Reddit ban-hammers Nazis, shuts down a slew of message boards
Yesterday afternoon, Reddit posted this notice regarding an update to their policy on violent content:
Hello All–
We want to let you know that we have made some updates to our site-wide rules regarding violent content. We did this to alleviate user and moderator confusion about allowable content on the site. We also are making this update so that Reddit’s content policy better reflects our values as a company.
In particular, we found that the policy regarding “inciting” violence was too vague, and so we have made an effort to adjust it to be more clear and comprehensive. Going forward, we will take action against any content that encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm against an individual or a group of people; likewise, we will also take action against content that glorifies or encourages the abuse of animals. This applies to ALL content on Reddit, including memes, CSS/community styling, flair, subreddit names, and usernames.
We understand that enforcing this policy may often require subjective judgment, so all of the usual caveats apply with regard to content that is newsworthy, artistic, educational, satirical, etc, as mentioned in the policy. Context is key. The policy is posted in the help center here.
EDIT: Signing off, thank you to everyone who asked questions! Please feel free to send us any other questions. As a reminder, Steve is doing an AMA in r/announcements next week.
The Verge reported late yesterday that the Reddit “ban hammer” hit the racist right hard:
[A]t least 10 subreddits have been banned since then, including r/NationalSocialism, r/Nazi, and r/DylannRoofInnocent. …
This is a noteworthy shift for Reddit, which was reticent to ban almost any non-illegal material until 2015. It’s since removed some overtly hate-oriented boards over doxing and general nuisance, and “quarantined” others — including at least one of the newly banned ones, as Gizmodo writes — so they’re not visible to casual visitors.
Other boards that have been shut down include r/EuropeanNationalism, r/far_right, and r/pol (which is an outgrowth of 4chan’s notorious /pol board, a favorite of violent nationalists that has actively encouraged violence against progressive and liberal activists, journalists, and politicians). Some of the more (ahem) esoteric boards to get the boot are r/actualjournalism, r/whitesarecriminals, r/ReallyWackyTicTacs, r/DylannRoofInnocent, r/racoonsareni**ers, /r/SexWithDogs, and /r/SexWithHorses.
The Daily Beast couldn’t help but point out the interesting timing of the decision:
The announcement comes just hours after a Daily Beast exposé about a prominent poster on a Trump-themed subreddit who allegedly murdered his own father after he called his son a Nazi and a racist.
And there is speculation that r/The_Donald, a pro-Trump board frequented by fascistic eliminationist white douchebros who love to talk about their violent famtasies, may also face the devastating wrath of the ban hammer.
Stay tuned…
