created by Reddit-Policy on 21/03/2018 at 17:24 UTC*
0 upvotes, 97 top-level comments (showing 25)
Hello All—
We want to let you know that we have made a new addition to our content policy[1] forbidding transactions for certain goods and services. As of today, users may not use Reddit to solicit or facilitate any transaction or gift involving certain goods and services, including:
1: https://www.reddit.com/help/contentpolicy
When considering a gift or transaction of goods or services not prohibited by this policy, keep in mind that **Reddit is not intended to be used as a marketplace and takes no responsibility for any transactions individual users might decide to undertake in spite of this**. Always remember: you are dealing with strangers on the internet.
EDIT: Thanks for the questions everyone. We're signing off for now but may drop back in later. We know this represents a change and we're going to do our best to help folks understand what this means. You can always feel free to send any specific questions to the admins here[2].
2: https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/reddit.com
Comment by [deleted] at 21/03/2018 at 19:03 UTC
4769 upvotes, 5 direct replies
Drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, or any controlled substances (**except advertisements placed in accordance with our advertising policy**);
Thanks for that second part, I was almost worried that I wouldn't be able to see the exact same stupid, unwanted, unblockable promoted ad for that stupid wine company run by two MIT grads that no one gives a shit about every time that I scroll through Reddit on mobile for more than 30 seconds.
Comment by krdshrk at 21/03/2018 at 18:04 UTC
1185 upvotes, 6 direct replies
As a moderator of /r/cigars, does this completely curtail any contests or giveaways, including cigar-related accessories? We have monthly trades and gifts that run, as well as using the Reddit API for tracking of previous trades/gifts for flair and trustworthiness verification.
This is such an overall broad restriction - please let us know how this affects us directly. It looks like it's removing one of the main things that brings our /r/cigars sub together - monthly themed trades, trading for hard to find items, gifts, and contests.
Comment by lifelongfreshman at 21/03/2018 at 18:10 UTC
3964 upvotes, 7 direct replies
Hah! Technically, the Secret Santa violates this new policy. Personal information must be exchanged for people to get their gifts, and there's no way to know if alcohol or tobacco products are sent.
Taking bets on whether or not the Secret Santa exchange gets shut down this year. Probably not, because it's reddit^^TM official^^TM and therefore not subject to the rules they are making, but hey. I thought it was funny to bring up.
Comment by [deleted] at 23/03/2018 at 09:40 UTC
366 upvotes, 1 direct replies
[removed]
Comment by theDeadliestSnatch at 21/03/2018 at 20:27 UTC
2977 upvotes, 6 direct replies
To quote u/spez
We don’t take banning subs lightly. Each sub is reviewed by a human—and in some cases, a team of humans—before it is banned for a content policy violation. In cases where a sub’s sole purpose is in direct violation of our policies (i.e. sharing of involuntary porn), we will ban a sub outright. But generally before banning, we attempt to work with the mods to clarify our expectations and policies regarding what content is welcome.
Communities do evolve over time, sometimes positively and sometimes negatively, so we do need to re-review communities from time to time, which is what's going on in this case. Revenue isn't a factor.
https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/827zqc/z/dv8da62
2 Weeks later, ban subs they disagree with without talking to those subs mods.
Comment by DoctorKamikaze at 21/03/2018 at 20:35 UTC
2348 upvotes, 6 direct replies
This was from /u/spez 15 days ago Here[1]:
We don’t take banning subs lightly. Each sub is reviewed by a human—and in some cases, a team of humans—before it is banned for a content policy violation. In cases where a sub’s sole purpose is in direct violation of our policies (i.e. sharing of involuntary porn), we will ban a sub outright. But generally before banning, we attempt to work with the mods to clarify our expectations and policies regarding what content is welcome.
Communities do evolve over time, sometimes positively and sometimes negatively, so we do need to re-review communities from time to time, which is what's going on in this case. Revenue isn't a factor.
How do you reconcile this action with that of what he has said in just the last two weeks? Your actions are showing exactly what is a factor and what isn't...
It sounds like you had 0 conversations with any of these mods; and frankly it's becoming absolute bullshit.
Comment by [deleted] at 21/03/2018 at 18:03 UTC*
2637 upvotes, 4 direct replies
I ran one of the subs you just removed. While I completely understand your reasons for updating your policy, would it have been unreasonable to ask for a little notice? these subs have thousands of active members who've just been displaced with no notice whatsoever, and left with no means of migrating elsewhere. shame on you.
Comment by [deleted] at 21/03/2018 at 18:12 UTC
946 upvotes, 2 direct replies
[deleted]
Comment by ThaddeusJP at 21/03/2018 at 18:43 UTC*
4247 upvotes, 22 direct replies
Banned by my count:
/r/cigarmarket
/r/scotchswap
/r/beermarket
/r/beertrade
/r/gundeals - UNBANNED AND OPEN AGAIN PUBLICLY APRIL 1ST
/r/pipetobaccomarket
/r/Stealing - Well yeah, I get this
/r/shoplifting - Finally
What am I missing?
