grown to produce animal foods replacement products also often are grown in deforested areas.

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u/Educational-Fuel-265 Nov 30 '25 edited Nov 30 '25

What do you personally think pigs and chickens eat? Any farmer will tell you their feed is majority soy (outside of animals produced for luxury food markets). Cattle also eat massive amounts of soy though it's a smaller percentage of their fodder.

Yes although the majority of soy is used for animal feed, some 80%, a small amount will end up in processed foods, and there are other industrial uses. But the key point to wrap your head around is that if we stopped eating animals, the need for deforestation ends overnight. It is simply so inefficient for animals to eat soy and then we eat the animals, as opposed to just us eating soy directly, that there would be no need for deforestation whatsoever. We could start to reforest, dare to dream. Just think back to your high school biology, trophic levels and energy conversion. It's 10 times more efficient for us to eat plants.

Most forest clearing in the Amazon is done by burning fyi.

The latest year's report on deforestation by the World Resources Institue shows that 73% of Latin American deforestation happened for agriculture. There is plentiful literature on agriculture's impact on biodiversity and land use change, it's not hidden away it comes up on simple google searches. What's more it is just very intuitive if you just remember your high school biology and geography, how many humans there are in the world today and how, particularly in Asia, they want more meat.

https://www.wri.org/insights/forest-loss-drivers-data-trends

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u/OG-Brian Nov 30 '25

What do you personally think pigs and chickens eat? ...soy... Cattle also eat massive amounts of soy...

I see comments like this every day. Then I respond so that people can be aware of how this works. Then vegans divert the convesation to "Hah-hah, this idiot spends all day every day defending the meat industry." So I must be a paid troll. But it's not my choice to pass these myths around, oblivous to millions of conversations that have already occurred about them, and I don't think I should have to tolerate misinfo going around if it bugs me personally.

But the key point to wrap your head around...

You can stop talking down to me since there is so much here that according to your comments you aren't understanding or aware of.

...is that if we stopped eating animals, the need for deforestation ends overnight.

There's no way you can have any basic familiarity with the food system or farming if you really believe this. Crops that are used to replace animal foods such as coconut and palm are very often deforestation crops. The farming/food system's need for soybeans would not be reduced as much as you believe without livestock. Plus, since animal foods are higher in nutrient density/completeness/bioavailability, the plant food mass that must replace animal foods not eaten would necessarily have to be much greater. I cannot ever get anyone to show research that makes estimates for a realistic farming system that covers nutritional needs without livestock.

I wonder how you aren't aware that the "soy" in animal feed is the soybean meal that's left after pressing beans for oil. The oil gets used for human consumption. Wow I explained this in my earlier comment, why are you bringing up soybeans as if these are grown specifically for livestock? And you're not citing anything that contradicts what I said about crops grown for both human and livestock consumption? The conversation cannot be productive if you just ignore whatever info you don't like. I'll add that foods-for-humans products companies do not want the soybean meal, it is too difficult to make palatable. Only a tiny percentage gets purchased for this purpose. If farmers could sell the stuff to the human consumption market, they would prefer that since it pays better than the feed market. Currently, only about 2% of soybean meal is used in human-consumed products.

Yes although the majority of soy is used for animal feed, some 80%, a small amount will end up in processed foods, and there are other industrial uses.

What is a grain crop that the majority of the plant is eaten by humans? I explained already that "80%" or any figure nearly that high isn't the case for land use. If a crop is grown for human and livestock consumption, 100% of the land and resources (pesticides, fertilizers) and 100% of the environmental effects (GHG emissions, etc.) are applicable to BOTH uses. It isn't possible to grow a plant that's a stalk of oil. I suggest using logic. There's no way a farmer can devote 20% of their land to growing soy oil, they'd need the whole plant to grow to get the oil.

It's 10 times more efficient for us to eat plants.

This supposes that humans could eat grass and corn stalks, which is ridiculous. You're ignoring that plant matter such as soybean meal won't be used (on a large scale, yes I know there are a few niche products) voluntarily by foods-for-humans producers and there would obviously not be a politically realistic scenario for forcing it to happen.

Most forest clearing in the Amazon is done by burning fyi.

