Reddit Finally Bans Pro-Trump Subreddit For Hate Speech


is cracking down on hate speech.

On Monday, popular social media site banned ‘r/The_Donald,’ a subreddit thread dedicated to discussing Donald Trump, as part a sitewide purge over 2,000 groups that were in violation the site’s rules. 

This move marks a stark change in the discussion-based site’s policy. The site has previously given more leeway to groups and individuals in regards to censoring content. Announced on Monday, an amended content policy explicitly states that groups or individuals that “incite violence or that promote hate based on identity or vulnerability” are forbidden. “Everyone has a right to use free harassment, bullying, and threats violence,” the new policy states. 

The r/The_Donald forum is infamous for having users post racist, misogynistic, Islamaphobic, and anti-Semitic content. At one point, the group had nearly 800,000 active users. The group had already been ‘quarantined’ by the site in 2019 before receiving an ficial ban. 

In a post regarding the new policy, CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman acknowledged that he had fallen short in supporting users by not having a comprehensive anti-hate policy. Huffman added, “We are committed to working with you to combat the bad actors, abusive behaviors, and toxic communities that undermine our mission and exist solely to get in the way the creativity, discussions, and communities that bring us all to in the first place.”

“All communities on must abide by our content policy in good faith,” Huffman continued. He also explained that The_Donald was banned “because it has not done so, despite every opportunity. The community has consistently hosted and upvoted more rule-breaking content than average” and “antagonized us and other communities.”

As 2020, the site is the 19th-most-visited website in the world, according to Alexa Internet.