Social forum website Reddit began a purge of conservative groups this week as “The_Donald,” the platforms’ most popular forum supportive of President Trump, was removed from the site.
The company says that it is taking aim at users and groups that promote “hate.”
Under the company’s terms of service, “promoting hate based on identity or vulnerability” is grounds for deplatforming.
Reddit’s definition of vulnerable groups, as listed in its terms of service, include but are not limited to “groups based on their actual and perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, immigration status, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, or disability. These include victims of a major violent event and their families.”
Interestingly Reddit does not include all people in this group (emphasis added).
“While the rule on hate protects such groups, it does not protect all groups or all forms of identity. For example, the rule does not protect groups of people who are in the majority or who promote such attacks of hate.”
While not naming white people directly, the company seems to be targeting them with their thinly veiled description “people who are in the majority.” How many other “groups” are in the “majority” I would ask?
Major social media companies have been censoring the President, and also, increasingly, his supporters for weeks and the practice looks to only grow more frequent and acute as the election approaches.