When failed discrimination plaintiff Ellen Pao was appointed CEO of Reddit last January, many predicted that it would herald a new age of censorship on the link-sharing and discussion site. Those predictions appear to have come true, as a number of communities on the site (known as “subreddits”) have just been unilaterally shut down.



The sudden move resulted in the removal of one popular subreddit, /r/fatpeoplehate, which until its closure was the 13th-most active community on Reddit. The subreddit was dedicated to mocking fat people and the “fat acceptance” movement, although it was not known for engaging in any off-site harassment. Other Redditors have cited the subreddit as an important source of motivation to maintain a healthier lifestyle.



The crackdown came after a week of censorship on Reddit, including the mass deletions of links to media stories and even satirical cartoons concerning CEO Ellen Pao. There was also a bizarre incident in which a moderator of a gaming community demanded a user write a 500-word essay on trans acceptance before being unbanned. The user’s crime was using the word “trap”: a common, but not derogatory, term of Internet slang to describe crossdressers. Despite protestations from transwomen who said they were not offended, the moderator refused to relent.



There are early indications that the Reddit admins may have finally crossed the Rubicon on the road to alienating their user base. User activity on their main competitor, Voat.co had been rising steadily since social media censorship became an issue during the #GamerGate controversy, but in the past few hours their figures have skyrocketed. At the time of writing, there are over 3,700 active users on Voat’s alternative to /r/fatpeoplehate —almost double its number of subscribers.

Roosh absolutely called this one after Pao was appointed CEO. Ruled by SJWs, Reddit is a dead site walking The lesson that conservatives and even liberals have to learn is that there can be no toleration for SJWs. There can be no support for SJW organizations and institutions. Their entryists must be guarded against. The prideful, self-centered declaration that you are above all cultural war and will nobly go down to graceful defeat rather than dirty yourself by choosing a side doesn't mean that you have higher ideals and standards, it means that you are observably stupid and self-defeating.Fence-sitting doesn't make you a better person. Especially when the fence is in the process of being knocked down by SJW bulldozers.

Labels: media, SJW