Tom Gerken
Technology journalist
Getty Images
More than 100 Reddit communities have banned users from posting links to X to protest owner Elon Musk’s controversial gesture at a rally celebrating Donald Trump’s return to power.
The billionaire twice extended his arm while thanking the crowd for “making this possible.”
Critics, including some historians, have said it was a Nazi salute – Mr Musk rejected this, saying comparisons to Hitler were “tired” and “dirty”.
However, many Reddit users were not convinced by his response calling his actions “hateful”, leading moderators of many communities – or subreddits – to stop sharing content on X.
The BBC has contacted X and Reddit for comment.
Reddit relies heavily on community moderation, where unpaid individuals known as Redditors decide what is – and is not – allowed to be posted in their own corner of the website.
They moderate subreddits, the name given to a forum within the Reddit platform which is actually a community of people who come together to discuss a particular interest.
Since the controversy broke out, dozens of these subreddits have decided not to link to content on X, potentially reducing traffic and engagement.
The largest subreddits to enforce the ban include the basketball community r/NBA, which has 15 million members, the female-focused community r/TwoXChromosomes, which has 14 million members, and the football community American r/NFL, which has 12 million members.
It’s worth remembering that subreddits are almost always run by fans – that doesn’t mean the NFL or NBA organizations are taking a stand against Musk.
The BBC independently verified that at least 100 subreddits had banned X-rated posts.
Of these, more than 60 have at least 100,000 members.
But the actual number of those who instituted the ban will likely be much higher when taking into account smaller subreddits with only a few thousand members.
And many other communities are discussing possible blacklisting.
Who and why?
Fan-run subreddits for Liverpool, Celtic and Tottenham Hotspur football clubs have all instituted bans, as have communities for many American sports teams as well as Formula 1.
Subreddits where residents of many cities and countries around the world gather – ranging from New Jersey to South Korea – have also blocked posts about X.
And gamers are also among those banning video games, including Baldur’s Gate 3 and World of Warcraft.
But while the blacklist may have started in some of these communities, it’s now popping up in various places where people gather to discuss all kinds of topics, from RuPaul’s Drag Race to Disneyland and even the military.
Although the vast majority of subreddits discussing a ban are in favor of it, some have refused.
Maine’s community moderators say, for example, that they won’t implement a ban as long as “the state maintains official accounts.”
And those who lead a group for British Columbians said they simply don’t “do censorship here.”
Is this important?
While there are many subreddits that already ban social media posts, those built around professional sports in particular can have a big impact on referrals to X.
This is because sports subreddits typically receive a lot of content from links to athletes, analysts, and journalists who spend a lot of time posting online.
For example, the two most popular posts of all time on the NBA subreddits are screenshots taken from screenshots of the platform.
And gaming subreddits have a similar story, with top posts from the Animal Crossing and Kingdom Hearts communities both screenshots of X.
But that doesn’t mean the bans will necessarily be permanent: Reddit is known for this type of community movement to protest broader issues, which doesn’t always work.
In 2023, thousands of communities “went dark” to challenge changes to how the platform was run.
Some of Reddit’s largest communities then began allowing only photos and videos of comedian John Oliver, following comments from disgruntled users.
But this proved short-lived.
Eventually, most communities became publicly available again, and Reddit’s plan ultimately proved financially beneficial – the platform was later successfully listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
