These are not the kind of users you're looking for.

Imagine if most of the “new users” are actually old users whose first accounts were banned. We get a lot of traffic from Redfugees, but surely there must be loads more who just find a way to sign up on Reddit again. Til their new account gets banned, at least.

Rinse, repeat, and pretend the new accounts are “growth” when the shareholders come around.

bot growth

I don't know if these numbers can be verified, or if it's a "trust me bro" situation, but in case Reddit's numbers are legitimate, its userbase to be still growing but only 1% could be inertia even as acceleration becomes negative. In an analogy, putting a car in reverse while it's still moving forward can only keep taking it forward so much.