Toxic Threads: How r/Wisconsin Became a Hub for Anonymous Hate

As digital mobs grow bolder, civic life grows more dangerous—a chilling look at how digital mobs are dismantling real-world democracy.

By: Rebecca Witherspoon | June 21, 2025

Once upon a time, Reddit’s r/Wisconsin was a place for curious minds and community engagement. It was a digital gathering spot for people across the state—left, right, and center—to talk Packers, compare supper clubs, share fall color routes, vent about potholes, and exchange ideas on everything from politics to pop culture. It wasn’t perfect, but it felt like a corner of the internet where Wisconsinites could be, well, neighborly.

But something has shifted.

In recent years, r/Wisconsin has devolved into a cesspool of anonymous vitriol, where the loudest voices aren’t the most thoughtful—they’re the most vicious. What was once a forum for civic discussion and shared interests has been weaponized by users who hide behind screen names to smear, harass, and attempt to destroy the personal reputations of people they disagree with—especially those involved in local government or public service.

Let’s be clear: dissent is not the problem. Debate is healthy. Democracy requires disagreement. But what’s happening now isn’t about disagreement at all. It’s not about making a better case or offering a clearer solution. It’s about defamation, digital vigilantism, and character assassination.

People post entire threads dedicated to tearing apart local elected officials, school board members, or community leaders. Not just criticizing their decisions—but implying criminal behavior, mocking their appearance, spreading rumors about their families, and labeling them with slurs or political dog whistles. None of this is based on evidence. Much of it is false. All of it is cruel.

What makes this even more troubling is the imbalance of power: the accused are named, the accusers are not. A school board member or village trustee might see their name trending on Reddit because a few anonymous users don’t like how they voted on a curriculum change, or, God forbid, the removal of a toxic chemical from public water. Suddenly, they’re being accused of corruption, incompetence, or worse. Their photo gets posted. Personal information gets hinted at. The line between online hate and real-world danger begins to blur.

And for what? A dopamine hit? A momentary feeling of self-righteousness? The illusion of power?

Even if you don’t like the people being targeted, we should all be concerned about the precedent this sets. If we normalize anonymous mobs targeting individuals with zero accountability or factual grounding, what’s to stop them from turning on you—or anyone else next?

This isn’t theoretical—the threat is real, and it’s already turning deadly. In 2024, a judge and her husband were murdered in their home by someone harboring a grudge over a custody ruling. Just months earlier, a Minnesota state representative and her spouse were seriously wounded in a targeted shooting at their home. Just a short time ago in 2025, two Minnesota state lawmakers were targeted, one being killed alongside her husband, and the other seriously wounded alongside their wife. These weren’t random crimes—they were politically or personally motivated attacks, driven by resentment and rage. When digital threats go unchecked, they don’t always stay online. They can—and do—spill into the real world with devastating consequences.

Closer to home, civic-minded people—those who once viewed public service as a duty and an honor—are now installing security cameras, reinforcing doors, and changing daily routines. Not because they’re paranoid, but because the online harassment has crossed the line into something darker and more dangerous. Anonymous smear campaigns on Reddit and other social media platforms have made them fear for their safety and that of their families. Some are quietly stepping back. Others are still serving, but under a cloud of anxiety. Homes that once felt safe now feel exposed. This is the chilling new reality: it’s not just reputations being destroyed—it’s peace of mind, and potentially, lives.

None of these public servants signed up to be doxxed or smeared on Reddit (and other social media platforms like TikTok, Nextdoor, and Facebook) by someone using a throwaway account like “Careless_Ad_3255,” “Skorpion_Snugs,” “piggie210,” “@piggene,” “Automatic_Dust_1056,” “Stickybeebae_,” “Abee Honey,” “Glinda GoodWitch,”  “Patient Smith,” and “Truth of the Village” (that one is particularly interesting considering the many false and defamatory accusations it spreads under the guise of sharing “truth”). The fake names referenced here are local to me. Each has a long and troubling history of doxxing and malicious defamatory smear campaigns against people with whom they have a disagreement. Most of the people behind these accounts have been identified. Holding them accountable for their actions, however, is not always easy.

We can’t talk about this without addressing the role of Reddit’s (and other social media platforms) moderators—many of whom are anonymous themselves and appear to have little interest to rein in the toxicity. Threads full of hate remain up for days, weeks, and months or are selectively moderated depending on the target. Reasonable pushback gets downvoted into invisibility. It’s not a marketplace of ideas anymore. It’s a pile-on. In fact, when those who have been the subject of the vicious smear campaigns report the concerning behaviors, the victims are deplatformed instead of the perpetrators.

So, what can be done?

First, users of r/Wisconsin—and Reddit and other social media platforms more broadly—need to wake up to what they’re participating in. Are you helping build community, or are you feeding the fire? Are you holding public figures accountable, or just joining a mob?

Second, Reddit and other social media platforms have a responsibility to enforce their own rules. Harassment, doxxing, and misinformation are all against most platform’s site-wide policies. But enforcement is often weak, delayed, or non-existent. If platforms don’t take moderation seriously, the loudest trolls win by default.

And finally, we as citizens need to rethink how we engage with public discourse. Disagree passionately, yes. Challenge ideas, yes. Demand transparency, yes. But if we lose our ability to separate fact from fiction and disagreement from destruction, we won’t just erode our public square—we’ll burn it down.

There’s nothing courageous about destroying someone’s life from behind a keyboard. There’s nothing virtuous about twisting facts to score anonymous points. And there’s nothing “Wisconsin nice” about a digital mob with pitchforks.

We deserve better. And it starts with choosing a better way to engage—one rooted in truth, integrity, and the simple understanding that behind every anonymous username is a human being. But it doesn’t end there. Silence enables cruelty. So, if you see it—call it out. If you know who’s behind it—hold them accountable. If you’re part of a community being targeted—don’t retreat. Organize, document, and speak up.

Free speech is a cornerstone of American democracy, but so is responsibility. The health of our public square depends not just on the right to speak, but on the courage to speak with honor—and the willingness to stand up when others abuse that right to harm and intimidate.

This isn’t just about Reddit or any other specific social media platform. It’s about the kind of community we want to build, both online and off. Do we want a culture where fear drives good people into hiding? Or one where decency, accountability, and mutual respect push hatred back into the shadows?

The answer is up to us. Because the future of our civic life will not be shaped by the loudest voices—it will be shaped by the bravest ones. Let’s be brave. Let’s be better. And let’s start now.