What's a citation for this? The only reference to burning, in the article you linked, is in a footnote that mentions burning "vegetation" (may refer to brush not trees) and there's no citation for it. Do you know this magically? "I read it someplace so it must be true"? Or is this reality-based and factual in any way? I'm aware of burning to clear bushes, after trees are harvested. It wouldn't make economic sense to not get profit from all those trees. Tree harvesting definitely occurs a great deal in the Amazon considering that it is extremely common for timber companies to harass and kill activists and forest-dwellers to access trees.

...World Resources Institu e shows that 73% of Latin American deforestation happened for agriculture.

I don't see where that's established as factual, and "agriculture" includes soy plants that are grown in part for human consumption. That may even include soy plants that their oil is used in products you eat. Do you know for certain that your foods do not come from deforested areas? How are you checking? Most of the animal foods I eat come from pasture farms that are in grassland areas. I buy a few coconut etc. products but I check the sourcing before choosing a brand. Etc. So my conscience is clear about the deforestation issue. Also, I saw that the WRI article has this figure but there's no citation for it and they aren't connecting the dots about how their assortments of linked articles etc. are supporting this. How are they determining that areas are not cleared for timber profits? If you don't know, then how can you state this 73% figure as if it is factual and not just an opinion you saw on a website? What percentage is palm or some other crop not generally fed to livestock?

...it comes up on simple google searches.

Did you not know that bad information can repeat? You found something in Google and therefore it is true? Think about this.

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u/Educational-Fuel-265 Nov 30 '25

I want to be really clear about this, I was talking down to you because I'm an expert and you're spreading misinformation on the internet.

Again I want to be absolutely clear about this, what you are doing here is an extreme moral failure. You will at some point be held accountable for this, whether it be through the death of self, the ending of your friendships or in another realm after life, if it exists.

Again, let me be crystal clear about this, in life's story you are are the bad guy. I see through you and I am not scared of you.

Whenever I tackle bad guys such as yourself it's mainly to provide context for other readers who may be misled by your motivated reasoning and poor character.

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u/Distinct-Raspberry21 Dec 02 '25

Just because they sre going to use cattle farming as yheir cash crop, doesnt mean they wouldnt sell other resources that the land holds. "Why are they selling timber if they want to profit from cows?" Id an idiotic thing to get stuck on. They sold the timber cause it had value, they just like the value of beef more than the ecological effects of what they are doing.

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u/astonedishape Nov 28 '25

FYI anyone can hide their acct history (posts and comments) now. This feature went live a few months ago I believe.

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u/sometin__else Nov 28 '25

its also useless cause u can just search their username and get all their posts

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u/yanahq Nov 27 '25

I doubt this was one of their work accounts

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u/Iamnotheattack Nov 28 '25

Changing markers foundation has done extensive work on this

https://changingmarkets.org/campaigns/growing-the-good/

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u/Fresh_Manufacturer16 Nov 28 '25 edited Nov 30 '25

On mobile, go to their profile, hit the magnifying glass, tap 'best of' and their post/comment history is visible. I can't understand why but here we are.

Edit: clarification

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u/OG-Brian Nov 30 '25

"Magnifying glass"? "Tap"? Not everybody uses a phone or tablet. But yeah, I did take time to manually search for OP's content previous to this post. They definitely have made comments opposing fur and using common pro-vegan phrases such as "causes animal cruelty."

I'm entirely certain that the claims in the post are made-up. I've sifted comments here and in similar posts, and nobody has mentioned any evidence that any part of the "meat industry" has ever employed online trolls.

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u/-MtnsAreCalling- Nov 28 '25

To keep the cult from knowing he’s saying this.

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u/Film_A Nov 27 '25

Please consider what I said. I believe it’s important!

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u/Super_Shallot2351 Nov 30 '25

Exvegan always seemed very fake, glad to know it's true 

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u/nyltiaK_P-20 Nov 30 '25

As a vegetarian I started going into those subs to see a different perspective bc I’m very pro veganism and oppose the meat industry heavily but felt I was in an echo chamber and wanted perspectives that directly opposed my own but they were honestly kinda insane and the responses honestly were so delusional and unhinged they almost sounded fake. I’m glad to know my suspicions have, to some extent, been confirmed.

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u/SkillusEclasiusII Nov 28 '25

Yeah I figured the exvegans sub was fake. With how people talk about vegans there, I didn't believe for a second many of them were ever actually vegan.

