He also came with some pretty good receipts that appear to show .ml mods removing criticism of China that, whether you agree with it or not, didn’t seem to violate any rules, and was well within the bounds of what most people would consider civil discourse.

but what he showed seems legit, and I’m not sure he could have provided more evidence without encouraging brigading.

Based on just your link, it just kinda looks like he was posting unsourced gore. That doesn't feel like civil discourse to me.

I don't really see any criticism being removed. If Katana314's message was congruent with reality it would count, but otherwise just making accusations isn't criticism.