April Fools’ is traditionally a day where websites post lighthearted jokes and pranks. However, the mods of r/Games on Reddit didn’t get the memo and have closed down the entire subreddit in an attempt to “stymie the flow of regressive ideas and prevent them from ever becoming the norm.”
r/Games is one of the largest video game related subreddits with over 1.6 million subscribers. Most people subscribe to get video game related updates so this politically motivated decision from the moderators is proving very unpopular.
In their post about the shut down of r/Games for April Fools’, the mods say that the “regressive ideas” they want to stop include certain memes that the mods find offensive, undefined discriminatory practices, and any kind of phobia you can imagine:
Though certain memes (such as “gamers rise up”) surrounding gaming are largely viewed as a humorous interpretation of a mindset, at the core of the humor is a set of very serious issues that affect all gaming enthusiasts. By showing disdain or outright rejecting minority and marginalized communities, we become more insular. In this, we lose out on the chance to not only show compassion to these people, but also the chance to grow our own community and diversify the demographics of those involved in it. Whether it’s misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, racism or a host of other discriminatory practices, now is the time to stymie the flow of regressive ideas and prevent them from ever becoming the norm.
The mods then go on to say that banning those that they deem to be perpetrators and removing offensive content isn’t enough and that they need to shed some light on this “growing, pervasive issue” by shutting down the subreddit for the day.
They follow this by:
- Providing a number of examples of what they deem to be “awful comments”
- Asking the community to “come together and be a more wholesome, accepting community”
- Asking the community to contribute to a number of LGBT+ charities, POC-focused charities, and women’s health charities
While the mods of r/Games may for some reason feel that using April Fools’ as an opportunity to push their SJW politics in a subreddit that’s meant to be dedicated to video games is a great idea, people outside the subreddit don’t agree.
This decision from the r/Games moderators may not be aligned with the fun nature of April Fools’ and it has absolutely nothing to with gaming but on the flip side, it’s probably going to win the prize for the most off base April Fool of 2019.
