Unpaid and Abused: Moderators Speak Out Against Reddit (engadget.com)

In a joint investigation, Engadget and Point spoke to 10 Reddit moderators, and all of them complained that Reddit is systematically failing to tackle the abuse they suffer. Keeping the front page of the internet clean has become a thankless and abusive task, and yet Reddit's administration has repeatedly neglected to respond to moderators who report offenses. From the report: "I've had a few death threats," said Emily, who asked to be referred to by her first name and her Reddit username, lolihull, to prevent the online harassment from spilling over into her real life. [...] "I had three death threats this past month," said abrownn, who moderates r/Futurology, with more than 13 million subscribers, and r/technology, with more than 6 million subscribers. abrownn asked only to be known by their username. All the moderators interviewed confirmed they had received death threats, which they said can take a toll.

[...] It's hard to pin down how many moderators there are: Even the moderators themselves don't know, but most estimate their numbers are into the tens of thousands. Some spend hours each day working for free on the site. Whatever the actual figure, they far outnumber the higher-ranking and paid administrators, whose job it is to respond to the evidence that the moderators collect.

Comments

Well?

[Anonymous Coward]

SJW anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Re:Why so many death threats?

[Anonymous Coward]

Also, if someone sends a death threat after having been banned from a subreddit, then it seems likely that the ban was justified.

Europe...

[DrYak]

These days when n'erdowells make a death threat, their method of implementation is called SWATing, and no kind of weapon helps here, since they're relying on panicking law enforcement with a fake call.

You know, there still exist some countries, where the police hasn't felt the need to turn themselves into some kind of military branch.

And as long as you're not actively shooting at police, it will never cross their mind to take out their weapons.

Re:Why so many death threats?

[Wolfrider]

> an online death threat is the internetâ(TM)s equivalent of a strongly worded letter to the editor

-Bullshit. People that think like this are PART OF THE PROBLEM. Would you be OK if someone doxxed you and threatened you, your family/dog -- online or otherwise? If it's committed in writing, it is an Actionable Offense. Writing is much stronger than verbal, because the writer ALWAYS has the option to modify their speech before sending - or not send it at all. Someone makes a death threat to me, my friends, family, whatever - I'll be showing up to their door after I find them, like Jay and Silent Bob.