This is something I always get in arguments about, whenever I use the word tankie hexbear and grad users argue that its just a term for socialists.
I’ve always just used it to referr to authoritarian communists, i.e, people who unironically support modern russia, and/or oppose ukraine, and think nothing happened to the uyghurs.
Yeah, I get a lot of arguments shot down by hexbear users and grad users because they take issue with the term. After I explain my stance, they say that not everyone has the same level of nuance when it comes to the term.