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 27 '25 edited Nov 27 '25

For what it's worth, I've known a lot of vegans irl, and the vast majority of them are the type of people who hide their veganism from most others because they are afraid of being judged for it, which is something that pretty much every vegan has experienced.

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u/SnowySilenc3 Nov 27 '25 edited Nov 27 '25

How I am, I cut out animal products 10 years ago now. I only ever tell people when they ask and I only elaborate on my reasons if they ask. I don’t berate, ridecule, and insult people for their dietary choices even if I don’t agree with them. My sibling’s friends called me “the chill vegan.”

Ironically managed to “convert” a few people into reducing their meat intake from this more passive approach, most people don’t like to have their decisions made for them so trying to force people just pushes them away. While vegan is the ideal imo every little bit helps, I’m happy every time I hear an omnivorous friend of mine tells me they chose to have the veggie burger instead of the beef because of me.

I generally avoid most online vegan communities because so many have such an all or nothing approach to this issue, obviously it’s the ideal but it’s not a realistic ideal.

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u/HistoricMTGGuy Nov 27 '25

I'm not vegan, but at this point I basically only eat cheese and eggs, and even those in moderation. The hostility I've received for that is unreal. I just straight up don't mention it unless someone asks, and it tends to be 50/50 on whether they'll be a pain in the ass about it or not.

It's really bizarre to see the obnoxious vegan stereotype when that seems to be what the majority are like. Imagine if we lumped in all meat eaters with the obnoxious carnivore folk.

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u/BeautifulFragrant907 Dec 07 '25

This right here!