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Racism Is Rampant on Reddit, and Its Editors Are in Open Revolt (bloomberg.com) 421

An anonymous reader shares a report: The volunteer moderators of Reddit's r/blackladies community -- an online message board that currently has over 40,000 members -- wrote an open letter outlining their frustrations with the popular website in August 2014. They had pitched their message board, known as a subreddit, as a safe space for Black women, but were being deluged with hateful comments and links to racist content from anonymous accounts. "They are relentless, coming in barrages," the moderators wrote. "We have a racist user problem and Reddit won't take action." Several months later Alexis Ohanian, one of Reddit's co-founders, joined a comment thread on r/blackladies discussing the letter. Ohanian, who had recently returned to the company as its executive chairman, said protecting communities like theirs from abuse was a "top priority." He solicited suggestions on how to do it, and expressed interest in an "ongoing dialogue with all of the mods who signed onto the open letter."

Reddit user TheYellowRose, a r/blackladies moderator who helped write the letter said in a recent phone interview that Ohanian's promised dialogue never materialized. To TheYellowRose, who asked to be identified only by her screen name because she is still regularly subjected to racist abuse and fears physical violence if her identity is revealed, Ohanian's initial enthusiasm for the idea seemed like just another example of the company's leaders trying to say the right things without seriously confronting the ways their site harbored extremists and gave them a place to organize. Reddit has faced several potential inflection points in its approach to racism in the six years since then, but has never undertaken a full enough reckoning to satisfy its critics. It's facing another big moment in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd. Once again, the pressure is coming in part from the volunteers who moderate Reddit's countless message boards. On June 1, Steve Huffman, another co-founder who has been chief executive since 2015, sent a note to Reddit employees voicing support for the Black Lives Matter movement. "We do not tolerate hate, racism, and violence, and while we have work to do to fight these on our platform, our values are clear," he wrote.

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Racism Is Rampant on Reddit, and Its Editors Are in Open Revolt

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  • by The-Ixian ( 168184 ) on Thursday June 18, 2020 @10:55AM (#60197314)

    I just don't understand what makes someone go out of their way to disrupt other people's lives.

    Just do your own thing and leave other people alone to do theirs.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Thursday June 18, 2020 @10:59AM (#60197332) Homepage Journal

      Deeply insecure, pathetic people like to assert themselves by making other people's lives hell. It makes them feel powerful and gives their lives some kind of meaning.

    • by alvinrod ( 889928 ) on Thursday June 18, 2020 @11:08AM (#60197370)
      The same reason internet trolls have always done what they do: they get a rise out of it.

      Trying to declare yourself a safe space is practically begging them to target you as opposed to looking elsewhere for their kicks. About the most you can do about it is remove offensive posts and keep quiet about, because reacting to them or getting mad and raging in the internet is exactly what they want and encourages them to come back.

      That's why there's the old internet adage about not feeding the trolls. They only reason they'll stop is because they get bored and move on to something else. Any complex solutions to the problem are unlikely to work and clever trolls will just look to exploit them to turn the community against itself with them.
      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        They said similar stuff about email spam and that is pretty much beaten now.

        • only because of automated censorship - the amount of email spam is still huge, you just don't notice it.

          Statista says its well over 50%

          https://www.statista.com/stati... [statista.com]

          • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

            That's what I mean. The torrent is still there because spamming is cheap, but it's also 99.9% ineffective and I haven't had a spam mail get through to my inbox for years, and very rarely a false positive either.

            If we could make anti-trolling that effective there would be no problem.

            In Reddit's case though it could easily offer some tools to make things better. Have the first few posts when someone joins moderated before being displayed for example. It's not much work, certainly less than clearing up the mes

        • Spam is relatively easy to detect for a variety of reasons, but anything above copy/paste trolls aren't going to be easy to automatically detect. If we could easily do that we'd have all kinds of other, much easier natural language problems solved. You also forget that trolls have a completely different aim than spammers who just want you to click on some scammy marketing link they've sent you. Trolls are there to to agitate and would just start to change their techniques to get the automated systems to sta
    • by bobby ( 109046 )

      I couldn't agree more, and I've said this for years.

