Reddit groups ban Xlink in protest of Musk’s support

More than 100 Reddit communities have banned users from posting links to X in protest of boss Elon Musk’s controversial hand gesture at a rally celebrating Donald Trump’s return to office.

The billionaire raised his hand straight up twice, thanking the crowd for “making this happen.”

Critics, including some historians, said it was a Nazi salute – Mr Musk has rejected thisSaying that comparisons with Hitler are “tired” and a “dirty trick”.

However, many Reddit users have been affected by his response, calling his actions “disgusting”, prompting moderators of several communities – or subreddits – to stop the content being shared on X.

The BBC has contacted Axe and Reddit for comment.

The Reddit community relies heavily on moderation, where unpaid individuals known as Redditors decide what is – and what is not – allowed to be published on their corner of the website.

They moderate subreddits, the name given to a forum within the Reddit platform that is effectively a community of people who gather to discuss a particular interest.

Since the controversy began, dozens of those subreddits have decided not to link to content on X, potentially reducing traffic and engagement.

The largest subreddits to implement bans include the basketball community r/NBA, which has 15 million members, the female-focused community r/TwoXchromosomes, which has 14 million members, and the American football community r/NFL, which has 12 million members.

It’s worth remembering that subreddits are almost always run by fans — that doesn’t mean that NFL or NBA organizations are taking a stance against Musk.

The BBC has independently verified that at least 100 subreddits have banned X posts.

Of this number, more than 60 have at least 100,000 members.

But considering small subreddits with only a few thousand members, the actual number of bans is likely much higher.

And there are many communities discussing possible blacklisting.

Subreddits run by fans of football clubs Liverpool, Celtic and Tottenham Hotspur have all been banned, as have communities for several American sports sides as well as Formula 1.

Subreddits where residents of many cities and countries around the world gather – from New Jersey to South Korea – have also blocked X’s posts.

And gamers have been among those calling for bans on video games including Baldur’s Gate 3 and World of Warcraft.

But while blacklisting may have first started in some of these communities, it’s now popping up in a variety of places where people are coming together to discuss all kinds of topics, from RuPaul’s Drag Race to Disneyland and even the military. gather for.

While most subreddits discussing the ban are in favor of it, there are some who are in denial.

For example the moderator of the Main community says They will not impose restrictions as long as “the state maintains official accounts there”.

And who runs a group for people in British Columbia He said they are simply “not doing censorship here”.

Although there are many subreddits that already do not allow posts from social media, subreddits built specifically around professional sports can have a big impact on referrals to X.

This is because sports subreddits typically get a lot of content from links to athletes, analysts, and journalists who spend a lot of time posting online.

For example, the top two most popular posts of all time on the NBA subreddit are screenshots from X, while three of the top ten most popular posts of all time on the AEW wrestling subreddit are screenshots from the platform.

And it’s a similar story on gaming subreddits, with the top posts on the Animal Crossing and Kingdom Hearts communities both being screenshots of X.

But that doesn’t mean the restrictions will necessarily be permanent — Reddit is known for this kind of community movement in protest of broader issues, which doesn’t always work.

In 2023, Thousands of communities “plunged into darkness” To oppose changes in how the platform is being run.

Following comments from disgruntled users, some of the largest Reddit communities began allowing only photos and videos of comedian John Oliver.

But this proved short-lived.

Eventually the communities became mostly publicly available again, and Reddit’s plan ultimately proved financially profitable – the platform. Later successfully listed On the New York Stock Exchange.