They have almost definitely archived data and around the time of the API bullshit, made sure they didn’t delete those archives. They have that content if they want to use it.
I’ve done the “switch, switch, switch, delete” at least twice a year for most of the twelve years I was there. The idea was to pollute the data, not delete it. Even if you started during the API bullshit, you still would have had plenty of time to corrupt your data enough. Remember, the idea is to make it so that it is difficult to tell what is a legitimate comment and what are excerpts from random text.
They have almost definitely archived data and around the time of the API bullshit, made sure they didn’t delete those archives. They have that content if they want to use it.
I’ve done the “switch, switch, switch, delete” at least twice a year for most of the twelve years I was there. The idea was to pollute the data, not delete it. Even if you started during the API bullshit, you still would have had plenty of time to corrupt your data enough. Remember, the idea is to make it so that it is difficult to tell what is a legitimate comment and what are excerpts from random text.