After Years of Complaints, Reddit Finally Bans Neo-Nazis, Other Hate Groups

Following accusations that it assists white supremacists, Reddit updated its guidelines to ban Nazi and other hate groups, saying they incite violence.

Reddit admin landoflobsters explained the shift, posting:

"[W]e found that the policy regarding 'inciting' violence was too vague, and so we have made an effort to adjust it to be more clear and comprehensive. Going forward, we will take action against any content that encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm against an individual or a group of people; likewise, we will also take action against content that glorifies or encourages the abuse of animals. This applies to ALL content on Reddit, including memes, CSS/community styling, flair, subreddit names, and usernames."

At least seven communities have been taken off Reddit since the policy change, including r/Nazi, r/NationalSocialism, r/whitesarecriminals, and r/EuropeanNationalism, reports Gizmodo. Some of these communities had nearly 7,000 subscribers. Also r/SexWithHorses, a bestiality group has been struck down.

Many speculate that this is a reaction to the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Va., when many claimed Reddit's loose guidelines allowed a forum for white supremacists to connect and spread their message. Former Reddit CEO Yishan Wong defended the site's laisse fairre approach back in 2012:

"We stand for free speech. This means we are not going to ban distasteful subreddits. We will not ban legal content even if we find it odious or if we personally condemn it."