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Controversial Reddit communities are communities on the
social news Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...
site
Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, imag ...
(known as "subreddits"), often devoted to explicit, violent, or hateful material, that have been the topic of controversy. Controversial Reddit communities sometimes get significant media coverage.


History

When Reddit was founded in 2005, there was only one shared space for all links, and subreddits did not exist. Subreddits were created later, but could only initially be created by Reddit administrators. In 2008, subreddit creation was opened to all users. Reddit rose to infamy in October 2011, when a report by
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
showed that Reddit was harboring the r/jailbait community, which was devoted to sharing suggestive or revealing photos of underage girls. After commenters were seen asking for nude photos of underage girls, and under significant external scrutiny, Reddit shut down r/jailbait. In 2012, the subreddit r/Creepshots received major backlash due to being a subreddit for sharing suggestive or revealing photos of women taken without their awareness or consent.
Adrian Chen Adrian Chen (; born November 23, 1984) is an American blogger, and former staff writer at ''The New Yorker''. Chen joined Gawker in November 2009 as a night shift editor, graduating from an internship position at ''Slate'', and has written extensi ...
wrote a '' Gawker'' exposé of one of the subreddit's moderators and identified the person behind the account, starting discussion in the media about the ethics of anonymity and outing on the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
.


Quarantining

In 2015, Reddit introduced a quarantine policy to make visiting certain subreddits more difficult. Visiting or joining a quarantined subreddit requires bypassing a warning prompt. In addition, quarantined subreddits do not appear in non-subscription based (aggregate) feeds such as r/all in order to prevent accidental viewing, do not generate revenue, and their user count is not visible. Since 2018, subreddits are allowed to appeal their quarantine.


Banned subreddits

Banned subreddits refer to subreddits that Reddit has shut down indefinitely.


Beatingwomen

On June 9, 2014, a subreddit called r/beatingwomen was closed by Reddit. The community, which featured graphic depictions of
violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women or girls, usually by men or boys. Such violence is often con ...
, was banned after its moderators were found to be sharing users' personal information online, and collaborating to protect one another from sitewide bans. Following the ban, the community's founder rebooted the subreddit under the name r/beatingwomen2 in an attempt to circumvent the ban, but was banned afterwards.


Braincels

r/Braincels was the most popular subreddit for
incel An incel ( , an abbreviation of "involuntary celibate") is a member of an online subculture of people who define themselves as unable to get a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one. Discussions in incel forums are often character ...
s, or "involuntary celibates", after r/Incels (see below) was banned, gaining 16,900 followers by April 2018. The subreddit promoted rape and suicide. The subreddit was banned in 2019, after violating Reddit's content policy with respect to bullying and harassment.


ChapoTrapHouse

r/ChapoTrapHouse was a subreddit dedicated to the leftist podcast ''
Chapo Trap House ''Chapo Trap House'' is an American left-wing political podcast founded in March 2016 and hosted by Will Menaker, Matt Christman and Felix Biederman with Amber A'Lee Frost as a recurring co-host. The show is produced by Chris Wade and formerly by ...
'' which is associated with the term
dirtbag left The dirtbag left is a style of left-wing politics that eschews civility to convey a left-wing populist and anti-capitalist message using vulgarity. It is most closely associated with American left-wing media that emerged in the mid-2010s, such a ...
. The community had 160,000 regulars before being banned on June 29, 2020, because they "consistently host rule-breaking content and their mods have demonstrated no intention of reining in their community." Previously, the community had been quarantined for content that promotes violence. The community of the subreddit later migrated to an instance of Lemmy, a Reddit alternative.


The "Chimpire"

The term "Chimpire" refers to a collection of subreddits and affiliated websites that promoted anti-black
racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...
, including frequent use of
racial slurs The following is a list of ethnic slurs or ethnophaulisms or ethnic epithets that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnicity or racial group or to refer to them in a derogatory, pejorative, or ot ...
. In June 2013, the subreddit r/niggers was banned from Reddit for engaging in vote manipulation, incitements of violence, and using racist content to disrupt other communities. Reddit general manager Erik Martin noted that the subforum was given multiple chances to comply with site rules, noting that "users can tell from the amount of warnings we extended to a subreddit as clearly awful as r/niggers that we go into the decision to ban subreddits with a lot of scrutiny". Following the ban of r/niggers, the subreddit r/Coontown grew to become the most popular "Chimpire" site, with over 15,000 members at its peak. Many of the posters on these subreddits were formerly involved with r/niggers. One of these subreddits, r/shitniggerssay, was banned in June 2015 at the same time as r/fatpeoplehate. In the midst of changes to Reddit's content policy, r/Coontown was banned in August 2015.


Chodi

r/Chodi, whose name is derived from a crude
Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
sexual slang term, was a right-wing Indian subreddit that claimed to be a "free speech sub for memes, jokes, satire, sarcasm and fun". The sub, which had over 90,000 subscribers as of January 2022, frequently propagated
Islamophobic Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism. The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...
,
anti-Christian Anti-Christian sentiment or Christophobia constitutes opposition or objections to Christians, the Christian religion, and/or its practices. Anti-Christian sentiment is sometimes referred to as Christophobia or Christianophobia, although these terms ...
, homophobic, and misogynistic content, with open calls for genocide against
Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
. ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' reports that users used intentional misspellings and slang to circumvent Reddit's anti-hate speech software. ''
The Quint ''The Quint'' is an English and Hindi language Indian general news and opinion website founded by Raghav Bahl and Ritu Kapur after their exit from Network18. The publication's journalists have won three Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism A ...
'' cited the subreddit's popularity as an example of how Reddit is used as a haven for hate speech in India. It was banned on March 23, 2022, for promoting hate, causing its users to move to
Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
.


CreepShots

A year after the closure of r/jailbait, another subreddit called r/CreepShots drew controversy in the press for hosting sexualized images of women without their knowledge. In the wake of this media attention, u/violentacrez was added to r/CreepShots as a moderator; reports emerged that ''Gawker'' reporter Adrian Chen was planning an exposé that would reveal the real-life identity of this user, who moderated dozens of controversial subreddits, as well as a few hundred general-interest communities. Several major subreddits banned links to ''Gawker'' in response to the impending exposé, and the account u/violentacrez was deleted. Moderators defended their decisions to block the site from these sections of Reddit on the basis that the impending report was "
doxing Doxing or doxxing is the act of publicly providing personally identifiable information about an individual or organization, usually via the internet. Historically, the term has been used interchangeably to refer to both the aggregation of this in ...
" (a term for exposing the identity of a pseudonymous person), and that such exposure threatened the site's structural integrity. When Chen informed u/violentacrez about the impending exposé, the user pleaded with Chen not to publish it, as he was concerned about the potential impact on his employment and finances, noting that his wife was disabled and he had a mortgage to pay. He also expressed concern that he would be falsely labeled a child pornographer or antisemite, due to some of the subreddits he had created. Despite u/violentacrez's offer to delete his postings and leave Reddit, Chen insisted he would still publish the piece.


