Reddit Is Changing Its Policy On "Unfettered Free Speech"

Reddit is changing for the better (but perhaps to the anger of millions of users).

New CEO Steve Huffman has revealed what will and won’t be tolerated on the site during an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session, in response to recent complaints.

“As Reddit has grown, we’ve seen additional examples of how unfettered free speech can make Reddit a less enjoyable place to visit, and can even cause people harm outside of Reddit,” Huffman wrote.

Here’s what is now prohibited on Reddit, according to Huffman:

• Spam
• Anything illegal (i.e. things that are actually illegal, such as copyrighted material. Discussing illegal activities, such as drug use, is not illegal)
• Publication of someone’s private and confidential information
• Anything that incites harm or violence against an individual or group of people (it's ok to say "I don't like this group of people." It's not ok to say, "I'm going to kill this group of people.")
• Anything that harasses, bullies, or abuses an individual or group of people (these behaviors intimidate others into silence)
• Sexually suggestive content featuring minors

Huffman also warned that the era of Reddit’s “really dark side” would be coming to an end, with its most distasteful subreddits being shuttered.

Earlier in the year, Reddit banned “non-consensual pornography” as well.

Many of these conditions could have been helpful in the heat of the Gamergate controversy that struck Reddit in 2014, when female game critics – and any outspoken supporters – were having their personal details shared online (a process called “doxing”) and threatened in unspeakable fashion.

Though many Reddit users will welcome the new restrictions – and likely would never have even considered crossing those lines – there are no doubt plenty who would prefer Reddit remain Wild West-like in its freedoms.

How this will alter Reddit’s standing as the 10th most trafficked website in the United States is unknown.

Still, should it take a hit in viewership, Reddit might at last rejoin civilisation by not giving the internet’s worst trolls enough oxygen to legitimately torment innocent people (whether they be female gamers, or bystanders mistaken for terrorists), and allow the rest of us to read Channing Tatum’s cheerful AMAs in peace.

That is, if they'll even police those who break those aforementioned rules. Reddit has already pledged to keep one of their most distasteful, inexcusable subreddits, in spite of the new policy.

Last week, former CEO Ellen Pao stepped down after she angered users by not being transparent enough regarding the firing of AMA facilitator Victoria Taylor.

In an op-ed for The Washington Post, she took aim at internet trolls, noting, “Fully 40 per cent of online users have experienced bullying harassment and intimidation… Not surprisingly, women and minorities have it worst.”

“We were naive in our initial expectations for the Internet… We focused on the huge opportunity for positive interaction and information sharing,” she continued.

“We did not understand how people could use it to harm others.

“In the battle for the Internet, the power of humanity to overcome hate gives me hope. I’m rooting for the humans over the trolls. I know we can win.”