Hundreds of subreddits are considering banning all links to X.com in response to Elon Musk’s salute at a Donald Trump inauguration rally that was celebrated by Nazis as being a Nazi salute. The moderators of dozens of those subreddits have said that they have decided they will ban all links to X.
The bans have run the political gamut, with the subreddits for many cities and states (such as r/NewJersey, r/londonOntario, and sports teams banning all Twitter links. r/christianity banned Twitter links with a gif in which Musk’s salute was put side-by-side with a neo-Nazi’s.
Some subreddits are allowing screenshots from Twitter but not direct linking. Big sports subreddits such as r/NFL, r/hockey, r/baseball, and r/nba are all considering a ban, with moderators saying they will announce decisions shortly. A poll in r/baseball shows that users are overwhelmingly in favor of having links banned in the subreddit.
On r/formula1, moderators decided to ban links from Twitter except in cases where the information can not be found elsewhere, and specifically from Formula 1 drivers and some others who haven’t yet moved to other platforms. “For a trial period we will ban all content from Twitter with the only exception of screenshots of relevant posts by teams, drivers & F1 that are not available on any other platform. Even in case of major breaking news, we ask you to post links to the press releases or a screenshot of the post from Instagram, with a link in the comments.” The ban is a trial, with the hope that it will encourage Formula 1 journalists and creators to move to other platforms, it says.
Moderators of r/ComicBookMoviesposted “With recent events, we (mods) have decided we will no longer use our sub to promote x in any way, shape or form. Following in the footsteps of other subs, we will ban any links or post coming from x, including in the comment sections. While many of our post come from x, moving forward all post will need to come from another source, such as bluesky, approved websites, your own creation, etc.”
The moderators of r/MadeMeSmile, which has more than 10 million subscribers, posted “Would it make you smile if we banned all links to Twitter?” The moderators of r/DnD are similarly considering the move. Posts about banning or potentially banning Twitter links are some of the most popular posts on all of Reddit over the last day.
Some of the subreddits are also banning material from Meta platforms after Mark Zuckerberg explicitly decided to allow hate to proliferate across his apps, and TikTok and Rednote because of their companies being based in China. “Hello, everyone! Following recent events in social media, we are updating our content policy,” a message on r/antiwork reads. It then says that the following sites may no longer be linked to, or have screenshots from them uploaded: “X, including content from its predecessor Twitter, because Elon Musk promotes white supremacist ideology and gave a Nazi salute during Donald Trump's inauguration,” “Any platform owned by Meta, such as Facebook and Instagram, because Mark Zuckerberg openly encourages bigotry with Meta's new content policy,” and “Platforms affiliated with the CCP, such as TikTok and Rednote, because China is a hostile foreign government and these platforms constitute information warfare.”
The concerted mass action to ban Twitter links is notable because it highlights the difference between moderation on a platform like Reddit and the moderation on platforms like X, Facebook, and Instagram. Reddit’s distributed, volunteer moderation system in which users become the moderators of specific subreddits means they are also in charge of the rules and norms of that subreddit. This means that moderators are, to some extent, beholden to the wishes of subscribers of a subreddit. They are also able to create rules that fit the needs and wants of a specific community. Reddit’s system has many problems: moderators are constantly fighting with Reddit administrators, who are paid Reddit employees; moderators are not paid for their labor; moderators often say they feel burnt out. But the system also fosters a more humane version of the internet where users have more control and the needs of a specific community can be more easily met.
Source: https://www.404media.co/hundreds-of-subreddits-are-considering-banning-all-links-to-x/
The bans have run the political gamut, with the subreddits for many cities and states (such as r/NewJersey, r/londonOntario, and sports teams banning all Twitter links. r/christianity banned Twitter links with a gif in which Musk’s salute was put side-by-side with a neo-Nazi’s.
Some subreddits are allowing screenshots from Twitter but not direct linking. Big sports subreddits such as r/NFL, r/hockey, r/baseball, and r/nba are all considering a ban, with moderators saying they will announce decisions shortly. A poll in r/baseball shows that users are overwhelmingly in favor of having links banned in the subreddit.
On r/formula1, moderators decided to ban links from Twitter except in cases where the information can not be found elsewhere, and specifically from Formula 1 drivers and some others who haven’t yet moved to other platforms. “For a trial period we will ban all content from Twitter with the only exception of screenshots of relevant posts by teams, drivers & F1 that are not available on any other platform. Even in case of major breaking news, we ask you to post links to the press releases or a screenshot of the post from Instagram, with a link in the comments.” The ban is a trial, with the hope that it will encourage Formula 1 journalists and creators to move to other platforms, it says.
Moderators of r/ComicBookMoviesposted “With recent events, we (mods) have decided we will no longer use our sub to promote x in any way, shape or form. Following in the footsteps of other subs, we will ban any links or post coming from x, including in the comment sections. While many of our post come from x, moving forward all post will need to come from another source, such as bluesky, approved websites, your own creation, etc.”
The moderators of r/MadeMeSmile, which has more than 10 million subscribers, posted “Would it make you smile if we banned all links to Twitter?” The moderators of r/DnD are similarly considering the move. Posts about banning or potentially banning Twitter links are some of the most popular posts on all of Reddit over the last day.
Some of the subreddits are also banning material from Meta platforms after Mark Zuckerberg explicitly decided to allow hate to proliferate across his apps, and TikTok and Rednote because of their companies being based in China. “Hello, everyone! Following recent events in social media, we are updating our content policy,” a message on r/antiwork reads. It then says that the following sites may no longer be linked to, or have screenshots from them uploaded: “X, including content from its predecessor Twitter, because Elon Musk promotes white supremacist ideology and gave a Nazi salute during Donald Trump's inauguration,” “Any platform owned by Meta, such as Facebook and Instagram, because Mark Zuckerberg openly encourages bigotry with Meta's new content policy,” and “Platforms affiliated with the CCP, such as TikTok and Rednote, because China is a hostile foreign government and these platforms constitute information warfare.”
The concerted mass action to ban Twitter links is notable because it highlights the difference between moderation on a platform like Reddit and the moderation on platforms like X, Facebook, and Instagram. Reddit’s distributed, volunteer moderation system in which users become the moderators of specific subreddits means they are also in charge of the rules and norms of that subreddit. This means that moderators are, to some extent, beholden to the wishes of subscribers of a subreddit. They are also able to create rules that fit the needs and wants of a specific community. Reddit’s system has many problems: moderators are constantly fighting with Reddit administrators, who are paid Reddit employees; moderators are not paid for their labor; moderators often say they feel burnt out. But the system also fosters a more humane version of the internet where users have more control and the needs of a specific community can be more easily met.
Source: https://www.404media.co/hundreds-of-subreddits-are-considering-banning-all-links-to-x/