Gawker exposé

Chen published the piece on October 12, 2012, revealing that the person operating the u/violentacrez account was a middle-aged programmer from Arlington, Texas named Michael Brutsch. Within a day of the article being published, Brutsch was fired by his employer, and the link to the exposé was briefly banned from Reddit. He stated on Reddit after the article was published that he had received numerous death threats. Reddit CEO
Yishan Wong Yishan Wong () is an American engineer and entrepreneur who was CEO of Reddit from March 2012 until his resignation in November 2014. With Niniane Wang he is also co-founder of the Mountain View coworking space Sunfire Offices, and an advisor ...
defended the content Brutsch contributed to the site as free speech, and criticized efforts to ban the ''Gawker'' link on the same basis. Wong stated that the staff had considered a site-wide ban on the link, but rejected this idea, for fear it would create a negative impression of the site without getting results. Brutsch later briefly returned to Reddit on a different account, and criticized what he stated were numerous factual inaccuracies in the ''Gawker'' exposé. A week after the exposé, Brutsch held an interview with CNN that aired on ''
Anderson Cooper 360° ''Anderson Cooper 360°'' (commonly shortened to either ''AC-360'' or ''360'') is an American television news show on CNN and CNN International, hosted by CNN journalist and news anchor Anderson Cooper. Since May 20, 2019, ''360°'' has been b ...
''. In the interview with journalist
Drew Griffin Andrew Charles Griffin (October 21, 1962 – December 17, 2022) was an American journalist. He won several Emmy Awards and Peabody Awards for his work at CNN, notably for the coverage of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and an investigation that le ...
, Brutsch was apologetic about his activity on Reddit. He explained that he was most fond of the appreciation he got from other redditors, and that Reddit helped him relieve stress. Brutsch also described the support he had from administrators, stating that he had received an award for his contributions. Reddit noted that the award was for winning a community vote for "Worst Subreddit", and stated that they regretted sending it, as well as claiming the u/violentacrez account had been banned on several occasions. Brutsch subsequently noted on Reddit that he regretted doing the interview, and criticized the accuracy of the statement Reddit gave to CNN. Chris Slowe, a lead programmer of Reddit until 2010, said of the relationship between Brutsch and the Reddit staff: "We just stayed out of there and let him do his thing and we knew at least he was getting rid of a lot of stuff that wasn't particularly legal."


Ethics of outing

Gawker's outing of Brutsch as u/violentacrez led to contentious discussion about privacy and anonymity on the Internet. Such discussions included claims that outing, or "doxing", was necessary to draw attention to objectionable content so it could be removed, while others claimed that it impeded the ability for people to exercise their right to legal free speech online due to fear of public retribution. Jude Doyle (at the time known as Sady Doyle), while writing for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', compared it to the outing of the alleged blackmailer of Amanda Todd, and suggested that such outings may be justified. He also stated that they may also unduly focus attention on individuals without confronting the underlying problems, by engaging in "
sensationalism In journalism and mass media, sensationalism is a type of editorial tactic. Events and topics in news stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers. This style of news reporting encourages biased or emotio ...
" at the expense of cultural reform. In '' PC Magazine'', Damon Poeter stated that, while he has defended protecting anonymity on the Internet, he still supported Brutsch being outed, as he felt that the various subreddits he contributed to as u/violentacrez were serious invasions of privacy, regardless of legality, and that it was therefore justifiable to reveal his personal details. The public outpouring of hostility towards Brutsch following the exposé prompted commentators such as
Danah Boyd danah boyd (stylized in lowercase, born November 24, 1977 as Danah Michele Mattas) She noted her mother added lowercase 'h' in birth name "danah" for typographical balance, reflecting the lowercase first letter 'd' and later changed her last na ...
of ''
Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...
'' and Michelle Star of '' CNET'' to question the morality of outing as a way to enforce societal standards online. Several commentators have expressed concern that the
public shaming Public humiliation or public shaming is a form of punishment whose main feature is dishonoring or disgracing a person, usually an offender or a prisoner, especially in a public place. It was regularly used as a form of judicially sanctioned puni ...
of Brutsch to serve as an example to others is legitimizing
Internet vigilantism Internet vigilantism is the act of carrying out vigilante activities through the Internet. The term encompasses vigilantism against alleged scams, crimes, and non-Internet related behavior. The expanding scope of media savvy and online interactio ...
, and exposing individuals such as Brutsch to mass retribution.


CringeAnarchy

r/CringeAnarchy was a subreddit themed around " cringe" and " edgy",
politically incorrect ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...
content. Originally an uncensored (hence "anarchy") spinoff of r/cringe, its content later shifted to the far right, with anti-transgender and anti-" SJW" content taking over. The subreddit was quarantined in September 2018, at which point it had over 400,000 subscribers. Following the 2019
Christchurch mosque shootings On 15 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks, carried out by a lone gunman who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, began at the Al Noor Mosque ...
, more anti-Muslim posts were made on the subreddit. The subreddit was banned on April 25, 2019, for violating Reddit's content policy regarding violent content.


DarkNetMarkets

The subreddit r/DarkNetMarkets, a darknet market discussion forum, featured participation from their owners, causing US authorities to request personal information behind several accounts. This subreddit was banned on March 21, 2018.


Deepfakes

Deepfakes was a controversial subreddit that superimposed famous female actresses onto pornographic videos, made using FakeApp, without the consent of the actresses. Such actresses included
Emma Watson Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson (born 15 April 1990) is an English actress and activist. Known for her roles in both blockbusters and independent films, as well as for her women's rights work, she has received a selection of accolades, includi ...
and
Daisy Ridley Daisy Jazz Isobel Ridley (born 10 April 1992) is an English actress. She rose to prominence for her role as Rey in the ''Star Wars'' sequel trilogy: ''The Force Awakens'' (2015), ''The Last Jedi'' (2017), and ''The Rise of Skywalker'' (2019) ...
. After the subreddit was given notoriety from the press, videos from the subreddit were banned from
Gfycat Gfycat ( ) is a user-generated short video hosting company founded by Richard Rabbat, Dan McEleney, and Jeff Harris. History Founded in 2013 in Edmonton, Canada, Gfycat was among the first web services to offer video encoding of GIFs. It was i ...
and
Discord Discord is a VoIP and instant messaging social platform. Users have the ability to communicate with voice calls, video calls, text messaging, media and files in private chats or as part of communities called "servers".The developer documenta ...
. On February 7, 2018, the day after
Pornhub Pornhub is a Canadian-owned internet pornography website. It is one of several pornographic video-streaming websites owned by MindGeek. , Pornhub is the 10th-most-trafficked website in the world and the second-most-trafficked adult website aft ...
banned the videos, the subreddit was banned as well.


European

r/European was a far-right white nationalist subreddit focused on news relating to Europe. Founded in 2013 in response to r/europe's ban on hate speech, its users often promoted anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, and racist content, with an informal survey showing that 17% of the userbase openly identified as Nazis. The sub was set to private by its moderators, which was then quarantined by the sitewide administrative staff, in 2016 in response to a post where a user bragged about assaulting a Muslim refugee. The users subsequently migrated to
r/The_Donald r/The_Donald was a subreddit where participants created discussions and Internet memes in support of former President of the United States, U.S. president Donald Trump. Initially created in June 2015 following the announcement of Donald Trump ...
, and then to r/Mr_Trump following dispute with the moderators. r/European was banned on March 12, 2018 for violating its content policies.


