Usually Reddit’s censorship applies to rightwing and white nationalist subreddits, but it seems the lefties are starting to run afoul of the site’s rules and the people who enforce them.
The anarchism subreddit, a community of 70,000 people, is known for being a haven of edgelords and internet tough guys who often rant about throwing bricks through windows and beating up fascists. Now their (probably empty) threats of violence have drawn the ire of Reddit admins who are urging the moderators to take action against commenters.
In a thread about the “Free Speech” bus, a publicity stunt where anti-trans activists drive around the country saying there are only two genders, /r/anarchism commenters threatened to blow the bus up with thermite.
There were multiple other comments threatening to burn the bus to the ground.
Reddit’s admins complained to the moderators of the community and asked nicely that they more effectively police the comments. The mods replied with a sanctimonious screed claiming the admins wanted them to stop saying “bash the fash” without remarking on the threats of violence. They said they would not remove the comments.
This kind of insubordination to Reddit admins is usually what gets communities quarantined and banned. The leftwing community /r/leftwithasharpedge was banned for similar behavior.
Subreddits have been banned for far less than routinely calling for violence against specific targets. It looks like /r/anarchism could be the next to get the ban hammer.
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