I followed the link as you suggested. I found a slight correction on the way it works.

A “shadow account” was some layperson’s attempt to describe what happened. That seemed clear to me immediately. It also seems that Threads and Instagram are much more intertwined than users expect.

I understand why this would upset people! I was furious when I tapped one screen wrong and connected my Facebook and Instagram accounts. It can’t be undone. It changed a profile picture. I didn’t quite become angry enough to delete both, but I stopped using them.

If you used your real info, you can get it deleted by pretending to live in California. I think that Meta’s compliance page is hard to find.

Yes, this is the reason Meta keeps fighting Apple and Google when the app stores add marginal transparency.

I wonder how many people will even consider the possibility that they need to check those permissions carefully lest the social media app collect health data?

Yes. Mods form a very important minority.

I’ve seen statistics showing that most of the traffic returned. I wonder, how long will that last without good mods?

What did they do?

I live where the laws are less helpful. EU and California have the helpful ones. But as a non-resident, my understanding is that the law allows full removal of personal info. Deleting posts would be selective removal and doesn’t have the “and I live in the right place” question.

That sounds like a server error.

Don’t get me wrong. I have no doubt that Reddit has decided to go to war with any unhappy users. I have zero respect left.

Out of self-respect, I will still try to understand whether something is a bug or deliberate.