FatPeopleHate

On June 10, 2015, Reddit banned five subreddits, citing an anti-harassment policy. The largest of the banned subreddits, r/fatpeoplehate, had an estimated 151,000 subscribers at the time of its banning. r/fatpeoplehate hosted photos of overweight people (mostly women) for the purpose of mockery. The other four subreddits were r/hamplanethatred, r/neofag, r/transfags, and r/shitniggerssay. A Reddit admin said, "We will ban subreddits that allow their communities to use the subreddit as a platform to harass individuals when moderators don't take action". Following the ban, Reddit users flooded the site with pictures of overweight people, as well as photos of Reddit's interim CEO
Ellen Pao Ellen Kangourou Pao (born 1970) is an American investor and former CEO of social media company Reddit. Pao first became known in 2012 for filing a failed gender discrimination suit against her employer, venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, a ...
. Due to the decision to ban these subreddits, some users moved to
Voat Voat Inc was an American alt-tech news aggregator and social networking service where registered community members could submit content such as text posts and direct links. Registered users could then vote on these submissions. Content entries ...
, a social aggregation website similar to Reddit, although other
fat-shaming Social stigma of obesity is broadly defined as bias or discriminatory behaviors targeted at overweight and obese individuals because of their weight. Such social stigmas can span one's entire life, as long as excess weight is present, starting ...
forums continued to exist on Reddit at the time.


FindBostonBombers

Following the 2013
Boston Marathon bombing The Boston Marathon bombing was a domestic terrorist attack that took place during the annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Two terrorists, brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, planted two homemade pressure cooker bombs, w ...
, members of the subreddit r/findbostonbombers wrongly identified a number of people as suspects, including a 17-year-old track athlete and a 22-year-old Brown University student missing since March. A body reported to be that of the missing Brown student misidentified as a Boston bomber suspect, who had been missing for a month before-hand, was found in
Providence River The Providence River is a tidal river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows approximately 8 miles (13 km). There are no dams along the river's length, although the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier is located south of downtown to protect t ...
in
Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
on April 25, 2013, as reported by the Rhode Island Health Department. The cause of death was found to be suicide. The subreddit was later made private. Reddit general manager Erik Martin later issued an apology for this behavior, criticizing the "online witch hunts and dangerous speculation" that took place in these investigation-oriented communities. In September 2013, a similar subreddit dedicated to finding the Navy Yard shooter(s) was banned by the Reddit admins. These events were dramatized in TV shows '' The Newsroom'' and ''
The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal and political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in l ...
''.


frenworld

r/frenworld, whose title is derived from the alt-right meme "Clown World", attracted controversy over its use of
Pepe the Frog Pepe the Frog () is an Internet meme consisting of a green anthropomorphic frog with a humanoid body. Pepe originated in a 2005 comic by Matt Furie called ''Boy's Club''. It became an Internet meme when its popularity steadily grew across Myspa ...
edits and clown imagery to promote anti-Semitic and racist dog whistles. Examples found by ''
The Times of Israel ''The Times of Israel'' is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist David Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, and American billionaire investor Seth Klarman.
'' and ''
The Daily Dot ''The Daily Dot'' is a digital media company covering the culture of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Founded by Nicholas White in 2011, ''The Daily Dot'' is headquartered in Austin, Texas. The site, conceived as the Internet's "hometo ...
'' include numerous references to
Holocaust denial Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...
ism, the USS ''Liberty'' incident, and alleged racial crime statistics. A major aspect of the sub was the use of slang and childish diction to spread their messages, such as "nose-fren" and "longnose" for Jews, "bop" for committing violence or genocide, and "Honk honk" as a euphemism for "
Heil Hitler The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute (german: link=no, Hitlergruß, , Hitler greeting, ; also called by the Nazi Party , 'German greeting', ), or the ''Sieg Heil'' salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. T ...
". It was banned on June 20, 2019, for glorifying violence, after it has accumulated around 60,346 subscribers. r/Honkler, which hosted similar content, was banned on July 2, 2019.


GenderCritical

The subreddit r/GenderCritical had 64,400 users, self-described as "reddit's most active feminist community" for "women-centred,
radical feminists Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are also affected by other ...
" to discuss "gender from a gender-critical perspective". Described by
Jillian York Jillian C. York (born May 18, 1982)"Goodreads Author Profile"
Electronic Frontier Foundation as "a subreddit where
transphobic Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger tow ...
commentary has thrived", the subreddit frequently hosted posts asserting that transgender women are not women. On June 29, 2020, the subreddit was "banned for violating Reddit's rule against promoting hate". After r/GenderCritical was banned, several of its users migrated to Ovarit, a
trans-exclusionary radical feminism TERF () is an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist. First recorded in 2008, the term was originally used to distinguish trans-inclusive feminists from a group of radical feminists who reject the assertion that trans women are wom ...
-centered website similar to Reddit.


GunsForSale

In January 2014, ''
Mother Jones Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...
'' published a story describing the sale of guns on the site. The report suggested that sellers were doing so to exploit a loophole in U.S. federal law. Nearly 100 AR-15s were engraved with the Reddit logo as part of a licensing deal made with the page in 2011. It was banned on March 21, 2018, after Reddit updated its content policies to forbid subreddits facilitating transactions involving certain goods and services.


Incels

A subreddit founded for " involuntary celibates", r/incels, was a forum wherein members discussed their lack of romantic success. The definition of an incel on the subreddit was someone who has unintentionally gone at least six months without a romantic partner and is at least 21 years old; self-described incels are largely heterosexual men. Many members adhered to the " black pill" ideology, which espoused despondency often coupled with
misogynistic Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced f ...
views that condoned, downplayed, or advocated
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...
, while referring to women as "femoids" or "foids", "cunts", "cum dumpsters", and "sluts". Notable black pill posts included "reasons why women are the embodiment of evil" and "proof that girls are nothing but trash that use men". Users deemed too female-friendly, or who claimed that women experienced inceldom to the same extent as men, were banned. The subreddit's users intermittently either revered or hated "normies" and " Chads" for their courtship abilities, and some admire murderers such as
Elliot Rodger The 2014 Isla Vista killings were a series of misogynistic terror attacks in Isla Vista, California. On the evening of May 23, 22-year-old Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured fourteen others—by gunshot, stabbing and vehicle rammi ...
, perpetrator of the 2014 Isla Vista killings, who identified as an "incel". In the summer of 2017, a petition on Change.org called for r/incels to be banned for inciting
violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women or girls, usually by men or boys. Such violence is often con ...
. Following the October implementation of a new Reddit policy that prohibited the
incitement In criminal law, incitement is the encouragement of another person to commit a crime. Depending on the jurisdiction, some or all types of incitement may be illegal. Where illegal, it is known as an inchoate offense, where harm is intended but ...
of violence, the subreddit was banned on November 7, 2017. At the time of its banning, r/incels had around 40,000 subscribers. r/Braincels subsequently became the most popular subreddit for incels, gaining 16,900 followers by April 2018. The subreddit's leaders disavowed the
Toronto van attack A domestic terrorist vehicle-ramming attack occurred on April 23, 2018, when a rented van was driven along Yonge Street through the North York City Centre business district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The driver, Alek Minassian, targeted ped ...
and deleted some posts by members who praised Alek Minassian's alleged actions. In September 2018, the subreddit was quarantined, and in October, it was banned.


