Reddit’s pro Donald Trump subreddit, The_Donald, has called for Reddit CEO Steve Huffman to step down following revelations of his recent unwarranted edits of users’ comments.
Reddit user UnimatrixZeroOne made an announcement in the subreddit today explaining why they leaked the Slack chat logs featuring conversations between Reddit admins and moderators.
“I leaked the chat logs because of my anger at /u/spez for editing someone else’s comment. If he did this just because he thought it was funny, then what stops him from doing it for a more “important” reason?” they said.
“What he did completely destroys the credibility of Reddit. Of course they have the ability, but now /u/spez has shown that he is willing to use it. This is incredibly dangerous to not only this website, but the people on it. Reddit posts and comments have been used in actual legal cases in the past. If Reddit is still used in legal cases in the future, then how do we know for certain the person actually wrote that comment/post, not an admin?”
UnimatrixZeroOne further goes on to discuss the responsibility that Reddit moderators have to the communities that they monitor, “The fact of the matter is that moderators are tasked with making reddit a better place for the community at large, not a safe haven for the opinions the moderators may hold.”
UnimatrixZeroOne also stated the responsibility that they believe Reddit as a company has to their users, “While reddit is a private entity and therefore is not subject to the first amendment, I still believe reddit should uphold free speech where it doesn’t break the law. A website that has this amount of influence also has the responsibility to match.”
The post ends with UnimatrixZeroOne calling for Steve Huffman, known by his Reddit username Spez, to step down from his position as CEO of Reddit, “I believe I speak for all when I say that /u/spez no longer represents reddit and its interests, especially not its community. /u/spez , I am asking you to do right by the website/company you helped co-found, do right by the investors, and do right by the community. Resign as CEO of Reddit.”
Huffman has admitted to and apologised for the edits he made to user comments saying, “Yep. I messed with the ‘fuck u/spez‘ comments,” Huffman wrote. “As much as we try to maintain a good relationship with you all, it does get old getting called a pedophile constantly. As the CEO, I shouldn’t play such games, and it’s all fixed now. Our community team is pretty pissed at me, so I most assuredly won’t do this again.”
Any changes relating to Huffmans position as CEO of Reddit have not been made public at this time.
Correction: The original version of this article mistakenly identified the Reddit user UnimatrixZeroOne as a moderator of The_Donald. This has been amended.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart Tech covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan_ or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com
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