created by spez on 05/06/2020 at 19:04 UTC
40924 upvotes, 91 top-level comments (showing 25)
After watching people across the country mourn and demand an end to centuries of murder and violent discrimination against Black people, I wanted to speak out. I wanted to do this both as a human being, who sees this grief and pain and knows I have been spared from it myself because of the color of my skin, and as someone who literally has a platform and, with it, a duty to speak out.
Earlier this week, I wrote an email to our company addressing this crisis and a few ways Reddit will respond. When we shared it, many of the responses said something like, “How can a company that has faced racism from users on its own platform over the years credibly take such a position?”
These questions, which I know are coming from a place of real pain and which I take to heart, are really a statement: There is an unacceptable gap between our beliefs as people and a company, and what you see in our content policy.
Over the last fifteen years, hundreds of millions of people have come to Reddit for things that I believe are fundamentally good: user-driven communities—across a wider spectrum of interests and passions than I could’ve imagined when we first created subreddits—and the kinds of content and conversations that keep people coming back day after day. It's why we come to Reddit as users, as mods, and as employees who want to bring this sort of community and belonging to the world and make it better daily.
However, as Reddit has grown, alongside much good, it is facing its own challenges around hate and racism. We have to acknowledge and accept responsibility for the role we have played. Here are three problems we are most focused on:
We are already working to fix these problems, and this is a promise for more urgency. Our current content policy[1] is effectively nine rules for what you cannot do on Reddit. In many respects, it’s served us well. Under it, we have made meaningful progress cleaning up the platform (and done so without undermining the free expression and authenticity that fuels Reddit). That said, we still have work to do. This current policy lists only what you cannot do, articulates none of the values behind the rules, and does not explicitly take a stance on hate or racism.
1: https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy
We will update our content policy to include a vision for Reddit and its communities to aspire to, a statement on hate, the context for the rules, and a principle that Reddit isn’t to be used as a weapon. We have details to work through, and while we will move quickly, I do want to be thoughtful and also gather feedback from our moderators (through our Mod Councils). With more moderator engagement, the timeline is weeks, not months.
And just this morning, Alexis Ohanian (u/kn0thing), my Reddit cofounder, announced that he is resigning from our board and that he wishes for his seat to be filled with a Black candidate, a request that the board and I will honor. We thank Alexis for this meaningful gesture and all that he’s done for us over the years.
At the risk of making this unreadably long, I'd like to take this moment to share how we got here in the first place, where we have made progress, and where, despite our best intentions, we have fallen short.
In the early days of Reddit, 2005–2006, our idealistic “policy” was that, excluding spam, we would not remove content. We were small and did not face many hard decisions. When this ideal was tested, we banned racist users[2] anyway. In the end, we acted based on our beliefs, despite our “policy.”
I left Reddit from 2010–2015. During this time, in addition to rapid user growth, Reddit’s no-removal policy ossified[3] and its content policy took no position on hate[4].
3: https://redditblog.com/2014/09/06/every-man-is-responsible-for-his-own-soul/
4: https://web.archive.org/web/20150710230652/https://www.reddit.com/rules/
When I returned in 2015, my top priority was creating a content policy to do two things: deal with hateful communities I had been immediately confronted with (like r/CoonTown, which was explicitly designed to spread racist hate) and provide a clear policy of what’s acceptable on Reddit and what’s not. We banned that community and others[5] because they were “making Reddit worse” but were not clear and direct about their role in sowing hate. We crafted our 2015 policy[6] around behaviors adjacent to hate that were actionable and objective: violence and harassment, because we struggled to create a definition of hate and racism that we could defend and enforce at our scale. Through continual updates to these policies 2017[7], 2018[8], 2019[9], 2020[10] (and a broader definition of violence), we have removed thousands of hateful communities.
5: https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/3fx2au/content_policy_update/ctsqobs/
6: https://web.archive.org/web/20150806171017/https://www.reddit.com/help/contentpolicy
While we dealt with many communities themselves, we still did not provide the clarity—and it showed, both in our enforcement and in confusion about where we stand. In 2018, I confusingly said racism is not against the rules, but also isn’t welcome on Reddit[11]. This gap between our content policy and our values has eroded our effectiveness in combating hate and racism on Reddit; I accept full responsibility for this.
11: https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/3fx2au/content_policy_update/ctsqobs/
This inconsistency has hurt our trust with our users and moderators and has made us slow to respond to problems. This was also true with r/the_donald, a community that relished in exploiting and detracting from the best of Reddit and that is now nearly disintegrated on their own accord. As we looked to our policies, “Breaking Reddit” was not a sufficient explanation for actioning a political subreddit, and I fear we let being technically correct get in the way of doing the right thing. Clearly, we should have quarantined it sooner.