Edits:
/r/canadagunsEE
r/rcsources
/r/gunsforsale
/r/airsoftmarket
/r/fakeid
/r/darknetmarkets
/r/dnstars
/r/DarkWEBforum
/r/SecretSniper
/r/BrassSwap
/r/gundealsFU
/r/DankNation
/r/DIY_Classifieds
/r/DNMAus
/r/ardeals
/r/AKMarketplace
/r/noveldissos
/r/xanaxcartel
/r/gunnitforward
/r/darknetmarketindia
/r/DarkNetMarketsNO
/r/darknetmarketsOZ
/r/airsoftmarketcanada
/r/gun_deals
/r/swapsell
/r/KratomCowboys
/r/DBZDokkanMarketplace
/r/morethanetizolam
/r/clonazolam
/r/weeddeals
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Updated: 03-23-18 - some were banned over a week ago however
/r/ejuice
/r/cagunexchange
/r/maleescorts
/r/SugarDaddy
/r/SugarBabies
/r/hookers
/r/escorts
/r/ccfraud
/r/fairtomiddling
/r/DarkMarketsBrasil
/r/darkweb
/r/shopliftingrp
/r/rcsources
/r/noveldissos
/r/CBDflower
/r/sanctionedsuicide
/r/SteroidSourceTalk
/r/wickr
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edit Edit: There are a TON of Dark Net Market (DNM) subs, too many to list, that were banned. Prob 15+.
Edit again: I dont even know what half this stuff is!
Edit from the grave: more updates
Edit 4-16-17: seeing now gun deals was unbanned.
Comment by seanmharcailin at 21/03/2018 at 17:26 UTC
2654 upvotes, 4 direct replies
So do things like beer swaps fall under this? It’s nice to be able to trade local brews with people who have other local brews.
Comment by [deleted] at 21/03/2018 at 18:06 UTC
495 upvotes, 2 direct replies
[deleted]
Comment by The_Alaskan at 21/03/2018 at 17:45 UTC
1184 upvotes, 3 direct replies
Is this because Congress is about to pass changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996[1]?
Comment by erichie at 21/03/2018 at 23:12 UTC*
1542 upvotes, 4 direct replies
This is really, really stupid. I don't participate in any of those subs, but this is a huge issue for me. I remember when I found Reddit in 2010 and the most likable thing about it was the "hands-off" policy. Reddit was able to be multiple different things with multiple different groups with multiple different political ideology. It wasn't the cesspool that 4chan was and it wasn't the higher-ups pushing what they wanted like Digg and it wasn't a social network like Facebook. It was Reddit where you can peer into cultures that you had no idea that existed.
This is so stupid. Really. For the first time in the 8 years when I have been visiting Reddit on an almost daily basis I want something better to come along. There used to be no other site like it. It was a site for adults, but it never crossed that threshold (as a whole) like 4chan.
I can't find the quote but in early Reddit days one of the founders said something similar to 'As long as a sub isn't breaking a federal law we will let it be. The moment we ban subs for any reason besides illegal activity would be the beginning of the end for Reddit.'
Congratulations. You just let a bunch of people who only care about limiting others fun dictate what this site does.
Yes, I know that those topics haven't been banned, but part of those topics have been banned. As an example, if I want to talk about American Football and the Philadelphia Eagles, but talk about the Eagles is banned but football isn't than I will locate somewhere where I can talk about football and the Eagles.
Comment by Shadilay_Were_Off at 21/03/2018 at 18:28 UTC*
1315 upvotes, 4 direct replies
Why the group account? None of the people at HQ want to stand behind a massively unpopular, unnecessary decision?
God, you people get more and more spineless every day. I hope your company crashes, burns, and gets bought by a raider for pennies on the dollar, the pieces scattered to the wind, and every manager gets to live with the stigma of killing what was formerly the front page of the internet rather than tell outragemongers to go screw themselves.
Fuck Reddit, fuck /u/spez (since this is *your* decision at the end of the day), and fuck your craven, gutless, cowardly inability to stand up to words on a screen when they're not full-throated praise.
Edit: Double fuck /u/spez for suspending me for this.
Comment by spez_ruined_reddit at 21/03/2018 at 18:14 UTC
347 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Does this include Reddit selling users' data? How about astroturfing campaigns by companies? Will this prohibit subs being sold out to "Media Matters"? Legitimate questions.
Comment by [deleted] at 21/03/2018 at 18:53 UTC*
286 upvotes, 1 direct replies
[deleted]
Comment by volkl47 at 22/03/2018 at 01:19 UTC
61 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Every time I turn off my ad blocker for a while and think about buying gold, you go and do something like this. Thanks for saving me money, I guess.
You know what would be great? If Reddit could **ever** manage to make any sort of big policy change in a coherent and non-arbitrary way. You no longer want to be involved in certain things. I may disagree with a bunch of those, but that's fine, I guess.