Jailbait

Reddit's staff was initially opposed to the addition of obscene material to the site, but they eventually became more lenient when prolific moderators, such as a user named u/violentacrez, proved capable of identifying and removing illegal content at a time when they were not sufficiently staffed to take on the task. Communities devoted to explicit material saw rising popularity, and r/jailbait, which featured provocative shots of underage teenagers, became the chosen "subreddit of the year" in the "Best of reddit" user poll in 2008, and at one point, making "jailbait" the second most common search term for the site. Erik Martin, general manager of Reddit, defended the
jailbait Jailbait is slang for a person who is younger than the legal age of consent for sexual activity and usually appears older, with the implication that a person above the age of consent might find them sexually attractive. The term ''jailbait'' ...
subreddit by saying that such controversial pages were a consequence of allowing free speech on the site. r/jailbait came to wider attention outside Reddit when Anderson Cooper of CNN devoted a segment of his program to condemning the subreddit and criticizing Reddit for hosting it. Initially, this caused a spike in Internet traffic to the subreddit, causing the page to peak at 1.73 million views on the day of the report. In the wake of these news reports, a Reddit user posted an image of an underage girl to r/jailbait, subsequently claiming to have nude images of her as well. Dozens of Reddit users then posted requests for these nude photos to be shared to them via private message. Other Reddit users drew attention to this discussion, and the r/jailbait forum was subsequently closed by Reddit administrators on October 11, 2011. Critics, such as r/jailbait's creator, disputed claims that this thread was the basis of the decision, instead claiming it was an excuse to close down a controversial subreddit due to recent negative media coverage. Others claimed that the thread believed to have prompted the closure was created by members of the
Something Awful ''Something Awful'' (SA) is an American comedy website hosting content including blog entries, Internet forum, forums, feature articles, digitally edited pictures, and humorous media reviews. It was created by Richard Kyanka, Richard "Lowtax" K ...
forum in an attempt to get the section shut down, rather than the regulars of the forum. Following the closure of r/jailbait, ''
The Daily Dot ''The Daily Dot'' is a digital media company covering the culture of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Founded by Nicholas White in 2011, ''The Daily Dot'' is headquartered in Austin, Texas. The site, conceived as the Internet's "hometo ...
'' declared the community's creator, u/violentacrez, "The Most Important Person on Reddit in 2011", calling the r/jailbait controversy "the first major challenge to the site's voluntary doctrine of absolute free speech".


Jakolandia

In January 2019, a
Philippine The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
-based subreddit, r/jakolandia, was accused of "distributing" posts of photos of women, including celebrities, apparently without their consent, similar to "a number" of secret
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
groups that had been engaging in illegal activity of sharing "obscene" photos of women and possibly
child pornography Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a ...
. r/jakolandia was later banned as a result.


MGTOW

r/MGTOW was a subreddit for
Men Going Their Own Way Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW ) is an anti-feminist, misogynistic, mostly-online community advocating for men to separate themselves from women and from a society which they believe has been corrupted by feminism. The community is a part o ...
, an anti-feminist,
misogynistic Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced f ...
, mostly online community advocating for men to separate themselves from women and from a society which they believe has been corrupted by
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
. In January 2020, a group of researchers published a preprint of an analysis of the
manosphere The manosphere is a collection of websites, blogs, and online forums promoting masculinity, misogyny, and opposition to feminism. Communities within the manosphere include men's rights activists, incels (involuntary celibates), Men Going Their O ...
, which listed r/MGTOW among a group of growing online communities which the authors said were involved in "online harassment and real-world violence". Reddit quarantined the subreddit shortly afterward. In August 2021, Reddit banned the subreddit for violating its policies prohibiting content that "incites violence or promotes hate based on identity or vulnerability".


MillionDollarExtreme

r/MillionDollarExtreme was a subreddit dedicated to the comedy group Million Dollar Extreme, who were accused of having connections with the alt-right. Its users heavily promoted racist, homophobic, and transphobic content, and propagated various anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. It was banned on September 10, 2018, for violating Reddit's content policy regarding violent content, when it had around 43,000 subscribers. Million Dollar Extreme's
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
channel and Instagram account were already terminated earlier in the year. Associated subreddits r/BillionShekelSupreme, r/milliondollarextreme2, r/ChadRight, and several others were subsequently banned.


NoNewNormal

r/NoNewNormal was a subreddit that claimed to be critical of the responses to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, and has propagated various conspiracies about the pandemic, such as lockdown, mask, and vaccine denialism. It was quarantined on August 12, 2021, for misinformation, when it had accumulated over 112,000 subscribers. Subreddits r/rejectnewnormal and r/refusenewnormal were subsequently banned for trying to circumvent the quarantine, and r/PandemicHoax and r/truthseekers, which hosted similar content, set themselves to private. A thread posted by a user on r/vaxxhappened, a community against vaccine misinformation, called upon Reddit admins to ban subreddits primarily spreading medical misinformation. Reddit admins responded by saying that Reddit is a platform for free speech and discussion, and would continue to allow subreddits that challenge the consensus views on the pandemic. In response, the moderators of 135 subreddits, such as , r/futurology, r/pokemongo, r/startrek, r/tifu, and others, made their subreddits private in protest of Reddit's response. On September 1, 2021, Reddit banned the subreddit for brigading subreddits that criticized it. Reddit also quarantined 54 other subreddits associated with COVID-19 denial.


Physical_Removal

r/Physical_Removal was banned on August 15, 2017, for inciting violence. The subreddit's name stems from a quote by right-wing libertarian philosopher
Hans-Hermann Hoppe Hans-Hermann Hoppe (; ; born 2 September 1949) is a German-American economist of the Austrian School, philosopher and political theorist. He is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), Senior Fellow of ...
, who wrote: "There can be no tolerance toward democrats and communists in a libertarian social order. They will have to be physically separated and removed from society" (referring to
ostracism Ostracism ( el, ὀστρακισμός, ''ostrakismos'') was an Athenian democratic procedure in which any citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for ten years. While some instances clearly expressed popular anger at the ci ...
), and, by extension, their advocacy for forced deportation or physical removal of political leftists from the United States. It was controversial for its promotion of violence against leftists and other groups. For instance, users would make reference to throwing people from helicopters, an execution method used by
Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...
. Physical_Removal attracted further attention in 2017 after the
Unite the Right rally The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, ...
in Charlottesville, Virginia, due to mockery of the death of Heather Heyer, who was struck and killed by a car driven by a far-right terrorist at the rally.