      A few times here and there I've had someone tell me something about myself and my reaction was a feeling of disgust, like finding a hidden camera in a bathroom or similar. A little curiosity about other people is natural, but many people take it too far.

      I have a book called "Imperative People" and it gets into some analysis, but I'm not sure about the root of the problem- as someone above commented, some kind of insecurity is a factor.

      Live and let live.

    • by hey! ( 33014 )

      One way to shore up the status quo is to keep the people below you worried that the people below *them* might catch up.

    • If only being left alone were an option for black people.

      NOPE! Have some more stop and frisk where they plant drugs on you, "safety checks" where they murder you and your dog, and pretextual stops while driving, "because something felt off".

    • by bobby ( 109046 )

      I meant to add, what seems obvious: EGO.

      But again, I don't know the root cause, except that we all have them, and I surmise that some get overly fed and nurtured and become monsters.

    • Money & Power (Score:5, Informative)

      by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Thursday June 18, 2020 @12:34PM (#60197930)
      a lot of this is coming from foreign governments. Blacks are about 13% of the population. There's an old Soviet guide book on causing trouble in other countries that places the size of a minority that is able to disrupt a country at around that level (I learned that from Beau of the Fifth Column on YouTube, I'm not nearly as well versed in such things to have actually read it myself).

      So if you're a Russia or an Iran or any other country that wants to weaken the unity of America (one of your chief opponents on the global stage) you go after racial tensions because you know it'll make the country weaker through infighting.

      Add to that a raft of opportunists using racism as a wedge issue [duckduckgo.com] to divide the working class and stop reforms that would benefit them.

      Racism & Bigotry in general is always the same scam. If you're trying to divide people up into groups you can control there's no better way. It exploits tribalism tendencies that we're probably hard wired for. I wish we'd teach that in schools so folks could get in on the scam, understand it and learn to avoid it. But all we ever do is sign Kumbaya and hold hands.
  • I guess the simple solution would be to just not use the product. Nobody should have to put up with that kind of crap.

    • by ScooterBill ( 599835 ) on Thursday June 18, 2020 @11:18AM (#60197428)

      True. It's an online comment platform that allows anyone to post anything about anyone anonymously. People can be incredibly shitty especially when they know there's no way to identify them. It's a price we pay for anonymity. Look what happens when someone posts something even slightly controversial on Twitter or FB. They get slammed by the community. Reddit is basically inviting random hate speech by allowing it without consequence.

      • While I can see why some people might want anonymous accounts it seems to me to be more trouble than they are worth. It's just a troll magnet. People tend to think twice when it is their real name attached to online comments. Makes for a more civil discussion.

        • While I can see why some people might want anonymous accounts it seems to me to be more trouble than they are worth. It's just a troll magnet. People tend to think twice when it is their real name attached to online comments. Makes for a more civil discussion.

          Have you ever been on facebook? Or twitter for that matter, though it's not mandatory there.

          • Very little to be honest. The prospect of getting into a verbal sparring match with some anonymous troll is not something I relish.

            Having said that, my wife uses FB to keep in touch with her family and classmates and seems to have avoided the negative trash. It helped her to reconnect with classmates from years ago. With Messenger, she can call her family for free and text them for free. For her it has been a positive experience. It's all about how you use it.

    • by Wolfrider ( 856 )

      --Exactly, whatever happened to people starting their own sites with PHPBB or similar? You pool some money, hire a web admin, lock the forums down to people with registered accounts and make sure it's moderated.

      • and social networks trying as hard as possible to keep you in.
        some do it intentionally (twitter, facebook, youtube, etc) others do it by accident due to networking effect (e.g. wikipedia, wikiawikia) (is reddit non commercial?)

        when you want to create a community nowadays it's easier to create a sub section on $platform that you know already and everybody around uses to, rather than start your own platform.

        it's also cheaper (most platforms provide subsections for free, to try to attract "free users" - aka mo

      • by Zak3056 ( 69287 )

        Because "rights" to some are no longer "things you cannot prevent me from doing" but rather "things other people have to do for me." It's much easier to demand that someone do things your way rather than doing all the work yourself.

