Not soviet, but that removal was unpopular for a reason.

Problem is that reports don’t go the mods if they are on another instance.

Maybe hide the big instances behind a few clicks? Like you could sort/filter for them, but you’d have to navigate a bit? The average user isn’t going to bother. Like have a default sort that hides the big ones, and a default filter that filters out the top five or whatever.

Should there be a way for users to formally protest mods? Or admins?

Now it sets off alarm bells? Or is this a reminder?