Pizzagate

"Pizzagate" is a conspiracy theory that emerged from social media and
fake news website Fake news websites (also referred to as hoax news websites) are websites on the Internet that deliberately publish fake news— hoaxes, propaganda, and disinformation purporting to be real news—often using social media to drive web traffic and ...
s in early November 2016, which falsely alleged the existence of a child trafficking ring that involved officials in the Democratic Party and restaurants such as
Comet Ping Pong Comet Ping Pong (often abbreviated as Comet) is a pizzeria, restaurant, and concert venue located on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C.'s Chevy Chase neighborhood. Owned by James Alefantis, Comet has received critical acclaim from ''The ...
. The r/pizzagate subreddit, which spun off from
r/The_Donald r/The_Donald was a subreddit where participants created discussions and Internet memes in support of former President of the United States, U.S. president Donald Trump. Initially created in June 2015 following the announcement of Donald Trump ...
, was dedicated to discussing this conspiracy theory, and had over 20,000 subscribers. This subreddit was banned on November 23, 2016, for violating Reddit's policy against
doxing Doxing or doxxing is the act of publicly providing personally identifiable information about an individual or organization, usually via the internet. Historically, the term has been used interchangeably to refer to both the aggregation of this in ...
, as users would post the personal details of people allegedly connected to this conspiracy.


QAnon-related subs

Reddit attracted attention from mainstream publications in 2018 due to its role in helping spread the QAnon conspiracy theory from
4chan 4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from anime and manga to video games, cooking, weapons, television, ...
and
8chan 8kun, previously called 8chan, Infinitechan or Infinitychan (stylized as ∞chan), is an imageboard website composed of user-created message boards. An owner moderates each board, with minimal interaction from site administration. The site ha ...
to the wider internet, with tens of thousands of users subscribing to various subreddits promoting it at its peak. In response, Reddit began to ban these subreddits for breaking sitewide rules. In March 2018, the original QAnon sub r/CBTS_stream, standing for "Calm before the storm", was banned for inciting violence and sharing confidential personal information after accumulating over 20,000 subscribers. r/GreatAwakening, which had a more active userbase with over 71,000 subscribers and an average of 10,000 comments per day, was banned in September that year for repeated content violations, such as harassing a user they misidentified as the suspect of the
Jacksonville Landing shooting The Jacksonville Landing shooting, also known as the Jacksonville shooting, was a mass shooting that occurred at a video game tournament for the video game ''Madden NFL 19'' in Jacksonville Landing, Jacksonville, Florida, on August 26, 2018, ...
. Around 17 other subreddits, such as r/BiblicalQ, r/Quincels, and backup sub r/The_GreatAwakening, were also banned. These bans resulted in a significant decrease in QAnon-related discussions on Reddit by 2020, with the remaining ones being criticisms against the conspiracy theory.


SanctionedSuicide

r/SanctionedSuicide was a subreddit that approached the topic of suicide from a pro-choice perspective. It included both discussions surrounding the ethics of suicide, and posts containing rants from Reddit users. This subreddit was banned on March 14, 2018, for violating its guidelines, prompting users to create an off-site version.


SonyGOP

On December 15, 2014, Reddit took the unusual step of banning a subreddit, r/SonyGOP, which was being used to distribute hacked Sony files.


Shoplifting

The subreddit r/Shoplifting was devoted to stories, tips, and questions for the purpose of
shoplifting Shoplifting is the theft of goods from an open retail establishment, typically by concealing a store item on one's person, in pockets, under clothes or in a bag, and leaving the store without paying. With clothing, shoplifters may put on items ...
at large commercial retail chains. It dissuaded people from shoplifting from smaller stores which were presumed to suffer greater losses from theft. It also heavily featured pictures displaying items that its users had supposedly "lifted". Near the end of its existence, over 77,000 people were subscribed to the subreddit. It was banned on March 21, 2018, due to violating an amendment to the Reddit User Agreement added that same day which states: "Users may not use Reddit to solicit or facilitate any transaction or gift involving certain goods and services, including: ... Stolen goods".


The_Donald

The subreddit r/The_Donald, which was intended for supporters of US president
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
, was originally created for his
2016 presidential campaign This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kiri ...
. Due to harassment of Reddit administrators and manipulation of the site's algorithms to push content to Reddit's front page using the "sticky" feature of subreddits, Reddit banned many of the sub's users who were described as "toxic". This occurred after Reddit's CEO
Steve Huffman Steve Huffman, also known by his Reddit username spez (), is an American web developer and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of Reddit, a social news and discussion website, which ranks in the top 20 websites in the world. He also co ...
(known as u/spez on Reddit) admitted to silently editing comments attacking him made by the community's users. This caused the term "spez" to be used instead of "edit" in The_Donald's terminology. Reddit modified the site's algorithms to specifically prevent the sub's moderators from gaming the algorithms to artificially push the sub's content to Reddit's front page. Additionally, Reddit introduced a filtering feature which allowed individual users to block content from any sub. While this feature was being worked on prior to the problems r/The_Donald were causing, it was suggested that it was introduced specifically to allow users to block them. Huffman referred to r/The_Donald's users' complaints of harassment "hypocritical", due to their harassment of others. After the
Christchurch mosque shootings On 15 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks, carried out by a lone gunman who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, began at the Al Noor Mosque ...
in 2019, many posts appeared in the subreddit arguing that the shootings were justified, filled with anti-Muslim hate. The subreddit was quarantined by
Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, imag ...
admins in June 2019 for "threats of violence against police and public officials". On June 29, 2020, Reddit banned the subreddit for frequent rule-breaking, for antagonizing the company and other communities and for failing to "meet our most basic expectations".


TheFappening

In August 2014, Reddit users began sharing a large number of naked pictures of celebrities stolen, using
phishing Phishing is a type of social engineering where an attacker sends a fraudulent (e.g., spoofed, fake, or otherwise deceptive) message designed to trick a person into revealing sensitive information to the attacker or to deploy malicious softwa ...
, from their private Apple
iCloud iCloud is a cloud service from Apple Inc. launched on October 12, 2011 as a successor to MobileMe. , the service had an estimated 850 million users, up from 782 million users in 2016. iCloud enables users to sync their data to the cloud, inclu ...
accounts. A subreddit, r/TheFappening, was created as a hub to share and discuss these stolen photos; the situation was called "CelebGate" by the media. The subreddit contained most of the images. Victims of "The Fappening" included high-profile names such as Jennifer Lawrence,
Kate Upton Katherine Elizabeth Upton (born June 10, 1992) is an American model. She first appeared in the ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue in 2011, and was the cover model for the 2012, 2013 and 2017 issues. In addition, she was the subject of the 1 ...
and
Mary Elizabeth Winstead Mary Elizabeth Winstead (born November 28, 1984) is an American actress and singer. Her first significant role was that of Jessica Bennett on the NBC soap opera ''Passions'' (1999–2000). She went on to appear in series such as ''Tru Calling' ...
. Some of the images may have constituted child pornography, as the photos of
Liz Lee Liz is a female name of Hebrew origin, meaning "God's Promise". It is also a short form of Elizabeth, Elisabeth, Lisbeth, Lizanne, Liszbeth, Lizbeth, Lizabeth, Lyzbeth, Lisa, Lizette, Alyssa, and Eliza. People * Liz Balmaseda (born 1959), Puli ...
and
McKayla Maroney McKayla Rose Maroney (born December 9, 1995) is a retired American artistic gymnast and singer. She was a member of the American women's gymnastics team dubbed the Fierce Five at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she won a gold medal in the team ...
from the leak were claimed to have been taken when the women were underage, though this remains controversial. The subreddit was closed by Reddit administrators in September 2014. The scandal led to wider criticisms concerning the website's moderation from ''
The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts. The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media ...
'' and ''
The Daily Dot ''The Daily Dot'' is a digital media company covering the culture of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Founded by Nicholas White in 2011, ''The Daily Dot'' is headquartered in Austin, Texas. The site, conceived as the Internet's "hometo ...
''.


