I think the refusal to have a burning zionist flag emoji did cause a lot of non-white users to leave.

okay I know I wanted to not stoke internet drama (and this is mostly separate from electoralism stuff) but I will say: that struggle session and the big one late last year really showcased the core issues with the site IMO. culture of administration has always had an undercurrent of bogus Poster’s Vanguardism, but admins seem to have radlib politics with chauvinist tendencies (in a majority ML instance, so a user base that’s broadly more politically developed than its leadership) and the site has no real democratic input. these contradictions came to a head at various points in the last year, after a year or two of peace & relatively chill vibes.

that’s not to mention the impression many have of contempt for the userbase from site management, or the impression that you can get away with a lot of hostility (or tbh outright bullying) if management likes you enough and/or you have enough clout, but that’s a discussion for another time.