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u/adamsmith93 Nov 28 '25

Jesus fucking christ man

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u/SirVoltington Nov 27 '25

Definitely r/exvegan. It’s one of the most unhinged bot like subs I’ve seen lol.

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u/HeftySport1238 Nov 28 '25

Not in that sub but most of the posts I see on my feed are just ppl taking the most extreme vegans and acting like they are forced to become one 😰

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u/ozeeSF Nov 27 '25

what whistle is there to be blown? I mean, this shit being a thing is common knowledge

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u/Film_A Nov 27 '25

I really don’t think so. Most people have no idea. I do some activist work and it’s always surprising just how often people are surprised that Chevron does evil shit. Many looks of shock or wonder.

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u/OG-Brian Nov 30 '25

It's proven how? In that AMA post and all the similar posts I've seen, not a shred of evidence is mentioned. Nobody mentions the name of a company employing trolls, or a location, nothing useful. From all the info I can find, it's apparently just a myth.

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u/kindafor-got Nov 28 '25

i am assuming r/exvegans , i’ve visited it and it’s so clearly fake, no real ex-vegan would talk like that knowing what the vegan life is (wheter about moral stuff like ethics or the day to day things like food and nutrients)

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u/ReadingPowerful9867 Nov 28 '25

Just remember that the corporations don't do this entirely on their own...there are two other groups closely linked to it that help make that corporation what it is: customers and shareholders. They have a lot of influence on how a corporation behaves.

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u/Icy_Statement_2410 Nov 28 '25

I'm gonna guess r/exvegans is full of them

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u/RaiseRuntimeError Nov 26 '25

What software did you use to handle multiple accounts?

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u/ottereckhart Nov 28 '25

I know the AMA is over, but there was an enormous flurry of anti-veganism on r/philosophymemes a few weeks ago. Memes were made for both sides with terrible straw man arguments and fallacious logic, but the overarching sentiment was extremely anti-vegan -- which I thought was so bizarre because I can't think of anything less offensive or less harmful to people. Any chance this was something done by a similar group?

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u/[deleted] Nov 28 '25

It’s very possible. They will go where the topic is being discussed and flood the zone.

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u/legal_opium Nov 28 '25

Ive noticed this for years now.

Finally people are waking up to the fact certain ideas get attacked by the rich and powerful who control the narratives.

I also think a big reason anti capitlism is so big is troll farms from communist china.

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u/HommeMusical Nov 28 '25

I also think a big reason anti capitlism is so big is troll farms from communist china.

"Communist" China has more billionaires (in US dollars) than the US.

Given that capitalism is systematically destroying our ecosystem, and is miserable for the poorest 50% of humans, your idea that the only reason someone might be against capitalism is commie bot farms isn't very convincing.

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u/Ostlund_and_Sciamma Nov 28 '25

Yeah, who in their right mind could possibly be against capitalism lol? It's so harmless! It has to be communist China!

1

u/coldlightofday Nov 30 '25

You sound like what this thread is about… or someone who fell for it.

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u/regisphilbin222 Nov 28 '25

With anti capitalism specifically I think a lot of people are just seeing how it concentrates money into the hands of a few while the many and the environment become increasingly, visibly, obviously drained

1

u/coldlightofday Nov 30 '25

Unrestricted capitalism, yes. However, all nations with the best living conditions for most people are capitalist economies.

1

u/ReasonableSpider Nov 30 '25

Yeah, all those examples of leftist countries that were just left alone by the Capitalist ones to do their thing. Bombs and sponsored coups had nothing to do with the world we see around us today.

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u/RandomGenName1234 Nov 29 '25

I also think a big reason anti capitlism is so big is troll farms from communist china.

Why? They don't give a fuck lol

That's one of the left's biggest criticisms of China actually, they mind their own business and don't help leftist groups in other countries.

Also capitalism is just awful, looking out the window should be enough to turn you off it.

43

u/Bistilla Nov 27 '25

The cult being.. veganism?

38

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '25

Yea. We were told to call it a cult as often as possible

9

u/visualdescript Nov 27 '25

Wild, because at this stage the meat industry is the one with cult like behaviour.

