Reddit is one of the most popular websites in the world, so it's unsurprising that a subreddit about the coronavirus has more than 600,000 members.

However, the popular subreddit and other coronavirus-related content have seemingly been left unchecked and unfiltered by Reddit.

Reddit's website doesn't display or prioritize any verified information from official health organizations, like the CDC and the WHO, unlike other major platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Amazon.

Reddit has faced criticism before for the actions of its communities, particularly for a type of vigilante investigation common on the platform. Reddit users were held responsible for incorrectly identifying a 22-year-old college student as one of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.

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As millions of people flock to social platforms to find the latest on the coronavirus outbreak, Reddit is one of the last to hold out on providing and prioritizing verified information from health officials for its users.

Reddit users have clamored to several coronavirus-related subreddits, including r/coronavirus, which has more than 600,000 members. However, information-hungry users are getting little help from the platform in directing them toward accurate and up-to-date news from official sources such as the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Aside from Reddit, many major websites and platforms have ensured that links to official health organizations appear at the top of search results for coronavirus-related queries. Reddit's lack of action raises concerns about what the platform is doing to prevent the proliferation of misinformation, an issue the Reddit community and its army of amateur sleuths have run into before — with serious consequences.

Nearly 100,000 people have contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus that originated in China and has since spread to at least 86 countries. Fears about getting the illness have led to shortages of face masks, the cancellation of major conferences and events, and even an economic meltdown.

Social networks including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and TikTok have stuck notes and pop-up windows with links to the CDC and the WHO at the top of search results, with many describing the move as a way to prevent the spread of misinformation. E-commerce marketplaces like Amazon, where many have gone to stock up on face masks and hand sanitizer, have also implemented similar pop-ups and guidance.

The results when you search "coronavirus" on Reddit. Reddit

Reddit declined to provide an on-the-record statement to Business Insider, but it directed users to a Monday blog post advertising the platform's ask-me-anything sessions with doctors and experts.

Without links to official coronavirus information, a Reddit search about it brings up a slew of posts citing sketchy sources, linking to unverified social-media posts, and making bold — and fearmongering — claims. One coronavirus-related post shared in r/unpopularopinion with nearly 40,000 upvotes blatantly forwards a racist belief related to the disease.

Redditors have responded to the need for information by launching a network of subreddits for users to share and retrieve the latest news stories, reports, and headcounts of affected people. There's r/coronavirus, which has more than 600,000 members and was apparently the fastest-growing subreddit on the platform as of Thursday. There's also r/China_flu and r/COVID19, which each have tens of thousands of members.

In an effort to provide accurate information, moderators of some of these subreddits have added links to useful resources and implemented forum rules about not sharing sensational, unverified, or unreliable sources, The Hill reported in early February. Some are experts and Ph.D. students, according to The Hill — one said he spent hours a day removing misinformation from the r/China_flu subreddit.

However, The Hill described the moderators as saying Reddit is still "rife with coronavirus-related misinformation."

These subreddits lack official oversight. Scrolling through posts in r/coronavirus, Business Insider found several claims about newly reported outbreaks and the number of deaths. That's not to mention the various discussion threads where Redditors can share opinions, and the moderator-run coronavirus Discord group, where its 10,000 members are free to share conspiracy theories and debate safety tips.

A former r/coronavirus moderator told Vice that Reddit's moderation system was "insufficient" in preventing the spread of coronavirus misinformation.

That hasn't stopped Reddit itself from promoting the r/coronavirus subreddit in banners on the platform's main page and directing users there for the latest updates.

Some of the posts found in r/China_flu, a popular subreddit for coronavirus information. Reddit

At least two subreddits — r/Wuhan_flu and r/coronavirusconspiracy — have been "quarantined" by Reddit for containing misinformation and "hoax content." The quarantine means that these subreddits won't appear in users' search and recommendation results and that Redditors are required to opt in to view their content.

Both of these quarantined subreddits feature banners at the top linking to the CDC, though none of the other major coronavirus subreddits features such a banner.

Vice's deep dive into content on r/Wuhan_flu found that the subreddit was full of "unvetted information, conspiracy theory, and paranoia." Users in the group have gone as far as accusing some moderators of the other coronavirus-related subreddits of being "Chinese Communist Party shills" who are censoring information.

As one of the 20 most popular websites in the world, Reddit has been at the forefront of disseminating news. However, its prominence means it can play a significant role in spreading misinformation if it doesn't take precautions to stifle it.

Perhaps the best-known example of Reddit's power is from 2013, in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing. A group of Redditors turned amateur sleuths took it upon themselves to identify the suspects and zeroed in on a 22-year-old missing student, claiming he looked similar to photos of one suspect. Redditors and high-profile journalists were quick to share the name of the student, Sunil Tripathi, who was later found dead and cleared of any wrongdoing. Reddit later issued a public apology to Tripathi's family.