The mod banning these users is the same mod who made the posts they downvoted. This is mod abuse, turning the downvote button into an auto-self-ban button.
The message is “If you disagree with me, you will be banned”
Monitoring and banning users for using lemmy as intended to signal boost your opinion should be grounds to have all mod privileges removed. This behaviour undermines the integrity of the server and the wider fediverse.
I think I’ve already answered that in the previous comment. I’m not really interested in debating broader topics in the middle of a discussion about a case of specific, contextual behavior.
Fair enough. It gets dodgy to me when the community is politically controversial (as the one in the OP is) rather than hobbyist. I certainly hold different standards there.
Okay.