It is wholly necessary. They will start massive data mining operations if they join, harming users of all instances.

The bot problem is probably domestic. Reddit has much more to gain from artificially driving engagement than any “foreign adversary”.

Honesty I think the big political subs are incredibly bot infested. Political content is an amazing way to make people mad and get them to spend more time on a platform, increasing engagement and letting reddit deliver more ads. It’s not like it would be the first time they used bots to drive engagement and make communities look bigger.