After X owner Elon Musk made a hand gesture on Monday that many people said resembled a Nazi salute, a protest movement erupted on the social media platform Reddit.
NBC News identified more than 50 subreddit communities where moderators have since announced that links from X, formerly Twitter, would no longer be allowed in new posts and comments. The protesting communities number between tens and millions of members, for a total of at least 40 million members. Typically, only a fraction of these members are active, especially in older or larger subreddits. There are around 100,000 active subreddits on the platform.
In many posts announcing the new rules, moderators specifically mentioned the salute incident, which took place at a rally after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
“Last night at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, Tesla CEO and well-known far-right figure Elon Musk showed the world who he really is and performed a full Nazi salute to Sieg Heil, not once, but twice,” we can read in the press release. in the subreddit for “Destiny 2,” an online game that has more than 900,000 members. “Here at r/destiny2 we do not tolerate Nazis. Anyone who utters Nazi ideology or hate speech is and always will be permanently banned on sight, without possibility of appeal.
During his speech at the post-inauguration rally, Musk said the 2024 election “really matters” and thanked the crowd “for making this possible,” before placing his right hand on his chest, then extend his arm, palm down, in a gesture. angle upwards. He then turned around and made the same gesture and said, “My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured.
Musk called allegations that he performed a Nazi salute “pure propaganda” and “dirty tricks.” When the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that fights anti-Semitism, wrote that Musk “made an awkward gesture” that was “not a Nazi salute,” Musk responded, “Thanks guys,” with a laughing emoji.
Some of the subreddit’s other announcement posts referenced Musk’s appearance at a rally as well as the political environment on X, citing unmoderated hate speech and pro-Nazi content on the platform, as well as Musk’s personal endorsement of far-right figures and political views. Some announcements also referred to the fact that X posts are no longer visible without logging into an account. Many communities have said that posting screenshots of posts on X is still allowed.
Not allowing links to Some moderators explained that the ban was intended to encourage prominent figures in their communities to abandon posting on X altogether.
Dozens of other subreddits are currently engaged in community discussions about whether to ban X-links. The Formula 1 racing subreddit, which has 4.8 million members, has banned X-links as a trying with the intention of a permanent ban after hosting a thread.
“Our main concern regarding a total ban is that while many F1 journalists have joined Bluesky, the teams, drivers and FOM have not,” the announcement message said. FOM stands for Formula One Management, and Bluesky has established itself as one of the leading alternative platforms to nearly 5 million people, we probably have a non-trivial problem. effect on which platform is the native source of F1 news.
Subreddits are managed by volunteer moderators, who are not affiliated with the company that owns the platform. In the past, subreddits have engaged in similar protest movements, such as the one in favor of net neutrality.
Some subreddits acknowledged that links to X were not posted frequently to begin with, but that the decision to ban them was symbolic.
“I recognize that this action is largely just virtue signaling,” wrote a moderator of a subreddit about the video game “Baldur’s Gate 3,” which has more than 180,000 members. “But if someone starts giving the Nazi salute at the presidential inauguration of a so-called first world country, then showing some virtue is the least I can do.”
In a statement, a Reddit spokesperson clarified that the company itself had not imposed a ban on X-links, and that many of them were still posted on the platform.
“Reddit has a long-standing commitment to free speech and freedom of association,” the statement said.
Subreddits banning links to X are diverse. They include communities centered in the US states of New Jersey, Massachusetts and Georgia, US cities like Salt Lake City, Utah and Buffalo, New York, and international cities like Exeter in the UK and London in Ontario, in Canada. They also include communities for bands, music genres, video games, reality TV shows, sports teams, and even some adult communities that feature nudity.
One of the largest subreddits that has banned links to X is the NBA professional basketball community, which has 15 million members. In the same post, moderators also banned links to Meta’s Instagram, Facebook, and Threads, as well as any other social media platforms that require users to log in to view posts, based on comments from members of Meta. the community.
“We made this decision after considering recent events and the strong sentiment of our community,” the announcement message said. “While we do our best to remain neutral and apolitical, we do not believe that taking a stand against Nazi symbolism is or should be a political issue. Hate speech and its promotion have never been tolerated in our community.
Screenshots of posts about X will also not be allowed in the NBA subreddit, according to the post, the effects of which will be monitored and subject to change. The post said the decision was also made to encourage journalists and content creators to migrate to other platforms, such as Bluesky.