TruFemcels

In January 2021, Reddit banned r/TruFemcels, a subreddit for female incels ("femcels") for promoting hate. It was previously accused of lookism, racism, transphobia, and spreading alt-right conspiracy theories, and for using the same terminology of incels. After the ban, the community migrated to a dedicated website, ThePinkPill.co.


UncensoredNews

r/UncensoredNews was a far-right subreddit that claimed to be the "free speech" alternative to the more popular news-related subs. Founded by users who moderated several white nationalist subreddits before June 2016, it saw a massive increase in subscribers following the
Orlando nightclub shooting On , 2016, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old man, killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States. Orlando Police officers shot and killed him after a three-hour standoff. In a ...
, as the moderators of r/news were accused of censoring the name, religion, and motive of perpetrator
Omar Mateen Omar Mir Seddique Mateen born Omar Mir Seddique; (November 16, 1986 – June 12, 2016) was an American mass murderer and domestic terrorist who murdered 49 people and wounded 53 others in a mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fl ...
. r/UncensoredNews primarily promoted stories about crimes committed by minorities or left-wing people, such as attacks on white farmers in South Africa, with a xenophobic, Islamophobic, and racist bent. For example, a post stickied by one of the sub's moderators was titled "Here at uncensored news we love racism, bigotry, misogyny, hatred, xenophobia, transphobia, homo phobia 'sic''.html"_;"title="sic.html"_;"title="'sic">'sic''">sic.html"_;"title="'sic">'sic''etc."_while_another_user_compared_miscegenation.html" ;"title="sic">'sic''.html" ;"title="sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''">sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''etc." while another user compared miscegenation">sic">'sic''.html" ;"title="sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''">sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''etc." while another user compared miscegenation to bestiality. r/UncensoredNews and its moderators were banned on March 12, 2018 for inciting violence, possibly in response to a thread on whether Jews or Muslims were considered more dangerous.


WatchPeopleDie and Gore

After the 2019
Christchurch mosque shootings On 15 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks, carried out by a lone gunman who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, began at the Al Noor Mosque ...
, Reddit banned the subreddit r/WatchPeopleDie, which was dedicated to uploading media depicting real-life deaths of people, such as workplace accidents, vehicular manslaughter, gun violence, suicides, and various forms of homicide, after it disseminated links to video of the shooting. The similar subreddit r/Gore was banned at the same time, as was r/WPDTalk, a subreddit for discussion on what went on in r/WatchPeopleDie. Although previously quarantined for over half a year, the subreddit was completely banned at approximately 17:09 UTC on March 15, 2019, less than a day after the events for violating Reddit's content policy, specifically the policy against "glorifying or encouraging violence." Moderators of the subreddit had initially allowed the video to be shared.


Active subreddits


Antiwork

The subreddit r/antiwork was established in 2013. A longtime moderator stated that the subreddit was intended to be for people advocating for a society in which people did not have to work at all, or at least had a much smaller obligation to work. During the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, new posters who were unhappy with working conditions joined. In 2019, the number of subscribers was 13,000, which increased to 100,000 in early 2020. The subreddit's popularity increased after people began posting text messages of employees giving notice to their employers that they no longer wanted their jobs. In November 2021, the subscriber number exceeded one million. By December 2021, that number had grown to 1.4 million, and in January 2022, it had reached over 1.7 million. On 26 January, r/antiwork was the subreddit with the highest increase of traffic that was not one of Reddit's "default" front page subreddits. In January 2022, a longtime moderator agreed to be interviewed by
Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
host Jesse Watters. ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'' stated that Watters "was openly contemptuous about the movement". In response, members of the subreddit criticized the moderator, and the other moderators in turn temporarily made the subreddit private. Ultimately, the interviewee was asked to give up her moderation duties. Noah Berlatsky, writing for ''The Independent'', stated that the Fox News segment became "a publicity disaster for r/antiwork", and that r/antiwork became "widely ridiculed".


aznidentity and AsianMasculinity

r/aznidentity and r/AsianMasculinity, are communities operated by and for Asian-American men, and discuss various topics related to lifestyle, dating, fitness, and world events from the perspective of the male Asian diaspora. Users often focus on the emasculation of Asian men sexually in American culture, and claim that Asian-American women in interracial relationships often play a role in actively perpetuating this. In certain areas, users of r/aznidentity are sometimes referred to as "Men's Rights Asians" or "MRAsians", a pun on "
men's rights activists The men's rights movement (MRM) is a branch of the men's movement. The MRM in particular consists of a variety of groups and individuals (men's rights activists or MRAs) who focus on general social issues and specific government services which ...
". Additionally, r/aznidentity users also claim that mainstream and social media coverage of racism against black communities, particularly when done by Asian-Americans, are done at the detriment of Asian causes, and claim that Black people are over-represented in hate crimes against Asians. Certain Asian-American women on social media have accused users of harassment, with author Celeste Ng having written an article about her experience and the experiences of other Asian-American women in '' The Cut''.


BlackPeopleTwitter

On April 1, 2019, r/BlackPeopleTwitter began requiring users to prove they were
black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
—by sending a photo with their forearm and their Reddit username—before allowing them to post comments. The moderators described this action as an
April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...
prank, albeit one with a "very real reason." The April Fools' prank lasted only a few days, but the moderators now limit some contentious threads to a "country club" consisting of verified
people of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...
, and
white people White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as ...
who complete an application process including writing "about what white privilege means to them." Additionally, verified black commenters (but not other people of color) receive a check mark next to their username.


