Communities aren’t property.

Exactly. They say the threat is that the sub will be reopened and then counter the threat by… reopening it?

The sub is getting opened either way. The choice they have to make has nothing to do with whether the sub opens or not, it’s about the principle of the protest. They’re showing quite clearly that they never cared for that aspect. They just want the “i’ma good mod you guys, honest” rep. Cowards.

What I assume is the main contributor to the Lemmy project, Dessalines, has a Mao Zedong banner on their Lemmy profile page. So this checks out.