But why is Reddit's response always to just ban a bunch of things in a ham-handed fashion with no notice to their communities beforehand? You could have accomplished the same thing by telling /r/scotchswap that trading alcohol is no longer going to be allowed on Reddit rather than banning the sub. They could move their community off the site to somewhere else in an orderly fashion, and you'd have far less discontent.
Not to mention banning subs which don't even appear to violate this new policy. Why not at least *try* to talk to those subs and mods before banning them?
This sort of thing is why the users of this site perpetually distrust you and regularly show their dislike of how it's administered.
Comment by DownvoteEveryCat at 21/03/2018 at 19:16 UTC
1113 upvotes, 2 direct replies
So basically, you made up a seemingly reasonable policy to ban the sale of things that almost never get sold on Reddit and are all illegal. You added in a blanket "firearms, ammunition, and explosives" as if normal people dealing in the first and second ever dabble in the third.
Then you use what looks like a reasonable rule to prevent non-existent illegal activity to justify the banning of /r/gundeals, which tangentially touches on the one legal thing in your rule, but does NOT actually solicit or facilitate transactions, and doesn't actually violate the new "reasonable" rule.
This is complete bullshit, reddit. Even for you, this is shameful. Fuck you.
Comment by DannyDawg at 21/03/2018 at 17:26 UTC
2125 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Does this also include novelty accounts that are solely up for the purposes of selling some kind of merchandise or service?
Comment by [deleted] at 21/03/2018 at 18:31 UTC*
787 upvotes, 3 direct replies
[deleted]
Comment by neuromorph at 21/03/2018 at 18:27 UTC*
1880 upvotes, 10 direct replies
You have banned /r/gundeals
Did you give mods a chance to remove firearms listing from their submissions? That sub offered significantly more than just firearms, ammunition, and explosive transactions. in fact no transactions were coordinated between users in that sub. It was no different than a couponing sub.
Nothing was user to user.
Please reevaluate that sub ban, since firearm accessories are a large part of that community.
Comment by PM_ME_FAT_FURRYGIRLS at 21/03/2018 at 17:41 UTC*
647 upvotes, 3 direct replies
Is there going to be any time to "clean up" subs that participate in these kinds of things? /r/beertrade has already been banned, but subs like /r/cigars have massive trading communities within their sub. Will these big subs have time to update their policies and ban trading, or are you going to just shut them down ASAP like /r/beertrade?
Edit: Received an answer to this here[1]. Subs that are not "primarily functioning as marketplaces" are not being banned, but admins will "work with them" to stop all trading.
Comment by cascer1 at 21/03/2018 at 19:41 UTC
300 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Our users in r/diabetes sometimes offer to give eachother spare insulin or other diabetic supplies such as infusion sets, test strips, lancets, and injection needles. As far as I'm aware, these aren't controlled substances so the policy change wouldn't apply to those submissions.
I believe that we have saved several lives with some of the generous gifts our members have given, and think it would be bad if this were to become forbidden.
We'd be happy to include the disclaimer that you included in your post too, to make sure people understand these transactions are not the responsibility of reddit in any case.
Comment by reddit_oar at 21/03/2018 at 18:33 UTC
161 upvotes, 0 direct replies
If reddit is not intended to be used as a marketplace or exchange service then why does reddit have a Secret Santa gift exchange hosted by the company? It seems you are endorsing using the tools of reddit to exchange goods with other users. You can't know what is being sent so why allow only the reddit sponsored exchange but end community driven ones?
Comment by [deleted] at 22/03/2018 at 15:18 UTC
198 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Reddit just wants to be Facebook Jr^TM but doesn’t understand that nobody wants another Facebook. We don’t even want the fucking Facebook we have. Reddit *used* to be an open place where I could see news and current events, some top notch pornographic content, and participate in discussion about things that I like. Many of the things I like, don’t have sizeable, active groups online. Let’s say for example I like guns, I like making knives, I like building furniture, I like shaving with a straight razor, and I like brewing beer. Outside of reddit, I’d have to be a member of many different forums and sites. Reddit kind of brought the internet together for me. There’s lots of people, discussing anything and everything imaginable. I’m pretty sure this whole deal is just reddit being political on the gun issue. I don’t think alcohol or tobacco had a damn thing to do with this, but that’s just an opinion. I’ve only been on reddit for a couple years, but just in that time, I’ve seen reddit continually slip further and further away from what it’s users want. We don’t want a goddam Facebook. Fuck Facebook, fuck advertisements, fuck censorship, fuck political agendas, fuck the constant redesign of the site to a shittier and shittier format. The longer I stay on reddit, the more I realize that it’s just a waste of my time. You’re slowly taking away the only thing that made reddit different and worth my time. I’m just ranting. Farewell reddit! Go fuck yourself in the ass with that roll of dollar bills you love so much. I’m done.