FemaleDatingStrategy

r/FemaleDatingStrategy (FDS) was created in 2019. It has been accused by r/AgainstHateSubreddits of promoting homophobia,
transphobia Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger to ...
,
misandry Misandry () is the hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against men. Men's rights activists and other masculinist groups have criticized modern laws concerning divorce, domestic violence, the draft, circumcision (known as genital mutilation ...
, and discrimination against
sex worker A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. The term is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry.Oxford English Dictionary, "sex worker" According to one view, sex work i ...
s. ''
The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts. The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media ...
'' described the advice given to women as socially and sexually
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
and oppressive to women. FDS posters must follow strict rules to avoid being banned, with support for consensual
BDSM BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...
, pornography consumption, or casual sex being bannable offenses. As of August 2021, it had about 179,000 members who were described as mostly heterosexual women. The group has a strict hierarchy, with moderators called "Ruthless Strategists" on top. Community is prioritized over the individual, and members are advised against speaking with journalists, practices which have been described as cult-like. The subreddit advises against dating men with mental illnesses, and has banned members for believing men can be victims of sexual assault. The members oppose
liberal feminism Liberal feminism, also called mainstream feminism, is a main branch of feminism defined by its focus on achieving gender equality through political and legal reform within the framework of liberal democracy. It is often considered culturally ...
, or "libfems", and endorse
TERF TERF () is an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist. First recorded in 2008, the term was originally used to distinguish trans-inclusive feminists from a group of radical feminists who reject the assertion that trans women are wom ...
-like views, with
transgender women A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and ...
being entirely banned from posting. It has also been criticized for contradictory advice, such as encouraging independence from men, while expecting men to pay for dates, and be the primary breadwinner of the household. Though it was founded in opposition to manosphere subreddits, FDS critics have compared it to them. A co-host for the subreddit's podcast was quoted by ''The Guardian'' responding to this comparison by stating that, " DSisn't about trying to manipulate men into trying to behave a certain way ... it's more about finding a man who is comfortable with you having boundaries and standards, and who understands how to treat a woman." The subreddit has made extensive use of female-
incel An incel ( , an abbreviation of "involuntary celibate") is a member of an online subculture of people who define themselves as unable to get a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one. Discussions in incel forums are often character ...
(aka femcel) language, but this was phased out in favor of new terminology, as the femcel jargon interfered with the recruitment of new members. The new terminology includes terms like "scrotes" for men, and "pickmeisha" for women who FDS claims degrade themselves for men. "Pickmeisha" has been used to label members that criticize the moderators or claim to enjoy banned behavior such as casual sex, and it has been targeted at women in other subreddits for issues such as seeking advice on their partner's erectile dysfunction.


GenZedong

A ''Time'' report identified r/Gen Zedong, a self-described " Dengist" subreddit focused on China, as a haven for anti- Uyghur racism and Uyghur genocide denialism. The subreddit was quarantined on 23 March 2022 for spreading disinformation about the
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
. At the time of its quarantine, the subreddit had over 57,000 subscribers. It previously received attention when the hacker group Anonymous uploaded a meme mocking the sub to the server hosting Chinese government websites, following their hack of a government site promoting tourism in China.


HermanCainAward

r/HermanCainAward is a subreddit that awards people who have "made public declaration of their anti-mask,
anti-vax Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance, or refusal, of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain abou ...
, or COVID-hoax views" who later die from
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
or COVID-19 complications with the "Herman Cain Freedom Award". People who have "made public declaration of their anti-mask, anti-vax, or Covid-hoax views" who are later hospitalized with COVID-19 are nominated for the award. According to ''
Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'', "In its early days, HCA was primarily fueled by articles found in the press", but that, "in recent months, the examples have been drawn directly from a Facebook page of COVID-19 victims. Publication after publication, the pattern invariably repeats itself: one person (anonymized to respect Reddit rules) says all the bad things they think about vaccines, masks, or sometimes even doubts the existence of the pandemic. Often the memes (humorous diversions) used to illustrate mistrust of the vaccine are the same. The following screenshot tells us that the person has just fallen ill, and sometimes that the illness does not really give them a break. Calls to pray for help may follow, before a loved one finally announces the death." F. Diane Bart, a psychotherapist writing for
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
, described the subreddit as "a dark and
sardonic To be sardonic is to be disdainfully or cynically humorous, or scornfully mocking. A form of wit or humour, being sardonic often involves expressing an uncomfortable truth in a clever and not necessarily malicious way, often with a degree of sk ...
corner of the internet" that "captures the rage and outrage of presumably vaccinated, mask-wearing individuals, many of whom have either been infected with COVID-19 in the past or have watched friends and family become ill—and even die."


KotakuInAction

r/KotakuInAction was one of the main online hubs for participants of the misogynistic harassment campaign known as
Gamergate Gamergate may refer to: * Gamergate (ant), a worker ant that can store sperm and reproduce sexually * Gamergate (harassment campaign), targeting women in the video game industry * Lt. Gamergate, a character in the ''Adventure Time'' episode " Den ...
. Users are warned that by joining KotakuInAction, they will be banned from other subreddits such as r/OffMyChest (a subreddit based around expressing opinions, as well as confessing personal thoughts), r/NaturalHair, and r/Rape, the latter of the three being a support forum for survivors of rape that had been targeted for brigading by r/KotakuInAction users. '' BuzzFeed''s Joseph Bernstein reported that many of KotakuInAction's moderators also moderate other subreddits "devoted to either the physical and emotional degradation and humiliation of women, or in subreddits devoted to mocking and delegitimizing the arguments and appearances of feminists and '
social justice warrior ''Social justice warrior'' (SJW) is a pejorative term and internet meme used for an individual who promotes socially progressive, left-wing and liberal views, including feminism, civil rights, gay and transgender rights, identity politics ...
s'." In 2016, KotakuInAction became the subject of an academic study done by three members of the Georgia Institute of Technology. On July 12, 2018, the creator and head moderator of KotakuInAction removed all of the moderators and set the forum to private, alleging that it had become "infested with racism and sexism". A Reddit employee restored the forum and its moderators an hour later. A 2020 review analyzing ten discussion boards on KotakuInAction suggested a connection between Gamergate and right-wing extremism (RWE), finding that the three main themes in these discussion boards were "RWE bigotry", "always anti-left" and "hate speech is free speech".


MensRights

The
antifeminist Antifeminism, also spelled anti-feminism, is opposition to some or all forms of feminism. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, antifeminists opposed particular policy proposals for women's rights, such as the right to vote, educat ...
subreddit r/MensRights was created in 2008. It has over 300,000 subscribers . Media studies researcher Debbie Ging cites the "extreme misogyny and proclivity for personal attacks" of several men's rights subreddits, including r/MensRights, as "the most striking features of the new antifeminist politics".


SPLC listing

r/MensRights was included in a list of 12 websites in the spring 2012 issue ("The Year in Hate and Extremism") of the
Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white s ...
's (SPLC) ''Intelligence Report'' in a section called "Misogyny: The Sites". The SPLC reported that, "although some of the sites make an attempt at civility and try to back their arguments with facts, they are almost all thick with misogynistic attacks that can be astounding for the guttural hatred they express". More specific claims were made about r/MensRights in particular, saying that it showed anger "toward any program designed to help women", and that the subreddit "trafficks in various conspiracy theories", using a moderator's statements as an example of this behavior. Kyle Bachan at ''
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' interpreted the report as saying the subreddit was a hate group. In late March 2012, Mark Potok (the ''Intelligence Report''s editor) was asked in an interview if the SPLC had formally classified r/MensRights as a hate group. His response was that, "we wrote about the subreddit Mens Rights, but we did not list it as a hate group", and expressed doubt that the SPLC would ever designate the community as a hate group, noting that, "it's a diverse group, which certainly does include some misogynists—but I don't think that's ts basicpurpose". Later that year, the SPLC published a statement about the reactions to their report, saying it, "provoked a tremendous response among men's rights activists (MRAs) and their sympathizers", and, "it should be mentioned that the SPLC did not label MRAs as members of a hate movement; nor did our article claim that the grievances they air on their websites – false rape accusations, ruinous divorce settlements and the like – are all without merit. But we did call out specific examples of misogyny and the threat, overt or implicit, of violence."


