Reddit banned a subreddit dedicated to tracking alleged hate crime hoaxes on the same day the platform removed a subreddit in June devoted to President Donald Trump.
Reddit users who keep tabs on potential hate crime hoaxes via the popular subreddit are met with a label notifying them that “r/hatecrimehoaxes has been banned from Reddit.” The page also notes that the page was banned for “violating Reddit’s rule against promoting hate.”
Screenshot of Reddit banning a subreddit tracking hate crime hoaxes (Screenshot/Reddit)
Another subreddit where users post about alleged hate crime hoaxes, r/hoaxhatecrimes, has 2,800 members and is still live. (RELATED: Reddit Bans Influential Pro-Trump Subreddit, Citing Repeated Policy Violations)
Reddit has not yet responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment on what led to the decision.
There have been several instances of hate crime hoaxes going viral during Trump’s first term in office, including one in which liberal actor Jussie Smollett allegedly staged a racist and anti-gay attack on himself in 2019 to create the impression that Trump supporters assaulted him because of his sexual orientation and skin color.
The platform also removed “The_Donald,” a subreddit where posted memes and viral videos expressing support for Trump. More than 790,000 Reddit accounts used that subreddit.
A Reddit executive told reporters in June that the group’s decision to allow people to target and harass others prompted the ban.
The company restricted the pro-Trump forum in 2019, citing months of “rule-breaking behavior” and language supposedly inciting violence.
Company executives said there is still a place for Trump supporters and conservatives on Reddit. “There’s a home on Reddit for conservatives, there’s a home on Reddit for liberals,” Benjamin Lee, Reddit’s general counsel, told reporters. “There’s a home on Reddit for Donald Trump.”
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