Reddit admins have warned the moderators of the pro-Trump subreddit The Donald that there will be “further consequences” unless they moderate discussions around the alleged impeachment whistleblower more heavily.
In a message sent to the community’s moderators, Reddit’s admins suggested that there had been a “dramatic rise” in “posts that do nothing more than attempt to focus mob attention on this alleged individual.” They added that “this systematic harassment must stop immediately” or “there will be further consequences for your subreddit.”
Members of The Donald have responded to the message by saying nothing in the community was harassing or focusing mob attention and suggesting that this is another opportunity for Reddit admins to put a mark against the community’s name.
Others have pointed out that this appears to be counter to Reddit’s previous statements on the impeachment whistleblower where the company said it wouldn’t censor the alleged impeachment whistleblower’s name.
Online censorship of discussions around the whistleblower’s name has been widely criticized. Not only do many feel that prohibiting mentions of the name is suppressing a newsworthy topic but the name itself has been widely known on the internet for some time. It’s been published by several media outlets, shared on Fox News, stated by public figures, and listed in government documents.
Despite this, Facebook and YouTube are aggressively scrubbing mentions of the whistleblower’s name from their platforms. Twitter says it allows the name to be mentioned on its platform but has removed several posts that mention the impeachment whistleblower.
Not only does this message to the moderators of The Donald appear to be yet another example of big tech censoring the alleged whistleblower’s name but the threat of “further consequences” after The Donald has already been quarantined has many users worried that Reddit admins are looking for an excuse to shut down the community.
