You need to remember the fact that already Snowden's revelations have proven that the NSA and other government agencies all have specific budgets for astro turfing activities (manipulating the public opinion by massively participating in online discussions).
And a couple of days ago, there was a nice post on Reddit's front page summing up the situation on Reddit. Reddit is basically completely compromised by whoever has lots of money (government, big industries, etc). Any company can buy astro turfing services nowadays.
So no, you can't trust public online discussion anymore. Not on Reddit and not here. Unless for topics you are absolutely certain that no economic interest is part of the equation.
"Nothing to hide, nothing to fear"
Has become
"Autonomy is pointless, resistance is futile"
In about a month.