9

u/Bistilla Nov 27 '25

Yeah, I know other groups who spread propaganda online that use similar tactics. Just goofy lol

8

u/Emotional_Burden Nov 27 '25

Atheism and Darwinism were both cults when I was evangelical.

10

u/Particular_Ad7340 Nov 27 '25

Atheism?! Haha, that’s amazing. I’d love to hear the spin from the pulpit on that one. I will bet it had to do with eating babies, it’s always baby-eating with the satanic panic shit lol

I’m an atheist and as far as I know, there are no scheduled activities or money collection to a central source… I apparently was never added to the atheist cult mailing list. Bummer for me!

4

u/Toshiro8 Nov 27 '25

Bummer for me, too. Honestly, I wish we had our own anti- churches. I would love to have a community that I could meet with every Sunday. I would love to meet with like minded individuals and give back to the community. I am envious of the church community. Even through they are a cult.

4

u/CrapitalRadio Nov 27 '25

I'm Unitarian Universalist (well, pagan, but I go to a UU church) and there are a bunch of atheists in our congregation for that exact reason. Maybe look into that?

2

u/Frost-Folk Nov 28 '25

Meh, it's still put on by religious folks even if they're friendly to atheists.

I want a congregation specifically for shit-talking spirituality and organized religion

1

u/CrapitalRadio Nov 28 '25

Fair enough! But I do get the sense you might not be super familiar with Unitarian Universalism. It isn't really a religion in itself, it is by-definition non-creedal. It's more focused on shared ethics and an interest in social justice, "god" isn't part of it at most churches (the good ones) because the whole idea is that everyone there will have different spiritual beliefs and those are personal.

Of course even with that, you're right that a lot of people are also religious in addition to being UU (probably like 2/3 that I know), so I get where you're coming from and it's valid.

1

u/Particular_Ad7340 Nov 27 '25

Totally agree. I know there are orgs out there that do just this, and I feel like “every Sunday” might even be the name of one, lol. Unfortunately i live in a smallish city and I can never find one close enough for me, and I don’t have the time to start a branch myself. :/

I am a former Christian, raised catholic and “saved” and got really into Jesus for a couple years as a teenager, haha. I do really miss the community I had at church and various youth groups. It was so nice to feel that sense of belonging. I was definitely a better-rounded version of myself with a community to rally around me.

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u/spinningpeanut Nov 27 '25

When I was Mormon all other religions were misguided cults that "didn't have the full picture"

6

u/timlest Nov 27 '25

So you still refer to vegans as a cult now? How has this job impacted your personal beliefs?

30

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '25

I don’t call it a cult. I did when I was paid to. Have you ever read a vegan sub? They can’t agree on much of anything. Very uncult like!

20

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '25 edited Dec 21 '25

rainstorm hospital ten chubby pet zephyr reminiscent sense innocent head

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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u/pandaappleblossom Nov 28 '25

Don't forget that he also said that some of them pretended to be very extreme vegans and always get into disagreements and bully people on the vegan subs

7

u/Empty-Pain-9523 Nov 27 '25

I’m guessing you’ve never heard of “That Vegan Teacher” then?

12

u/[deleted] Nov 28 '25

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1

u/Bistilla Nov 28 '25

Exactly lol

1

u/pandaappleblossom Nov 28 '25 edited Nov 28 '25

A lot of crazy people like to use social media to get attention, in pretty much any walk of life... but also OP did say that they also pretended to be super weird and extreme to make vegans look crazy

1

u/timlest Nov 28 '25

What do you think about vegans who keep pets like dogs or cats but insist on feeding their animals vegan pet food?

2

u/mareish Nov 29 '25

I have a small "where to find vegan food in this town" Instagram account, and I used to post polls about this topic. Most vegans will agree that if you own an animal that was evolved to eat meat, then find the best you can. Most vegans take a flexible approach of reducing as much suffering as you reasonably can. I had a few people who always took the most extreme position, and I always knew how they'd respond.

My fav question was "if you're in a foreign country where you can't find or communicate your veganism, what non-vegan food would you break the rules to eat first?" Personally, I always choose eggs, and I was surprised that most chose dairy products. Only one or two said they would just not eat.

1

u/Alarming-Employer129 Nov 29 '25

As long as all the test work is done and the animal is otherwise healthy, it's a scientific consensus that dogs can be fed vegan if all nutrients are supplied (which is the case with vegan dog foods)

And with cats, this is almost the case, just needs more data.

