WelcomeUser Guide
ToSPrivacyCanary
DonateBugsLicense

©2026 Poal.co

404

Posts critical of Trump are downvoted on , an hour old post with (+3 | -6) is already on the third page: https://poal.co/s/Politics/242360, for reference there are 3-4 hour old posts with a score below 5 on the first page.

There is an element of truth to it and is worth discussing beyond the lazy "this news org is kiked" arguments, it's definitely not spam.

If the algorithm doesn't attempt to guess if downvotes are legitimate before mods take action then most posts will get the voat treatment.

Posts critical of Trump are downvoted on /s/Politics, an hour old post with (+3 | -6) is already on the third page: https://poal.co/s/Politics/242360, for reference there are 3-4 hour old posts with a score below 5 on the first page. There is an element of truth to it and is worth discussing beyond the lazy "this news org is kiked" arguments, it's definitely not spam. If the algorithm doesn't attempt to guess if downvotes are legitimate before mods take action then most posts will get the voat treatment.

(post is archived)

[–] 2 pts

I don't think it's smart enough to ignore illegitimate downvotes

Now I understand, hon. It likely isn't smart enough though which is a pity, but also probably a large challenge.

and we're stuck with the voat culture that downvotes everything they don't like.

I think most people on free speech sites don't actually value the principle. If I had to guess why, it's likely thoughtless hypocrisy. There are a few old Poalrs and probably some fresh ex-goats that consciously object to free speech on principle, and that's more of a philosophical difference. The Voat tradition of downvote what you don't like will probably have to be nagged (and in some cases algorithmed) away. At least there they can't bully young accounts for being young. Though the temptation is always there for me.