Has Reddit started suspending accounts of VPN users? Join the discussion

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Over the past few weeks, our moderators have started noticing an increase in Reddit user accounts being suspended, apparently solely for using a VPN. We are not sure if this is a coincidence, a new worrying trend, or something else entirely. Therefore, we are reaching out to the community:

Are you aware of any cases—yours or someone you know—where a Reddit account was banned or shadowbanned for using a VPN?If so, were you provided with any explanation? Did you or someone else take steps to resolve the situation?

We are trying to determine whether this trend indicates a new policy on Reddit’s part and if these suspensions specifically target VPN users.

Your feedback will be invaluable in helping us understand the scope and nature of this issue.

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I´m constantly connected to the VPN on mobile, where I use Reddit heavily. I´m using the “fastest server” option though, so it´s always a server from my own country. On my PC, I only use the VPN if I need it, so there I connect to Reddit “directly”.

I have not noticed any shadow ban so far. I also have not heard of anyone having this situation.

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If you are not logged in to an account you can no longer view any content while using Nord.

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I was shadowbanned about four weeks ago. If you click on my profile you’ll get a “page not found” error, and none of my other comments are visible (this comment will need to be approved by mods). This is a five year account with an extensive comment history in /r/nordvpn.

I’ve always been connected to NordVPN while on Reddit, and I’m always signed into the account. It’s been that way for years. I’m not a spammer or a bot, and I’m not evading any bans. I don’t post in political or controversial subreddits. One day I got an unexpected message from Reddit:

Hi u/pennyhoard20, At Reddit, we’re always watching out for your privacy, safety, and security. Recently, after detecting some technical irregularities on your u/pennyhoard20 account, we took the extra precaution of locking your account. To unlock your account, reset your password now.

I immediately changed my password and thought that the issue was resolved, but then learned that I was shadowbanned. My comments and post history are visible only to me, nobody else can see them. More details about shadowbanning and links to the appeal process can be found in /r/shadowban

Since then I’ve appealed every day (as recommended), but have not received any further info or communication of any kind. The appeals page lists three categories of bans: “spam, inauthentic activity, or ban evasion”. Since none of my comments can be construed as spam and I’m not evading a ban I assume I’ve been banned for “inauthentic activity” which is not defined.

Although the banning process seems to be automatic and immediate, apparently the appeal process may take weeks, if the appeal works at all.

As a guess, perhaps I was using a shared NordVPN IP with an actual spammer and all accounts using that IP address were banned. I have no idea.

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Reddit blocks all access to its site with literally any kind of connection NordVPN offers if you’re not logged in. I had a throwaway acc for use with Nord which I believe was banned because of VPN usage.

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24/7 connected to different vpn , no bans.

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reddit ACTIVELY bans and shadow bans NEW accounts which are made with VPN and or using VPN right after thats something i know 100%.

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I use my VPN 24/7 everywhere as long as it is not detected as VPN and I get blocked from access. Even in those few scenarios, changing servers always works.
I have not yet noticed anything yet with Reddit apart from occasionally being unable to post a comment saying error occurred. Still a new server sorts that.

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I’ve had one of my accounts suspended but it just said “suspicious activity” or something like that. I have no idea if it’s because I use VPN or not, but I didn’t do anything suspicious. I just made a new one since Reddit allows users to have multiple accounts.

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Maybe it’s because of the amount of connections by different devices on the same vpn server, not directly related to the vpn usage itself.

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I use Reddit with and without NordVPN and no issues on my end. I also know of no one who was banned whilst using a VPN.

I also have a more personal account that is just educational and language learning and I’ve used a VPN on that account too and no issues there either.

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water payment thought quaint upbeat overconfident hurry hard-to-find rotten nail

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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My phone is connected to nord 24/7 so redit has seen me on here connecting from different countries an all sorts, so I don’t belive so, ha watch me get a ban now.

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It doesn’t block my access but definitely messes up my feed if my VPN is on (I keep seeing the same content over and over again). No issues when I turn off the VPN.

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I use Nord with Reddit all the time with no issues. I connect to a server in my own county so not sure if that plays a role.

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I just set up my router to work through Nord VPN about a month ago. No problems so far.

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I’ve always got NordVPN active on my mobile and I’ve never had an issue with Reddit.

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Most likely Reddit is banning through IP causing this

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Watch out for IP bans they are ruthless they will permanently suspend any account that connects to that IP address. You will also be ignored by support.

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I can’t create any new posts while using a VPN

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I’ve been shadow banned multiple times when creating new reddit accounts on common VPN endpoints. Appealing does nothing, the accounts are just killed.