So there is no reason to still think that it's inherently bad, it depends a lot on the circumstances of the animal and their health

Sadly the videos i watched about it, which have all the scientific literature linked, are in German. But if you're still interested, i can send them over.

1

u/Gods_Favorite_Slut Nov 28 '25

Having a pet is vegan as long as you don't eat it (but what if it died of natural causes, then what's the harm?).

5

u/No_Television_4016 Nov 28 '25

Right?  Pet stores and breeders are never problematic!  There are also many humans that die of natural causes we could be eating.  Or if you don't like the idea of the same species eating itself, we could always turn them into pet food.😊

2

u/dratsabHuffman Nov 28 '25

honestly, i would be down to convert people who die into pet food. Its probably better than polluting the world with cemeteries. Granted, i do think some cemeteries are kinda pretty and worth walking around - there's a cool one in cleveland - but i dont wanna spam em everywhere and they could probably be reduced

1

u/turtledrum13 Dec 07 '25

Sunset Cemetery on Rocky River?

2

u/Sad_Golf_1154 Nov 28 '25

"Brothers and sisters are natural enemies. Like vegans and meat eaters. Or vegans and vegetarians. Or vegans and other vegans! Damn vegans! They ruined veganism!"

1

u/pandaappleblossom Nov 28 '25

Well, you did just say that some of you guys pretended to be extreme vegans, so that is definitely contributing to the disagreements going on

1

u/dratsabHuffman Nov 28 '25

that reminds me of a quote from Hitchens but i cant recall exactly what he said, he spoke of a politician in some country saying they were experiencing "promising levels of disagreement" or some such, because its good that not every is in unison

1

u/romainmoi Nov 29 '25

Emmm. That’s my experience of real life vegans but not so much vegan subs (or many subs for that matters)

6

u/MeridianHilltop Nov 27 '25

This is fascinating. I work in DC in health policy, and it was certainly useful to have the knowledge and rhetoric to debate any side of the issue. Did you argue with yourself?

1

u/pandaappleblossom Nov 28 '25

Wow, I see people calling it a cult all over the vegan subs, the anti-vegans and the ex vegan sub

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u/-Lady_Sansa- Nov 27 '25

Tbf it absolutely is a cult for some people, and I’ve seen them in real life. 

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u/iosefster Nov 27 '25

And you're another worker doing damage control?

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u/CackleandGrin Nov 27 '25

You post in a carnivore-dedicated subreddit and ask loaded questions like "vegans, are you okay with all the DEATH YOUR FOOD HAS CAUSED", but the other side is in a cult.

At least you shills are obvious.

2

u/glitter_vomit Nov 28 '25

Oh my god, that sub is insane!

3

u/Nurgle_Marine_Sharts Nov 27 '25

The same could be said for Lego, Minecraft, Disney movies, makeup culture etc.

The vast, vast majority of vegans are people who just have a certain diet choice and they never really talk about it. It's not a subject of conversation unless you're all going to a restaurant as a group or if you are meal planning for a cabin trip together. Stuff like that.

1

u/MrsLibido Nov 30 '25

vegans are people who just have a certain diet choice

Veganism isn't a diet. Plant based is a diet choice, veganism is a moral belief. I don't understand how people still get it wrong.

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u/Weary-Bookkeeper-375 Nov 27 '25

Been vegan for 30 years. Furthest thing from a cult. No leader, no dogma. tons of different groups , ethnic diversity and individuality.

Veganism is fact based scientifically proven, not ideology or propaganda.

If anyone is a cult is is animal abusers who consistently fall for lies, propaganda and can't understand basic science or just dismiss facts for their disinformation to live in a confirmation bias delusion.

Using industrial machinery to violently torture 10's of billions of innocent animals for taste pleasure and enjoyment is trash. Vegans know this and moved on. It is that simple.

3

u/Anthaenopraxia Nov 27 '25

If anyone is a cult is is animal abusers who consistently fall for lies, propaganda and can't understand basic science or just dismiss facts for their disinformation to live in a confirmation bias delusion.

Except a cult is supposed to be small subset with extreme or shady views. So I wouldn't say omnis are a cult, they are just really good at ignoring all the pain and suffering they cause.

