The problem with Reddit is that they can't have full 100% free speech (as in their core values, not the constitution) and at the same time not have these kinds of subs and communities on their site. You can't be worried about image and yet want to allow truly free and open discussion. Half the reason people got pissed at current and prior admin decisions is because they caved, or at least appeared to cave to media pressure. If violentacres wasn't doxxed and Gawker didn't run those articles, /r/jailbait would probably still exist; If media sites didn't point to Reddit as a major hub where the leaked celebrity pics were being shared, /r/thefappening would still exist.
Reddit could have easily answered such accusations by saying that the views of subs do not represent the views of Reddit Inc. and that aside from illegal content, they won't remove such things. Instead they institute vague and subjective rules or rules that aren't applied consistently. For instance, in banning /r/thefappening they didn't address the fact that sharing of private pictures of non-celebrities are STILL widespread on the site. In the most recent controversy, the banning of "harassing subs"; when asked about why SRS wasn't banned, an admin said it was because said harassment by SRS happened "years ago", effectively adding some arbitrary statute of limitations that were never mentioned in the harassment rules.
Yet after all this, Reddit still has an image problem AND they look like hypocrites to their own userbase. They should have picked a side and went with it instead of riding the fence. Either add reasonable limits to their "free speech" value which, lets face it, people wouldn't have a huge problem with OR stood up and taken the negative press while maintaining their current values. They've effectively reaped the worst of both sides.
The problem with Reddit is that they can't have full 100% free speech (as in their core values, not the constitution) and at the same time not have these kinds of subs and communities on their site. You can't be worried about image and yet want to allow truly free and open discussion. Half the reason people got pissed at current and prior admin decisions is because they caved, or at least appeared to cave to media pressure. If violentacres wasn't doxxed and Gawker didn't run those articles, /r/jailbait would probably still exist; If media sites didn't point to Reddit as a major hub where the leaked celebrity pics were being shared, /r/thefappening would still exist.
Reddit could have easily answered such accusations by saying that the views of subs do not represent the views of Reddit Inc. and that aside from illegal content, they won't remove such things. Instead they institute vague and subjective rules or rules that aren't applied consistently. For instance, in banning /r/thefappening they didn't address the fact that sharing of private pictures of non-celebrities are STILL widespread on the site. In the most recent controversy, the banning of "harassing subs"; when asked about why SRS wasn't banned, an admin said it was because said harassment by SRS happened "years ago", effectively adding some arbitrary statute of limitations that were never mentioned in the harassment rules.
Yet after all this, Reddit still has an image problem AND they look like hypocrites to their own userbase. They should have picked a side and went with it instead of riding the fence. Either add reasonable limits to their "free speech" value which, lets face it, people wouldn't have a huge problem with OR stood up and taken the negative press while maintaining their current values. They've effectively reaped the worst of both sides.
Well said, they tried to run with both sides and that made them look even worse.
insightful