He is not a top mod, being present on a mod list doesn’t imply control.
Someone of those power users was top mod for one of the subs I knew of - had 0 moderating impact or activity.
Cyxie is mod 14 on r/pics. Hardly a position of influence and power.
It’s not even a statement of actual harm- just that in case the teams don’t check, these guys could be getting away with removing stuff and therefore exerting some form of control.
There may be some kernel, of truth, just to be absolutely and needlessly generous with the claim.
However the truth is not going to be close, by a galactic mile, to the worthy of the drama with which this topic has been en-robed.
I‘ve been a mod. If a shadowy mod had the ability to enforce their will effectively over a single sub, let alone multiple teams - frankly they would be amazing and should write books on their team management, work ethic and obsession.
I took cyxie, mentioned on the list and checked a few subs - they are not the top mod of any. It’s almost certainly true for all the other cases.
How is the claim “they control the news feeds” in any way substantiated ?
Looks more like power users playing subreddit Pokémon, and then doing nothing with the subs they are a part of.