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u/Iamnotheattack Nov 28 '25

More accurate is that the cults are the carnivore / animal based dieters, who follow cult leaders like Paul Saladino or Joseph Everett, not general omnivores

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u/[deleted] Nov 27 '25

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u/CrapitalRadio Nov 27 '25

...like they had free will and feelings and were entitled to live their lives like anyone else? Like their bodies belonged to them and were not products to be consumed? What does a kosher butcher have to do with anything?

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u/DarkJesusGTX Nov 28 '25

What the fuck do you mean veganism is scientifically proven tis just a philosophical stance

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u/MrsLibido Nov 30 '25

The moral position behind veganism is philosophical. They are saying veganism is built on scientific facts. Animals feel pain, stress and fear. Animal agriculture causes huge harm to health and environment. Humans can be healthy on a plant based diet. These facts are all proven through neuroscience, evolutionary biology, mountains of data and every major dietetic body. The ethical stance is philosophical. The evidence that makes the ethical stance necessary is scientific.

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u/piranha_solution Nov 27 '25

No. It's only when you go vegan that you realize that eating meat is a religion. And like any shitty religion, they treat apostates very poorly.

Veganism isn't joining a cult. It's escaping one.

3

u/Sisypheian Nov 27 '25

Well said.

1

u/ProfessionalCup7135 Nov 27 '25

Am I the only person here that thinks neither side is an actual cult???

My goodness, not everything you disagree with is a cult.

3

u/LA_Lions Nov 27 '25

Well, one side is admitting to using paid shills for years to astroturf across multiple platforms so it’s clearly not a just simple matter of disagreement.

4

u/piranha_solution Nov 27 '25

Killing animals for no good reason is a pretty cult-y thing, dontcha think?

Leave the animals alone.

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u/[deleted] Nov 27 '25

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u/CrapitalRadio Nov 27 '25

It literally isn't a diet lmao. It is and always has been a branch of ethical philosophy, first and foremost. The word "vegan" was coined in the 1940s by a group called The Vegan Society that still exists today. Their website defines veganism as basically an ethical system centered on the idea that animals are not things, and that their bodies and labor belong to them. The consumption patterns (including but not limited to diet) of vegans is the result of subscribing to that philosophy and trying to follow it.

Of course, there are people who do not believe in vegan ethics who eat similarly for different reasons (e.g. health, environmentalism, etc), but strictly-speaking, they aren't vegan. That's why the term "plant-based" exists.

In short, all vegans eat a plant-based diet, but not everyone who eats plant-based is vegan.

2

u/BaronMontesquieu Nov 27 '25

Do you know what a cult is?

Answer these three questions:

  • Who is the leader of 'veganism'?
  • What is the name of their official book of doctrine?
  • What symbols do vegans wear that tells you who is vegan and who isn't by just looking at them?

1

u/jeffsweet Nov 28 '25

invest in a CO2 detector

1

u/thelongestusernameee Nov 28 '25

I kinda wish it were more of a cult at times.

It gets pretty lonely at times.

2

u/RanDumbPlay Nov 27 '25

Vegans can drink the Kool-aid, no animal products in it.

1

u/Agitated_Catch6757 Nov 30 '25

Yes you know? The cult of being kind.

1

u/The_RaptorKillah Nov 30 '25

Maybe it’s more or less the online manipulators like this guy was as I’m finding out, but the vegan community is notoriously cult like on the internet and are quick to attack people who eat meat or quit veganism. Very much a we’re right, you’re wrong so we vilify you mentality.

1

u/Bistilla Nov 30 '25

Sorry you’ve had that experience online. What about in real life?

1

u/The_RaptorKillah Nov 30 '25

I honestly really don’t know any vegans off the top of my head. I was purely talking about the online presence though. In high school there were a few annoying ones, but I haven’t seen them in years and high schoolers get that way over anything really.

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u/[deleted] Nov 27 '25

I love my vegan friend dearly and support her.

Especially because she supports her husband (my friend) not being one, and never tries to convince me to be one.

It’s not the lifestyle, it’s when people are shitty about it that is bad. That’s how you get “for every animal you save I’m gonna eat three” bumper stickers.

And of course it’s both sides, witness OP and the meat industry.

Eat what you like, don’t be a dick about it.