Doxing incident

In April 2013, the subreddit was threatened with a shutdown by Reddit admins after r/MensRights subscribers gathered personal information on a supposed blogger of feminist issues, and the subreddit's moderators advised members of the subreddit on how to proceed with this 'doxing' without running afoul of site rules. Later on, it was discovered that they had identified the wrong woman, and it has been reported that many death threats had been sent to her school and employment.
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
confirmed that she was not the same person as the blog's author after receiving threatening messages.


Rape report spam

In mid-December 2013, users from r/MensRights, as well as
4chan 4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from anime and manga to video games, cooking, weapons, television, ...
, spammed the Occidental College Online Rape Report Form with hundreds of false rape reports, following a user's complaint that the form was vulnerable to abuse as a result of the submitter's ability to remain anonymous. Around 400 false rape accusations were made by men's rights activists against members of the college, feminists, and fictional people.


NoFap

r/NoFap is a subreddit dedicated to supporting those who wish to give up pornography or masturbation. Some journalists have reported that NoFap's forums were filled with
misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practice ...
, stating that "there is a darker side to NoFap. Among the reams of Reddit discussions and YouTube videos, a fundamentally misogynistic rhetoric regularly emerges", that the subreddit idolizes testosterone and inherently masculine qualities, and that "the NoFap community has become linked to wider sexism and misogyny, reducing women to sexual objects to be attained or abstained from, and shaming sexually active women."


Piracy and PiratedGames

In 2019, r/piracy was threatened with a ban after receiving dozens of
DMCA The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or ...
takedown notices. The moderators said that Reddit did not investigate the infringement claims to find if they actually infringed copyright law, often they related to content such as sharing the URL to a streaming site, asking if such sites were working, and posting guides to install programs. Users of the subreddit voted to delete all content older than six months, as it was not feasible to investigate all past content. r/PiratedGames, whose discussions focused specifically on pirated video games, was banned on 17 August 2022 for excessive DMCA claims, even though the subreddit explicitly banned sharing pirated content. With over 300,000 subscribers, it was among the largest
piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
-related subreddits. It was restored the next day following an appeal from the moderators. ''
TorrentFreak __NOTOC__ TorrentFreak (TF) is a blog dedicated to reporting the latest news and trends on the BitTorrent protocol and file sharing, as well as on copyright infringement and digital rights. The website was started in November 2005 by a Dutchma ...
'' in separate articles said the ban was part of Reddit's increasing crackdown on copyright infringement, noting that the year prior around 2,625 subreddits had been banned for similar reasons, and that DMCA takedowns on Reddit had increased by over 15,000% in the past five years.


Portugueses

The subreddit r/Portugueses is often home to
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
nationalist and nativist rhetoric. It also contains racism, homophobia, sexism, and other Reddit-policy violations. Moderators and volunteer moderators of other subreddits who remove or report hate speech and other policy violations coming from r/Portugueses are often threatened for doing so.


Russia

r/Russia, the national subreddit for Russia, was quarantined on 1 March 2022, and the site's administrators removed one of the moderators, for spreading disinformation about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Among the disinformation promoted by the sub's moderators were claims that the Ukrainian military was controlled by Nazis, that Ukraine was using human shields to raise the conflict's death toll, and that the Ukrainian leadership was refusing calls for peace negotiations. The sub had over 265,000 subscribers prior to the quarantine. Sister sub r/RussiaPolitics was also quarantined for similar reasons.


Technology

In April 2014, it was made apparent that moderators of r/technology, a subreddit with 5 million subscribers, were using automatic filters to remove submissions that contained certain keywords, such as "
Aaron Swartz Aaron Hillel Swartz (November 8, 1986 – January 11, 2013) was an American computer programmer, entrepreneur, writer, political organizer, and Internet hacktivist. A prolific programmer, Swartz helped develop the web feed format RSS, the tech ...
", " Tesla", " Comcast", "
NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
", and " Snowden". This ultimately led to community protests, claims of censorship from users, and r/technology losing its default subreddit status.


TheRedPill

Alluding to the symbol of the " red pill" from the film ''The Matrix'', r/TheRedPill is devoted to discussions of male sexual strategy in which participants are ranked as "alpha" or "beta" males. The subreddit promotes
antifeminism Antifeminism, also spelled anti-feminism, is opposition to some or all forms of feminism. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, antifeminists opposed particular policy proposals for women's rights, such as the right to vote, educat ...
,
rape culture Rape culture is a setting, studied by several sociological theories, in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality. Behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim blaming, slut-s ...
, hegemonic masculinity, and traditional gender roles. Users discuss diet and physical fitness alongside " pick-up" techniques for seducing women, while also displaying different levels of
misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practice ...
ranging from virulent hatred of women to simple frustration with contemporary male experience. The Southern Poverty Law Center describes it as one of several
male supremacist Supremacism is the belief that a certain group of people is superior to all others. The supposed superior people can be defined by age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, language, social class, ideology, nation, cultu ...
subreddits featuring
xenophobic Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
discourse. It has been associated with several right-wing movements and the alt-right because of its attacks on
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
and mockery of rape. In 2017, it was revealed that New Hampshire legislator Robert Fisher created the subreddit and posted demeaning comments about women. After this discovery, he resigned from office. ''
The New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'' has described this subreddit as one of the most misogynistic subreddits on Reddit, which aims to radicalize men. , the subreddit is quarantined.


Free speech rationale

In accordance with its policies at the time on free speech, Reddit's admins stated in 2013 that they did not ban communities solely for featuring controversial content. Reddit's general manager Erik Martin noted that "having to stomach occasional troll ubeddits like r/picsofdeadkids or morally questionable ubeddits like r/jailbait are part of the price of free speech on a site like this," and that it is not Reddit's place to censor its users. The site's former CEO,
Yishan Wong Yishan Wong () is an American engineer and entrepreneur who was CEO of Reddit from March 2012 until his resignation in November 2014. With Niniane Wang he is also co-founder of the Mountain View coworking space Sunfire Offices, and an advisor ...
, stated that distasteful subreddits would not be banned because Reddit as a platform should serve the ideals of free speech. Critics of Reddit's position argued at the time that it had not been consistent in following its free speech philosophy. In a 2015 discussion on the site's content policy, founder
Steve Huffman Steve Huffman, also known by his Reddit username spez (), is an American web developer and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of Reddit, a social news and discussion website, which ranks in the top 20 websites in the world. He also co ...
stated that "neither Alexis haniannor I created Reddit to be a bastion of free speech". With the banning of
r/The Donald r/The_Donald was a subreddit where participants created discussions and Internet memes in support of former President of the United States, U.S. president Donald Trump. Initially created in June 2015 following the announcement of Donald Trump ...
, Reddit expanded the kinds of content that was banned on the site, implementing new rules that directly prohibit hate speech. In 2021, Reddit stated that they allowed conversations that "question or disagree with popular consensus" regarding the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, stating that "dissent is a part of Reddit and the foundation of democracy" despite criticism by site moderators. Although it banned r/NoNewNormal after moderator protests, this was for unduly influencing other communities, not the subreddit's content.


References


Works cited

* * {{Reddit Internet-related controversies Internet ethics Internet vigilantism Internet privacy Online obscenity controversies Social bookmarking News aggregators Political websites Child pornography websites Violence against women 21st-century controversies
Controversial Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...
Alt-right Internet forums Cyberbullying