Reddit will ban r / The_Donald, r / ChapoTrapHouse, and about 2,000 other communities today after its content guidelines have been updated to more explicitly ban hate speech. The policy is updated three weeks after Black Lives Matter's protests have caused several popular Reddit forums to go dark temporarily to protest against the company's lax guidelines for hosting and promoting racist content. This is a major reversal for a company whose commitment to freedom of expression has been so strong in the past that users could previously freely distribute stolen nude photos on the website.
"I have to admit that I have problems reconciling my values as an American and reconciling freedom of expression and expression with my values and the company's values in terms of common human decency," said Steve Huffman, CEO of Reddit, talking to reporters.
In a blog post quoting the company's new rules, Huffman said that users of the subreddit r / The_Donald had violated the site's guidelines for years. (The website has no official connection to President Donald Trump, although he ran an Ask Me Anything as a candidate there in 2016.) “The community has consistently hosted and rated more illegal content than the average (Rule 1), annoyed us and others Communities (rules 2 and 8) and their mods have refused to meet our most basic expectations, ”said Huffman.
Similarly, r / ChapoTrapHouse also hosted content that violated the site's rules, Huffman said. The subreddit is a spin-off of the popular left podcast.
Reddit's new policy begins with a first rule that requires users to "consider people." It is reading:
Remember people. Reddit is a place to create community and belonging, not to attack marginalized or vulnerable groups of people. Everyone has the right to use Reddit without harassment, bullying and the threat of violence. Communities and people who cause violence or promote hatred because of their identity or vulnerability are prohibited.
This formed the basis of a political framework that prohibits hate speech.
"Reddit's mission is to create community and belonging to all people in the world, and there are speeches in the world and on Reddit that prevent other people from doing so," Huffman told reporters. “Harassing language or hateful language prevents people from coming to Reddit and feeling safe and sharing their weaknesses. So when we talk about Reddit, it prevents people from using Reddit as we intend or what prevents us from doing it, and when we accomplish our mission, it is actually a very simple decision. "
The introduction of the new guidelines has resulted in approximately 2,000 subreddits being removed so far, and the company says "the vast majority" have been inactive. Only about 200 of them had more than 10 daily users, the company said. They include:
- r / DarkHumorAndMemes
- r / ConsumeProduct
- r / DarkJokeCentral
- r / GenderCritical
- r / Cumtown
- r / imgoingtohellforthis2
- r / Wojak
- r / soybeans
Last year, Reddit r / The_Donald was quarantined and put it behind a warning screen after it was found to contain content that encourages violence. The company had previously prevented forum posts from reaching the Reddit home page. Former users of the forum started moving to a new location before Reddit last year.
While Monday's moves hit some high-profile political communities, Huffman said the company will continue to support a wide range of political speeches.
"Political speech is still safe," said Huffman. “But all communities, including our political communities, have to follow our guidelines. And while we're going to do everything we can to reconcile them, they're not allowed on Reddit if they don't. "
While r / The_Donald has no official connection to Trump, Reddit's move could draw the president's anger. Trump's campaign complained after Snap removed him from Snapchat's Discovery tab ads earlier this month and after Twitter started warning about some of the president's tweets.
At the same time, the company was under more pressure to eliminate hate speech. Among the critics was former Reddit CEO Ellen Pao, who said earlier this month that r / The_Donald should have been removed a long time ago. "You should have closed Donald instead of intensifying him and his hatred, racism and violence," she said in a tweet to Huffman. "So much of what is happening now is at your feet. You can't tell BLM if Reddit promotes and monetizes white supremacy and hatred all day long. "