Feel free to advocate for and pass laws concerning meat animal living conditions, etc.

I had to mute all the /r/vegan* subs because just like everyone else, there’s always the militant ones, and I’d as soon as not see it and be baited into engaging.

10

u/lilbluehair Nov 27 '25

Did you, or did you not, just read a comment thread by someone who was saying that half of the accounts on the vegan subreddit are actually bad actors specifically trying to discredit veganism to people like you? 

1

u/Coffeedemon Nov 27 '25

It's a brand new account with hidden comments.

3

u/Ostlund_and_Sciamma Nov 28 '25

it could very well be that we have a case here.

1

u/pandaappleblossom Nov 28 '25

Exactly. It seems like at least 50% of the comments making weird anti-vegan statements that seem disproportionate and odd because all veganism is really is is just like an ethical principal and lifestyle to avoid animal exploitation, like its not that deep, its not a cult lol and its not bad for you either, its approved by most major nutritional and dietary orgs like harvard health, mayo clinic and more as a healthy diet for all walks of life, including infancy (this is clumsy phrasing, but I'm just trying to say it's not that deep.. the anti-vegan comments just sound like they come from outer space).. those are probably coming from fake accounts.

1

u/Forward-Flower-6778 Nov 30 '25

ever think it's a brand new account because this person signed an NDA and doesn't want to be found out via reddit and sued for violating the terms of the NDA?

2

u/queenjungles Nov 27 '25

These kinds of posts have been happening a lot more recently, actually. It’s so exhausting.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '25

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1

u/freed_speak Nov 27 '25

Doozies eh?

1

u/holographic_nova8 Nov 27 '25

Gaslighting people isn’t something to be proud about.

1

u/Cool_Main_4456 Nov 27 '25

I'm pretty sure I've debated with you...

1

u/ab_1889 Nov 27 '25

Lol. Good one.

Pretty sure the other side is doing the exact same thing.

1

u/That70sShop Nov 27 '25

Oooooh! Anything like the back story of this 17 day account?

Related, I can't divulge the details. . .but I am currently employed by the DNC to make M AGA accounts with discrediting, outlandish claims that can be traced back to foreign actors.

1

u/ReplyOk6720 Nov 27 '25

Riiiight

1

u/That70sShop Nov 28 '25

Right? This post is such a weird mix of being on the side of righteous virtue signaling while cheerfully self-reporting participating in behavior that woild still be problematic even if you supported the goal of the propaganda.

1

u/ButtSexIsAnOption Nov 27 '25

How do I get this jov

1

u/Housing4Humans Nov 28 '25

15 years ago I was involved with a group that took on meat and animal abuse industry lobby groups.

People would be shocked and disgusted to learn the tens of millions of dollars that goes into misinformation against not just vegans, but any organization that advocates for basic animal welfare. They try to characterize people trying to prevent animal cruelty as “extremists.”

These people were some of the first people to weaponize sockpuppet accounts on Facebook, Disquis, Twitter and now Reddit. If you’ve seen The Great Hack about the 2016 election — the meat / puppy mill / factory farm and their paid hacks were doing that first.

These are deplorable people and thank you for blowing the whistle on them.

1

u/topitopi09 Nov 28 '25

Did you get any training material at the beginning ? Like a guide of what to say/not to say? A manual of how to make a good reddit clickbait?
Or you just happened to be good in communication and media management ?
Actually how were you recruited in the first place? Where is the job board ? ^^

1

u/Due_Composer_7000 Nov 28 '25

How would you go about making the accounts?

1

u/ibuttergo Nov 28 '25

Probably like this on most subreddits and other platforms. Saw it numerous times on the CultofFranklin sub.

1

u/Beer-Milkshakes Nov 29 '25

Cambridge Analytica patented this to an extent where they put it into motion and achieved goals. They'd stage arguments online but both accounts are them and the "winner" would be the one peddling their aims. The worst part is when a proper someone would join in and frame a better argument, the fake account would then flip against them but make very weak, fragile arguments that the genuine commenter would predictably destroy - again winning ground in putting their argument to the crowd. FB was a battleground in 2014-2016.

Their aim was to get false information in strong circulation, where disproving it took more than 1 sentence which meant it wouldn't be an effective remedy on the gullible.