Reddit Goes Nuclear, Removes Moderators of Subreddits That Continued To Protest

Reddit has taken a drastic step to crush the protests against the social media platform by removing entire moderator teams from several popular subreddits.

The company did so after the subreddits began allowing porn and other not safe for work (NSFW) content in an effort to keep protesting against Reddit’s controversial API change, which risk shutting down several third-party apps.  

By permitting the NSFW content, the subreddits have been trying to undermine Reddit’s ability to generate advertising revenue. That’s because ads are prohibited(Opens in a new window) from appearing in forums that allow NSFW posts. 

Hence, on Tuesday, you may have encountered a stream of nudity and other risque imagery on the platform. The starkest example has been the subreddit r/interestingasfuck, which has 11 million readers, and has already become full of porn. Other subreddits including r/pokemongo, r/Formula1 and r/videos also opened the floodgates to nudes.

But in response, Reddit has been moving swiftly to crack down on the protest tactic. The platform has removed(Opens in a new window) the entire volunteer moderator teams for the subreddits including r/interestingasfuck, r/self, r/TIHI (Thanks, I hate it), r/shittylifeprotips, and r/garmin. 

The mod team for r/interestingasfuck is currently listed as empty.
(Reddit)

Meanwhile, Reddit pulled the entire moderator team for r/mildlyinteresting, only to backtrack on the decision, but then strip away most of their privileges, after the subreddit decided(Opens in a new window) to allow NSFW content. 

“I honestly don’t even have words for this situation right now,” a moderator for r/mildyinteresting wrote(Opens in a new window) when the crackdown occurred. “No communication, no attempt to seriously answer any of our questions we asked in ModMail, but still going in and removing our posts, literally locking us out of our accounts, removing the entire moderation team, and entirely ignoring the 40,000 people(Opens in a new window) who voted to either take the sub back private, or open it with new rules.”

However, Reddit is justifying the action, saying the affected subreddits actually broke the rules. “Moderators incorrectly marking a community as NSFW is a violation of both our Content Policy(Opens in a new window) and Moderator Code of Conduct(Opens in a new window),” a Reddit spokesperson told(Opens in a new window) The Verge when asked about the suspended moderators. 

Reddit further told PCMag: “It’s not OK to show people NSFW content when they don’t want to see it. In line with our Moderator Code of Conduct(Opens in a new window), we’ll remove moderators and restrict communities where moderators are engaging in malicious conduct, like allowing rule-violating behavior or encouraging the submission of sexually-explicit content in previously safe-for-work spaces.”

Although the action has been drastic, Reddit’s own CEO Steve Huffman has been signaling he’s ready to crack down. During an interview(Opens in a new window) with NBC News last week, Huffman called out the volunteer moderators supporting the protests as “landed gentry,” and threatened to change Reddit’s policies to boot them out.

The threat caused many subreddits to open back up this week, after 8,400 of them went private, thereby preventing users from accessing them, in an effort to protest the company. But now, many subreddits are tapping other forms of protest, whether it be allowing NSFW content, or enacting other ridiculous rules, such as only permitting users to post content featuring British comedian John Oliver(Opens in a new window).   

Meanwhile, other subreddits have chosen to remain private. However, Reddit has begun messaging them, demanding they reopen or else. “If this community remains private, we will reach out soon with information on what steps will take place,” Reddit said(Opens in a new window) in a message to a small subreddit called Hentai_in_Peril.