For example this post of mine. It mentions there being 5 comments but I only see two, including my own.
Yeah, you’re right. Could there be shadowbanned accounts? Those were the reason why the number of comments didn’t match the comments you could see on Reddit.
As the sole moderator in that community, I can say that I haven’t banned anyone. If there are shadowbanned accounts, it would probably be an instance-wide ban.
Another factor to consider is the Federation technology that Lemmy operates on.
Is an instance-wide ban even possible on Lemmy?
Good question, I blindly assumed it is. No idea how/if that would sync with other instances.
I’m personally inclined to believe it’s not banned users like with Reddit, but something with federation of instances. Pure speculation tho.