They've gotten very strange in the past year or so. I've seen multiple dbzer0 users, including two admins, do complete 180s on tankie bullshit, and it's rather bizarre.

My best guess is that tankies offer them a sense of community, which is how many terminally online folk get drawn into it. People who have a deep desire for community will overlook moral issues if invited to be a part of that community, and even adopt, consciously or unconsciously, those positions in order to better 'fit in' with the community.

In a time when the real world is more recognizably hostile than ever, or at least for as long as most of us here have been alive (insofar as we are both aware of it and noting that it is backsliding rather than improving), online communities probably seem quite tempting to hew closer to.

You might want a read through this thread

"China is being shitty and authoritarian towards the Uyghurs, but it's nothing like the genocide Israel is waging", saying that Chinese influence in Myanmar is a more serious violation by the PRC than the Uyghur genocide is, and leveling a judgement of "PTB" - "Power Tripping Bastard" - towards the moderator of this comm for banning someone who was literally denying the Uyghur genocide.

Combined, that's pretty distinctly defending Uyghur genocide denial, and I would say right up on the border of denying Uyghur genocide themselves.

If I said, "Israel is being shitty and authoritarian towards the Palestinians, but it's nothing like the genocide the Nazis waged", would you regard that as:

A. Borderline genocide denial of the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people by reducing the ongoing genocide to something that is simply 'shitty and authoritarian' while noting that 'real' genocide is more than that

OR

B. Just making casual comparisons

That is literally defending one genocide.

As a note: I've been vocal about not supporting any sorts of violence

It's not the worst genocide bro. Just a little genocide bro.

“China is being shitty and authoritarian towards the Uyghurs, but it’s nothing like the genocide Israel is waging”, saying that Chinese influence in Myanmar is a more serious violation by the PRC than the Uyghur genocide is, and leveling a judgement of “PTB” - “Power Tripping Bastard” - towards the moderator of this comm for banning someone who was literally denying the Uyghur genocide.

Combined, that’s pretty distinctly defending Uyghur genocide denial, and I would say right up on the border of denying Uyghur genocide themselves.

If I said, “Israel is being shitty and authoritarian towards the Palestinians, but it’s nothing like the genocide the Nazis waged”, would you regard that as:

A. Borderline genocide denial of the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people by reducing the ongoing genocide to something that is simply ‘shitty and authoritarian’ while noting that ‘real’ genocide is more than that

OR

B. Just making casual comparisons

Mass forced sterlization of Uighur women by the CCP is not a big deal?