Reddit Just Banned 2 'Alt-Right' Communities

Reddit is known for its "Ask Me Anything" event forums—but "Tell Everyone Everything" and you may get your category banned. The Verge reports that the site nixed two subreddits that feature "alt-right" content (far-right content that often stresses white identity) amid accusations of doxing, or when personal or confidential information about someone is spilled online. Head over to the r/altright or r/alternativeright pages and a notice appears indicating the community has been banned for "violating the Reddit rules." Gizmodo notes that a few hundred people have already created a substitute gathering spot on Voat, a site that CNET has described as wanting to be the "anti-Reddit."

Whispers on that same site have suggested the person who was doxed was the person who famously punched white nationalist Richard Spencer last month in a video that's since gone viral. A statement from Reddit notes it wants to be a "welcoming, open platform," it doesn't want "content that harasses or invites harassment," and that at least one of the bans (for r/altright) was the result of "repeated violations of the terms of our content policy." Engadget suggests blame, then, lies with the moderators, who either "couldn't or wouldn't" smack down inappropriate postings. (Cadillac recently tiptoed back from an "alt-right" casting call put out in its name.)