UPDATED 23:58 EDT / JUNE 29 2020

POLICY

Reddit takes down largest pro-Trump subreddit in hate speech crackdown

Reddit Inc. today announced that it has banned the largest pro-Trump community on its platform after revamping its hate speech policies.

The company said that “The Donald” subreddit will have to go, as well as 2,000 other communities. Another banned community is leftist “Chapo Trap House,” which Reddit also said violates its policies.

The vast majority of purged communities, though, were largely inactive. Reddit said that only about 200 of those communities had more than 10 daily users.

That’s not the case with the pro-Trump community, which had more than 750,000 subscribers and was a useful tool for the president. The writing was perhaps on the wall, since in 2019 the subreddit was put under quarantine for inciting violence.

In a post, Reddit wrote that the updated policy revolves around two things. One of those is any community that promotes hate based on identity or vulnerability will be taken down. Rule 2 means that “malicious attempts to interfere with other communities” will result in a ban.

“Remember the human,” the company said about the first rule. “Reddit is a place for creating community and belonging, not for attacking marginalized or vulnerable groups of people. Everyone has a right to use Reddit free of harassment, bullying, and threats of violence. Communities and people that incite violence or that promote hate based on identity or vulnerability will be banned.”

All communities on the platform must abide by this content policy in good faith, said Reddit, adding, “We banned r/The_Donald because it has not done so, despite every opportunity. The community has consistently hosted and upvoted more rule-breaking content than average, antagonized us and other communities and its mods have refused to meet our most basic expectations.”

In a call to reporters, Chief Executive Steve Huffman said the company will continue to embrace free speech and will support views from all sides of the political spectrum, but he added that some communities have repeatedly transgressed.

At the same time, the video streaming service Twitch has suspended Trump’s account for what it called “hateful conduct.” The content in question was from a 2016 campaign rally in which Trump called Mexicans criminals and rapists. That content was recently streamed on Twitch.

Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

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