Reddit Permanently Bans Pro-Trump Forum in Massive Hate Speech Crackdown
Reddit shuts down The_Donald, a subreddit of nearly 800,000 users, after determining the community cannot police its abusive content. The ban is part of a wider policy update that removes roughly 2,000 communities for violating new hate speech rules.
Reddit officially bans The_Donald, a massive forum with nearly 800,000 ardent Trump fans, after determining that the community repeatedly violates platform rules against harassment and hate speech. The company states that the volunteer moderators fail to adequately police abusive material, prompting the permanent shutdown of a subreddit that frequently features conspiracy theories and attacks on the president's critics. Even President Trump himself has historically shared memes that originate from this online community.
This decisive action occurs as part of a massive platform-wide crackdown on hate speech, with Reddit introducing eight new content rules and banning approximately 2,000 communities. The sweep is not limited to right-leaning spaces, as the left-leaning political forum Chapo Trap House also faces a ban for rule violations. However, Reddit notes that the vast majority of the removed subreddits are already completely inactive.
The updated policies explicitly prohibit specific types of harmful content, such as mocking people with physical disabilities or describing racial minorities as sub-human. Reddit emphasizes that its platform exists to create community and belonging rather than to attack marginalized or vulnerable groups of people. The company insists that every user has a fundamental right to experience the website free from bullying, harassment, and threats of violence.