Reddit community banned as user spat with Musk intensifies

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

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

They have been responding to studies which steered some Doge employees have been granted access to sensitive personal information of hundreds of thousands of Individuals.

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

The subreddit was banned quickly afterwards.

Reddit declined to remark, however directed the BBC 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 will not be.”

Musk has beforehand criticised authorized motion being taken towards individuals 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 more than 100 subreddits banned users from posting links 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 group for “making it occur” – critics, together with some historians, stated 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 stop a short lived ban.

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

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

Reddit has additionally taken motion to challenge a subreddit entitled r/IsElonDeadYet – through which 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 staff inside the administration.

The staff has been given the job of radically reducing 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 stream of trillions of {dollars} in authorities funds yearly.

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

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

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

“Our preliminary assessment of the proof introduced to us signifies that sure people and/or teams have dedicated acts that seem to violate the legislation in concentrating on Doge staff,” stated United States Legal professional for the District of Columbia Edward Martin.

In a letter to Musk he posted on X, Mr Martin stated he would “not tolerate threats towards Does employees or law-breaking by the disgruntled”.

“Any threats, confrontations, or different actions in any method that impression their work could break quite a few legal guidelines,” he wrote.

“We are going to pursue any and all authorized motion towards anybody who impedes your work or threatens your individuals.”