Why not immediate ban instead of fair warning? Fair warning is more for a mistake in good faith, vote manipulation is kinda the opposite by definition.
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Or message the accounts directly?
I have messaged them directly. At least the ones I am aware of. This is a warning to others that I may not be aware of or people who decide to try it in the future.
did they use multiple accounts to vote multiple times?
Yes, that’s correct
Can anyone explain why people care about votes on Lemmy? Isnt it like winning a contest no one's play, or am I missing something?
Down votes have a suppressive effect. Views and engagement drop when the votes are <1. The initial votes are important because they influence the votes that follow. My Tyranny of voting thread gives some detail.
Seems like it could be a non-stop game of whack-a-mole. Even if you ban accounts they can just create more. If you do a good job of the baby sitting, they can use even more accounts to mask patterns. I don’t see how an admin can prevail.
Disabling down votes would prevent the practice of down voting to suppress. But probably the most effective is to disable voting entirely.