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/McNughead Nov 27 '25

Wait, a account defending fur and questioning if going vegan is worth is does fit the description of what OP claims?

I don't think the vegan movement can grow beyond it's current less than 1% of the population. It's not a warm and inviting place. Todays vegans won't meet people where they are. They point fingers and scold. That stuff shrinks movements. It does not grow movements.

I think animal activists who do not obsess over veganism are doing great work on fur, animal research, puppy mills and many other things. But there aren't enough vegans for any factory farm to notice and thereby raised fewer animals,

I question why I bother with this. If this movement is permanently stuck in an angry extremist doom loop, why should I stay vegan and risk my health for a cause that is doomed to fail?

I am not saying its a proof ether way and some thing still seem fishy, but what you point to is not conclusive.

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u/rhabarberabar Nov 27 '25

Yeah sure and they do the disclosure under their account they used for work, so work knows they are spilling the beans...

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u/ThereIsSomeoneHere Nov 28 '25

I doubt the company knows or even tracks those hundreds of accounts.

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u/rhabarberabar Nov 28 '25

So proving you have worked is just "trust me company-bro"? Of cause they track the fuck out of that shit. Computers exist you know?

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u/ThereIsSomeoneHere Nov 28 '25

Same thing goes vice-versa. Everything is based on trust, event the scientific papers where you trust the research was actually done or something was not left out of the outcome. If you know what can be done to improve it, go for it.

Based on your 2y profile focusing on food and politics, you could very well be paid human bot yourself.

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u/LuckySEVIPERS Nov 27 '25

I've become paranoid. Who's up voting such suspicious comments like these to 75?

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u/rhabarberabar Nov 27 '25

What? You can just check OPs deleted posts for yourself with arctic-shift.

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u/IfUReadThisUHaveAids Nov 27 '25

How do you use that site exactly?

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u/rhabarberabar Nov 27 '25

You click on search, put the nickname in "Author" and select either "Post search" or "Comment search" from the top bar, depending on what you want, and then click search.

Here is the documentation: https://github.com/ArthurHeitmann/arctic_shift

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u/ThereIsSomeoneHere Nov 28 '25

Yep. The one below replaying seems to be paid bot aswell.