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Reddit CEO: Site Is 'Not a Bastion of Free Speech,' Change Coming

Posted by Soulskill on from the don't-be-a-jerk-on-the-internet dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Reddit's new CEO, cofounder Steve Huffman, has made a statement regarding the site's controversial racism- and abuse-related community "subreddits." He said, "we don't have any obligation to support them." In the brief announcement, Huffman explains that a robust content policy is something they have "been thinking about for quite some time" and is in the cards in the near future. It has also come to light via former CEO Yishan Wong that ousted interim boss Ellen Pao was one of the few defenders of the controversial subreddits, favoring a strategy of coexistence over the board's plan to eliminate problem communities. Wong blames another co-founder, Alexis Ohanian, for strategy changes that led to the firing of "Ask Me Anything" administrator Victoria Taylor whose unexpected absence crippled that component of the site.

9 of 581 comments (clear)

  1. For an alternative by Yosho · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If you're interested in a Reddit-like site that won't arbitrarily close your subreddit and shadowban you because they don't like what you're talking about, voat.co is shaping up pretty nicely.

    --
    Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
    1. Re:For an alternative by LaurenCates · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The same Founding Fathers that owned slaves and being so imperfect likely held what we would probably consider politically incorrect beliefs?

      For instance, I have no trouble believing that Benjamin Franklin was, in the common parlance, an "incorrigible poon-hound".

      So, even if they didn't engage in that sort of behavior, I'm sure they at least ribbed each other with a joke or two of the variety.

      I daresay they may have even had a good laugh about this sort of thing if they could see it.

      --
      Some people don't believe in fairies. I don't believe in The Patriarchy.
    2. Re:For an alternative by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1, Interesting

      That's probably Reddit's plan. Push all the abuse and rage onto Voat, watch it turn into a festering cesspit like 8chan and keep the good stuff for themselves.

      A quick look at Voat's subs suggests that it is working. The mainstream ones like IAMA are pretty dead, certainly nothing like the Reddit versions, but the fat people hate and GamerGate boards are booming. Smart move by Reddit there. Like 4chan before them, it probably won't hurt them at all once the shitstorm dies down.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    3. Re:For an alternative by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Advertisers won't want to go near a site where their ads could potentially end up on /rFatPeopleHate or next to stolen nude photos of a 16 year old gymnast. By pushing those guys over to Voat, Reddit has not only made itself advertiser friendly but also managed to poison Voat's potential ad revenue in the process. Voat may not care for now, but one day they will need to make money, at which point they will have to offload those users on to the next sucker.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  2. MOAH POPCORN by squiggleslash · · Score: 1, Interesting

    This would be amusing if there wasn't so much awfulness in what people are doing.

    So... a virtual lynchmob went after Pao because they decided she must be an "SJW" because she once sued a former employer for sexual harassment. They interpreted a closure of a subreddit that was harassing people in real life as being content based, and by Pao, because they assumed that was what a straw-SJW would do. When a popular employee was subsequently fired, Pao's attackers assumed it must have been her that did it, because the previous day there'd been a not-terrible-pleasant IAMA with Jesse Jackson, and as a straw-SJW, Pao would be very upset that Reddit might have possibly offended Jackson. This theory made no sense whatsoever, but the virtual lynchings got worse anyway.

    And it turns out that Pao was supporting them all along - that is, arguing against a board that did actively want to remove the more offensive subreddits, and not actually the person who pushed out the fired employee.

    I'm seeing a hell of a lot of people who:

    1. Label someone who says something that makes them slightly uncomfortable an "SJW".
    2. Assume that because their victim is an SJW (because they labelled them one), they must be a straw-SJW
    3. Ascribing positions and acts to their victims, misinterpreting the words they say, and creating the most absurd conspiracy theories about their victims, simply because that's what a straw-SJW would do.

    Maybe the outrageous way Pao was dealt with will make a few people stop and think about the wisdom of that. Unfortunately, I suspect many will just dig further, unable or at least reluctant to question their assumptions, for fear that their behaviour might have been wrong.

    --
    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  3. Hmmm Huffman by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/02/reddit-co-founder-alexis-ohanians-rosy-outlook-on-the-future-of-politics/3/

    Speaking of the founding fathers, I ask him what he thinks they would have thought of Reddit.

    "A bastion of free speech on the World Wide Web? I bet they would like it," he replies. It's the digital form of political pamplets.

  4. Reddit is a Business with Business Needs by eepok · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I hate the idea of major sites like Reddit, Fark, etc. giving up what made them popular: being a sanctuary for people to communicate things as they see fit. But I also accept that once an online community becomes sufficiently large, they will need to:

    (1) Bring in revenue to support the people maintaining the site and to pay for the hardware/bandwidth required to actually have a site to support.
    (2) Those who provide revenue will impose requirements upon the site that will erode what previously defined the community.
    (3) When a community gets sufficiently large, they attract people who weren't part of the original concept and they will demand to be catered to. This will require further erosion of the community's core principles to facilitate because, since revenue's needed, those managing the community must make everyone feel welcomed.
    (4) Be ready for lawsuits from people who do not accept the original principles, but want to be part of the community regardless.

    This happens with ALL communities and this looks to be Reddit's semi-collapse. Reddit won't die-- not by a long shot. But many will leave and what made Reddit most distinctive from other sites will be watered down. That's called death by success.

  5. Obligatory XKCD by coldsalmon · · Score: 1, Interesting

    https://xkcd.com/1357/

  6. Re:No Free Speech by geekd · · Score: 3, Interesting

    No. The first thing anyone should do when they join Reddit is *unsubscribe* to the defaults. Then subscribe to ones they are actually interested in.

    I though this was common knowledge, but I guess it is not, because I see statements like yours all the time.