The majority of our top communities have a rule banning hate and racism, which makes us proud, and is evidence why a community-led approach is the only way to scale moderation online[12]. That said, this is not a rule communities should have to write for themselves and we need to rebalance the burden of enforcement. I also accept responsibility for this.
Despite making significant progress over the years, we have to turn a mirror on ourselves and be willing to do the hard work of making sure we are living up to our values in our product and policies. This is a significant moment. We have a choice: return to the status quo or use this opportunity for change. We at Reddit are opting for the latter, and we will do our very best to be a part of the progress.
I will be sticking around for a while to answer questions as usual, but I also know that our policies and actions will speak louder than our comments.
Thanks,
Steve
Comment by Rand_alThor_ at 06/06/2020 at 23:02 UTC*
102 upvotes, 0 direct replies
The era of free speech on the internet is soon over. And with how much of speech is only online, with that, the era of free speech in our time is also soon over. May God help us through the times to come that will be ruled by tyrants.
You all understand that Stalin started off trying to make the world a better place for the millions of poor and starving in his country. And that Mao was trying to cast off the shackles of imperialist racist dominance? You all know this. These tools will be used against us in no time but a few decades.
I will be barred from criticizing not the next Trump, but the one after, for fear of job, family, future, ostracization, or worse. I’ve seen this happen in a country before and I know where it leads. When you are too fearful to speak up next time, know that at least you had good intentions. They were just corrupted, taken over, and abused. I’ve had to see smiling bearded men take over my country. Sometimes these things are inevitable. And the freedoms and standards of our time are the exception, not the norm.
We must all stand against racism. But we know that the true danger of racism is tyranny. Tyranny that will be inflicted upon a group based on factors outside of their control. Based on lies and divisions and hate. As racism has always led to. We do not know where this mission we have launched will go, but I hope for all of our sakes that we can steer it true for a while longer. And at least achieve our aim of improving the lives of the marginalized before we fall into it.
Thank you for giving up on an rare and fleeting ideal and spurring this change. When it bites your kids you can at least tell them that you did it for the right reasons. For that, I cannot fault you. You were at least better this cycle than the last. Much better.
Comment by GoldieArgent at 06/06/2020 at 09:11 UTC
676 upvotes, 8 direct replies
As a black man, i gotta say this is some BS. People wanna point out MLK but his most famous speech was about judging people not by their skin color (their race) but by their character (their own ethics and values). How does replacing a white man with a black man change anything here? It doesn't. "Weel need diversity" and "the more diverse something is the better it is", how? I can paint a painting in complete black and white and it'll be fine, bob ross did it and it was fine. If i wanted to paint the same painting but more accurately, with colours, that would also be fine. It's a matter of opinion, who's to say one is better than the other? It just depends on the situation. Can having diversity be great? Yes. Can it also be bad? Yes.
((Having multuple different professors of the same subject try to solve an equation can lead to it never being solved, but if you introduce a mathmetician, physicist, chemist, etc. to the same problem they can interpret it in multiple ways and find a solution due to their different approaches to examining and solving.problems. However, the opposite is also true. Having too much diversity when it is not needed can lead to too much confusion and the equation never being solved when you could have had a bunch of mathmeticians and only them try to solve an equation and they solve it lickety split.))
That doesn't make sense. We want race to not be an issue but it keeps getting shoved in our face everyday, even before george floyd, before trayvon martin, etc. We can't be seen as equals until we stop getting told how better or worse than we are by others because of our race, because posts like this keep coming up and pointing it out "in support". Only when the perpetrator is white and the victim is a minority do these issues come up. By the way, i don't like being called a minority, never have never will. Anyway, not to sound like a hippie, just stop this fake inclusiveness nonsense.
Like I've said since I've been a child, why can't people just do good?
Comment by [deleted] at 05/06/2020 at 21:08 UTC
797 upvotes, 3 direct replies
Holy freaking shit this was a bunch of basically meaningless jaw wagging with so little substance behind it.
I wonder how long the reddit PR team worked on this little dandy.
Comment by prosecutor_mom at 05/06/2020 at 20:41 UTC
432 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Serious question: how does Kn0thing stepping down to be replaced by a black person have a visible impact on any minority community? Are many people aware of the race or ethnicity of fellow Reddittors? Is there a way to use Reddit that automatically & involuntarily betrays a user's race/ethnicity akin to us seeing people IRL & observing physical characteristics?
