Reddit updates hate speech policy, bans subreddits including The_Donald

Reddit updated its policies against hate speech Monday and banned 2,000 communities or “subreddits,” including one devoted to President Trump.

The forum r/The_Donald had over 700,000 users, although activity had declined on it since the 2016 election. Several of the most popular posts on the forum on Monday morning were months old.

The new policy explicitly bans subreddits and users that “promote hate based on identity or vulnerability.”

“All communities on Reddit must abide by our content policy in good faith. We banned r/The_Donald because it has not done so, despite every opportunity,” the company wrote in a post announcing the changes.

“The community has consistently hosted and upvoted more rule-breaking content than average, antagonized us and other communities, and its mods have refused to meet our most basic expectations. Until now, we’ve worked in good faith to help them preserve the community as a space for its users—through warnings, mod changes, quarantining, and more.”

The community, which was created in the run-up to the 2016 election, has a history of hateful posts and conspiracy theories.

It has been influential, with some content created on it ending up on Trump’s Twitter account.

Reddit had previously been “quarantined,” making the community harder for users to stumble upon it in searches.

Among the 2,000 subreddits banned, only 200 had more than 10 daily users.

Among the more active communities banned Monday was r/ChapoTrapHouse, a forum dedicated to the leftist podcast of the same name.

“Though smaller, r/ChapoTrapHouse was banned for similar reasons: They consistently host rule-breaking content and their mods have demonstrated no intention of reining in their community,” Reddit’s post reads.

“To be clear, views across the political spectrum are allowed on Reddit — but all communities must work within our policies and do so in good faith, without exception.”

Reddit’s new policy comes amid rising pressure on social media companies to act hateful content.

Facebook, for example, has come under intense scrutiny from lawmakers and civil rights leaders for its hands-off approach to content from Trump.

The platform last week announced it would begin labeling posts from political figures if they break policies after dozens of companies joined a Facebook advertising boycott.