https://www.reddit.com/r/SaturnStormCube/comments/wqqywq/meta_wth_is_going_on_with_this_sub/

It's a weird phenomenon that's not unique to here, as you say. The r/Missing411 sub was dedicated to investigating missing people in national parks, and skeptical of the role the parks service plays in it. It's now modded by people employed by the parks service who gatekeep what people say about them and bag/mock the guy who started it. It's bizarre, but has been "their" modus operandi for milennia: overtake and subvert from the inside- like true parasites.