Reddit has finally banned its most racist forums — but because they were “annoying” to other members.
The site had received sustained criticism for allowing sites like “coontown,” which mock and celebrate violence against black people. But it had previously said that it could not ban them, because of a commitment to free speech.
The site has now added a new rule, banning sites that “exist solely to annoy other redditors,” rather than anything to do with its racist and often violent content.
Before the new ruling, the old guidelines ban content or subreddits that are: illegal, are “revenge porn”, encourage violence or threaten people, contain personal information, impersonate people or are spam. The site also bans people from asking for votes, trying to break Reddit or having multiple accounts to get round bans or restrictions.
But those newly-introduced guidelines weren’t enough to ban many of the site’s most offensive forums.
Reddit has now added extra rules that will ban “coontown,” along with a number of similarly-named forums that served much the same function.
“We are banning a handful of communities that exist solely to annoy other redditors, prevent us from improving Reddit, and generally make Reddit worse for everyone else,” wrote new CEO Steve Huffman. “Our most important policy over the last ten years has been to allow just about anything so long as it does not prevent others from enjoying Reddit for what it is: the best place online to have truly authentic conversations.”
Reddit and its users have long defended the existence of offensive subreddits on the grounds of free speech, arguing that it should not limit what its members can talk about. But it received sustained criticism for that stance, and for allowing the forums to continue to exist.
By Andrew Griffin
