Reddit is taking aim at some media heavyweights to reduce spam on the site.

The popular link-sharing site has banned a half-dozen prominent sites, including TheAtlantic.com and BusinessWeek.com, according to a recently created subreddit. Other banned sites include Phys.org, ScienceDaily.com, and GlobalPost.

Reddit users who try to submit links to these sites are greeted with a message that informs them that "this domain has been banned for spamming and/or cheating."

The site announced a crackdown on spammers last week but only specifically mentioned that it would now employ link shorteners:

Some domains are not allowed on any part of reddit because they are spammy, malicious, or involved in cheating shenanigans. Attempting to submit a link to one of these domains will now fail with an informative error message.



We're initially rolling this out for link shorteners which have long been discouraged on reddit as they conceal the true destination of the link.

The action appears to be related to an alleged spamming operation conducted by TheAtlantic's social media editor, Jared Keller, according to a Daily Dot report. Keller was reportedly kicked off the site for his actions.

CNET has contacted Reddit for comment and will update this report when we learn more.

A Reddit ban could prove very damaging for Web sites that depend on the thousands of visitors the link-sharing site can deliver on a daily basis.