Redditors’ response to Reddit’s new anti-harassment policy justifies policy’s existence

Reddit has long been the id of the Internet, with loosely-regulated subcommunities allowing redditors to find a space to post more or less whatever they wanted, however gross, hateful or threatening. In a step designed to push back against some of its users’ more egregious absuses, Reddit CEO Ellen Pao announced last week that the website will begin to enforce an anti-harassment policy, and has since shut down 5 subreddits found to be in violation. To quote her statement:

Our goal is to enable as many people as possible to have authentic conversations and share ideas and content on an open platform. We want as little involvement as possible in managing these interactions but will be involved when needed to protect privacy and free expression, and to prevent harassment.

It is not easy to balance these values, especially as the Internet evolves. We are learning and hopefully improving as we move forward. We want to be open about our involvement: We will ban subreddits that allow their communities to use the subreddit as a platform to harass individuals when moderators don’t take action. We’re banning behavior, not ideas.


No more bullying or harassment? New rules for a private website guiding behavior but not restricting the free flow of ideas?

Basic anti-harassment standards have proven to be a non-starter for many redditors, who took to the streets of Reddit with their eloquent critiques:

The repetition is an attempt to boost posts' search engine ranking.

The repetition is an attempt to boost posts’ search engine ranking.

And they wonder why they’re being told they aren’t allowed to harass users anymore.

It is strange that people would feel that they are unable to speak freely on a website that still hasn’t removed /r/CuteFemaleCorpses (the link is to an article, not that subreddit, which I would strongly advise you not to check out). After all, if you are willing to call someone a Nazi after they tell you that you can’t use their website to fat shame, you have seriously misunderstood the concept of free speech. As this classic XKCD comic points out:

Original comic here.

Original comic here.

Reddit isn’t violating anyone’s right to free speech. If anything, it is exercising its own right to speech by deciding what it will and will not tolerate on its website. While those standards have changed over the years, Reddit has always maintained some, albeit few, restrictions on what one can or cannot post on their website.

It is true that Reddit’s standards have historically been very lax — and that remains the case. It is true that the guiding philosophy of Reddit has always been to err on the side of allowing the users to express themselves in any way they like, but harassment for harassment’s sake is a bridge too far.

Reddit (original image via Wikimedia Commons)

Reddit (original image via Wikimedia Commons)

If we were to be generous to the redditors who are fighting for their right to hate on the Internet, we would at least ask where the lines are drawn. In other words, what is and is not “harassment”? Will these new regulations on Reddit pave the way for more strict policies down the road?

Reddit is a successful company, and like most successful companies, they know their audience. They know that the reason we go to Reddit is not to be chained down by the ideology of the owners, it is to freely and anonymously state our opinions without having to put up with the immaturity of places like 4chan. They are willing to bear a small firestorm of rage for the sake of protecting its users from harassment, but there is no reason to believe that they will further pursue anything resembling real censorship. If they did they would have a real PR problem on their hands which would make this one look like a cakewalk, and there is no reason to believe, and many reasons not to believe, that they want that.

Everyone needs to chill out.

Max Mills is a 26 year old Texan with a degree in Computer Science. Although he writes about a variety of things, his main focuses are education and political accountability. You can follow him on Twitter at @MaxFMills

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15 Responses to “Redditors’ response to Reddit’s new anti-harassment policy justifies policy’s existence”

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  2. hidflect says:

    Chairman Pao (as she’s called and depicted) has come along and changed what Reddit was about. There’s already plenty of Disney-esque websites. Reddit was largely for all the witty cynics, smart-alecs and trolls to hang out in.

  3. heimaey says:

    True. But that’s what it was founded on and that’s who built it up – a lot of it anyway.

  4. Nelson Kerr says:

    But reddit has no obligation to pay for that place.

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  6. Almida mavis says:

  7. Thom Allen says:

    What’s takin’ y’all so long? It’s already been 150 years. Though I do believe all y’all DID win the battle of Jade Helm 15. You scairt off all them gummint troops. ;^)

  8. Zorba says:

    LOL! K, you forget to say “Well, bless your heart!” ;-)

  9. 2karmanot says:

    “The South will rise again!” Well, may be, the good Lawd will’un, but when it rises higher than a snail’s trail ya’ll let us know. #Ms Sarletsnark

  10. BeccaM says:

    Yeah, well, lots of people mistake free speech for the right to go into someone else’s home or place of business and take a big steaming dump in the middle of the floor — and not to be kicked out for doing so.

    Or to put it less scatologically, if you own a soapbox, you’re not obliged to loan or rent it to whoever wanders along. Reddit’s problem right now is they’ve been loaning their soapboxes to Nazis and bigots and haters of all kinds for a long time now, and the haters never take being shut down well.

  11. heimaey says:

    I disagree – there should be a place for people to be assholes so you can watch them.

  12. dcinsider says:

    Is Reddit that thing that looks like the Internet in 1992? Endless postings about nonsense in a textual style that makes it impossible to read? Just wondering.

  13. emjayay says:

    What is Pinterest, what does it mean if someone Pins something…and why should I care?

  14. nicho says:

    What is Reddit and why do I care?

  15. Max Mills says:

    Jon edited out my “y’all”

    Jon is being ethnocentric!!

    Arrogant Northerners! The South will rise again! We’ll do it! Don’t test us!

    (Jk :P Jon is great)