I understand addressing hate, but isn't the hate stemming from *expressed opinions*? Since this is a digital community, can we really know *why* the hate was spewed (ie, recipient's color of skin vs. color of opinion)?
Truly asking. Our current use of the internet to communicate is brand spanking new to humanity in general, so I'm sure there are relevant issues here I'm just not aware of.
Comment by babyiceprincess12 at 06/06/2020 at 00:54 UTC
1264 upvotes, 9 direct replies
I’m Korean and Black. My first question is why does racism always mean black vs white? This is the cause of the day and everyone suddenly cares. You’ll never fix racism because you can’t change people. Why does electing someone black mean you are automatically working on racism? Instead of giving up your seat to someone based on skin color, which is the very definition of racism, why don’t you do the hard job of continuing to work on the problem? The easy way is to quit and let someone else do it. It’s tiresome to hear about how racism is going to be fixed by outside forces, it will never be fixed by anyone other than the person who is racist. They are the only ones who can decide to change their beliefs. All of these symbolic gestures are happening now because there is a public uproar. After this has died down we’ll all move on to something else. Anyone remember Rodney King? All the actions people took afterwards really changed racism didn’t it? The public “look at me, I care about you because of your skin color, even though I didn’t care last week” needs to stop. If you’re not racist then stop apologizing or taking actions to not look guilty. It doesn’t fix anything. If you like the kudos from taking meaningless action, then congrats, you did a great job! Keep up the public perception changes that look great on paper and do nothing to change what’s inside.
Comment by rainwulf at 05/06/2020 at 21:59 UTC
29 upvotes, 1 direct replies
You know what would be nice? The ability to call up corrupt moderators on their behaviour. I have been banned from a multiple of subs for some reason, and in the "ban message" it says "please respond to this message for more information" and then when i do, i get muted as well.
How is that fair and ok for the mods to do? Quite a lot of people, fairly, or unfairly, run amok of the mods, fine. But then you get muted, how do you address your ban? I went to the subreddit of modcorruption and got banned and muted there as well, because surprise surprise, the mod that banned me also runs that sub. Its such a corrupt system, who do you go to when the mods themselves are power hungry assholes?
Comment by Arsennio at 05/06/2020 at 20:26 UTC
713 upvotes, 2 direct replies
As somebody who has had quite a few comments and a full post removed without a notification to me, the mods of the sub I was in, or even the comment marked as removed, I have a really hard time seeing this as anything other than a way of saying "see we have a black friend" and deflecting. Shadow moderation cannot be allowed. My most recent post in r/wgu was removed. I had to contact a moderator to have it reinstated.
I see this site as having minimal transparency at all. I have seen a LOT of lip service from moderators (some great mods though) and a personal agenda being enforced across many subs.
Do something real. Stop telling people their concerns are wrong because of some crocked up, generalized, bullshit statistic. Do some actual review and get a grasp on the problem here. Your denial is exactly the problem here and a "token black guy" isn't going to convince us you aren't racist.
Comment by [deleted] at 05/06/2020 at 19:10 UTC
6024 upvotes, 10 direct replies
[deleted]
Comment by SpecificEnergy at 05/06/2020 at 21:43 UTC
28 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Define "racism." Is it when Blacks support other Blacks? Asians support other Asians? Or only when Whites support other Whites? It is not just some de facto anti-White concept?
Will /WhitePeopleTwitter be removed?
Comment by [deleted] at 05/06/2020 at 19:11 UTC*
2213 upvotes, 2 direct replies
[deleted]
Comment by Comput3rn3rd at 05/06/2020 at 19:32 UTC
3376 upvotes, 6 direct replies
Hello, fellow Black People. It is us, [Another Non Political Subreddit]. Here to remind you that we support your colour, now that it has made it into international news and it is completely socially safe to mention you, allowing for us to capitalise on your existence now it's mainstream. Look, we even used the hashtag of [event]! Why did we wait this long to come out and 'support' you? Haha, no more questions, Black People. Buy our product. Buy our product. BUY OUR PRODUCT.
Comment by schwuoop at 06/06/2020 at 00:04 UTC
159 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Oh sweet now when do we get to see u/spez resign?
Comment by morgunus at 06/06/2020 at 02:21 UTC
50 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I can't be the only one who thinks this whole post is really racist and self masturbatory. So what I just read was "we don't think there are any black people who could do the job of directing reddit. So we decided to have someone resign so we can take some black person who we care so little about we arnt going to explain his or her accomplishments because they don't matter. We just want to shove a black person in there to signal to everyone how great we are. Now we here is some racism we have seen. We agree racism is bad. So let's pander to the black community to make us look less racist."
