Reddit group banned as consumer spat with Musk intensifies

Reddit has quickly banned one among its communities – and eliminated one other – after X proprietor Elon Musk claimed feedback made by the location’s customers about his workers have been breaking the regulation.

The r/WhitePeopleTwitter subreddit, which usually invitations folks to share humorous posts from X, has been banned for 72 hours after some customers posted feedback calling for violence in opposition to members of the Musk-led Division of Authorities Effectivity (Doge).

They have been responding to reviews which steered some Doge employees have been granted entry to delicate private data of hundreds of thousands of People.

Musk – who often champions his dedication to free speech – shared a put up on X containing the feedback, and said: “they’ve damaged the regulation”.

The subreddit was banned quickly afterwards.

Reddit declined to remark, however directed the RAYNAE to a public put up it had made following the ban.

“Over the previous couple of days, we have seen a rise in content material in a number of communities that violate Reddit Guidelines,” the put up reads.

“Debate and dissent are welcome on Reddit – threats and doxing are usually not.”

Musk has beforehand criticised authorized motion being taken in opposition to folks for making feedback on-line.

In 2024, he responded to a video of an individual purportedly being arrested for offensive feedback on-line by asking “is that this Britain or the Soviet Union?”.

Tensions have escalated between the billionaire and Reddit customers in latest weeks, after greater than 100 subreddits banned customers from posting hyperlinks to X in protest at Musk’s controversial arm gesture at a rally celebrating Donald Trump’s return to workplace.

The billionaire twice prolonged his arm out straight as he thanked the gang for “making it occur” – critics, together with some historians, mentioned it was a Nazi salute, whereas Musk dismissed that, saying comparisons with Hitler have been “drained” and “soiled tips”.

The moderators of the r/WhitePeopleTwitter subreddit eliminated most of the offending feedback after they grew to become publicised, however this was not sufficient to forestall a short lived ban.

Any try and entry the subreddit now shows a message studying that it has been “quickly banned because of a prevalence of violent content material”.

“Inciting and glorifying violence or doxing are in opposition to Reddit’s platform-wide guidelines,” it states, including the subreddit will reopen in 72 hours.

Reddit has additionally taken motion to difficulty a subreddit entitled r/IsElonDeadYet – wherein a consumer posted near-daily that Musk had not handed away – with a everlasting ban.

The posts got here in response to strikes being reportedly made by the Doge – which isn’t a authorities division, however a crew inside the administration.

The crew has been given the job of radically lowering regulation and federal authorities spending.

US media has reported the Trump administration gave Musk’s deputies entry to the federal funds system that controls the circulate of trillions of {dollars} in authorities funds yearly.

It has led to backlash on-line with folks criticising the choice, and the names of the Doge employees concerned being shared publicly.

However the motion taken by Reddit might not have been solely associated to Musk’s feedback.

On Monday, a prosecutor appointed by Trump mentioned the FBI was investigating the “focusing on” of Doge employees.

“Our preliminary evaluate of the proof offered to us signifies that sure people and/or teams have dedicated acts that seem to violate the regulation in focusing on Doge workers,” mentioned United States Legal professional for the District of Columbia Edward Martin.

In a letter to Musk he posted on X, Mr Martin mentioned he would “not tolerate threats in opposition to Does staff or law-breaking by the disgruntled”.

“Any threats, confrontations, or different actions in any manner that affect their work might break quite a few legal guidelines,” he wrote.

“We’ll pursue any and all authorized motion in opposition to anybody who impedes your work or threatens your folks.”