That is really fucking demeaning to black people they don't need your pity points. There are perfectly capable people of all skin colors that could do this job on thier own merit thier skin color should be the Least important part of the hire. The fact that you are using some ones skin color to virtue signal is disgusting and demeaning to your new hire. Whoever it is deserves better than this treatment they deserve to be recognized for their skills and capabilities.
Comment by [deleted] at 05/06/2020 at 21:50 UTC
133 upvotes, 2 direct replies
[removed]
Comment by 420dogecoins at 05/06/2020 at 20:14 UTC
970 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Reddit continues to censor dissent about China, but pretends to care about this injustice.
How cute. Let's see how many gullible people eat this up.
Comment by Erestyn at 05/06/2020 at 19:13 UTC
10881 upvotes, 5 direct replies
Do you ever feel like you're just using words for the sake of it?
Comment by Georgy_K_Zhukov at 05/06/2020 at 19:09 UTC*
12925 upvotes, 7 direct replies
through our Mod Councils
How do I get on this? This is an issue that is very near, and dear to /r/AskHistorians and we would like to be involved in this.
Comment by CheapGear at 05/06/2020 at 19:34 UTC
1363 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Does no one find this INCREDIBLY racist and demeaning? Hey, new guy, you only got the job because of your skin color and because we needed to virtue signal like every company is doing to show how "progressive" we are. This is frankly one of the most regressive things I've ever seen.
Comment by [deleted] at 06/06/2020 at 11:28 UTC
112 upvotes, 1 direct replies
[deleted]
Comment by IAmAnAnonymousCoward at 05/06/2020 at 19:17 UTC
3068 upvotes, 3 direct replies
u/kn0thing has resigned from our board to fill his seat with a Black candidate, a request we will honor.
I'm sure the black person you choose will be thrilled to know you've chosen him because of his skin color.
Comment by Bloodrush19405 at 05/06/2020 at 20:17 UTC*
678 upvotes, 5 direct replies
Did you just give your own post these awards? I don't think people are stupid enough to give this idiotic post an award.
Firstly, the lack of awareness here is beyond my imagination. You are looking for a person with a specific skin colour. Do you realise how racist that is? Imagine when that guy gets choosen he will feel so baaadd, because he got chosen because of his colour and not his skills.
Secondly, why are admins not responding to people asking the real questions? What are the admins doing to protect the users against the power mods? Why are their no restriction s on the power mods? They can ban anyone they **WANT**, without facing any consequences. Isn't that against reddit rules? So please tell me u/spez, do you have any answers for my question? Keep your answer to the point, don't twist it.
Comment by ChocolateMemeCow at 05/06/2020 at 22:04 UTC
124 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Basically admitting to not following your own stated policy, and are now being explicit that you want a different policy.
Reddit in general, is progressively becoming a worse platform for free speech and ideas; you can see this in the mod cabals, power consolidation, propagandizing, and arbitrary and unequal enforcement of rules. These changes will not develop into anything virtuous, and will probably just be a tool for more people who love to go power tripping. It's very easy to conflate something you don't like with something that spreads hate.
Fuck racism, but also fuck Reddit.
Comment by cooldude5500 at 05/06/2020 at 19:10 UTC*
5019 upvotes, 6 direct replies
As an outsider, "u/kn0thing has resigned from our board to fill his seat with a Black candidate" is such an odd statement to read? If I was hired in this position I'd always have a nagging feeling that I was never hired for my skill.
Edit since this is getting some traction: stop "legally geoblocking" subreddits in India you cowards
Comment by SezmoTheBanEvader at 06/06/2020 at 00:45 UTC
63 upvotes, 1 direct replies
This is more bullshit marketing tactics. Dont fall for it. If they gave a damn this post would never have to have been made and allowing mods to arbitrarily remove posts and comments with no appeals process belies their anti censorship statement. I mod my own communities but you wouldnt know it because I am constantly banned for the mist arbitrary reasons hatred not being one of them. These liars are once again using a social movement to try and up their profit margins pretending to defend free speech as they betray it. I dont believe a fucking word these corporate monkeys say and neither should you. This is empty rhetoric at its finest. They will continue to ban people like me who are guilty of honesty that no one likes while allowing hateful mods and subreddits to flourish.
Comment by [deleted] at 05/06/2020 at 20:43 UTC*
105 upvotes, 1 direct replies
[deleted]