  • by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Thursday June 18, 2020 @11:02AM (#60197338)

    The problem with racist and bigots is they really don't see themselves that way. However they are fearful of the others taking power and use that power to put them at a disadvantage.

    One of the big thing with the Black Lives Matter protests is the number of Whites who are protesting with them, and standing with them. This is putting them in a moral corner. Where they feel they are being attacked because not a lot of people are joining to back them up. So they will become more cruel and viscous as best as they can. Usually just trolling internet boards. But if they have more power they can be very dangerous.

    Sites need to moderate these people, because they are doing harm. However by moderating them, they are feeling more threatened thus get more aggressive.

    If I am trying to catch a mouse, I need to corner it so I can actually catch it, but when I do, it will become aggressive and possibly bite me, unless I am careful.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      The problem is that we've given the far right an incredibly light touch since 9/11 happened pursuing this theory, we've even called far right terrorist attacks "murders" and so forth whereas Islamists would clearly be called terrorists in identical circumstances. They've been given free reign on social media where Islamist terrorists were cracked down upon hard.

      In that time frame, Islamist terrorism has faded away significantly as a threat, far right terrorism has grown. Islamist terrorism got as bad as it

      • by Stolovaya ( 1019922 ) <skingiii AT gmail DOT com> on Thursday June 18, 2020 @12:49PM (#60198012)

        You're wanting to trade freedom for security. You're criticizing those on the right pretty hard, which would make me think that you're on the left, but maybe you actually have more in common with the right (that only certain voices should be heard). I'm guessing you must be a fan of the Patriot Act, too?

        There's a clear line between words and action. And that's how it works; you can (mostly) say what you want, but when you cross the line from words to actions, appropriate measures are supposed to be taken.

        No, we should not be silencing voices. Why? Because this can lead to silencing of more voices. Just hate groups? These days, that definition is expanding to include more and more groups. Look at JK Rowling; whelp, she used hate speech, I guess it's time to silence her.

        That's the price of freedom. People can do both good and bad things. It sounds like you'd like to live in a society where only certain voices can speak. That's disturbing. I'd be a fan of maybe separating out a state where that could happen; but I wouldn't support it for anything federally.

    • I'm sure in this case its not racists, but trolls out to cause distress and get off on the reactions.

      you can usually tell because a racist is reasonably measured in tone, whereas the trolls are excessive in their abuse.

      The BLM protests is another matter - white liberals (or dangerous foxes as Malcolm X called them) are there to use the blacks as cover. I've seen black people being kicked in by white BLM protestors because they were defending their livelihoods. Figure that one out if you truly think the whit

    • If I am trying to catch a mouse, I need to corner it so I can actually catch it, but when I do, it will become aggressive and possibly bite me, unless I am careful.

      Looks who's dehumanizing people now. Which is troubling considering terms like "racist" and "bigot" have become utterly meaningless and are thrown at anyone who disagrees with the left.

  • I wish we could get these fine folks to understand.

    The name of your group is BlackLadies.
    You create a subreddit that's literally NAMED $race$sex.
    Your purpose is divide people based on the immutable characteristics of race of sex. Racism and sexism is the group. Then you complain that there is racism in a group you created for your favored race, as a place to be away from other races.

    Ladies, you don't beat racism by being more racist than last person. "If you can't beat em, join em" isn't the way to go here

    • by grep -v '.*' * ( 780312 ) on Thursday June 18, 2020 @11:42AM (#60197568)
      !! I've never seen a positive +3 troll message before. Good for you! If I still had points I'd vote you up more ... but alas, not to be.

      I'm an old white college educated guy. But today I identify as a in-shape, young black female -- because I can. That's what all you people keep telling me, everyone, and even yourselves: that you can become anything at anytime. Anything. AN. NY. THING, simply by wishing for or just stating it.

      (I haven't posted there, not gonna. Don't care. People can collect together and discuss what they wish, or even deny others entry just because they want to -- what a concept! It's just like I can'be a member of the Association of Child Prodigies because I can't play, never mind ageism.) So accept me as I am, because that's exactly what you wished for and so here I am. But then again I might join, and I should be accepted with wide smiles and open arms.

      Well, today anyway; tomorrow I'll identify as a small blue tomato. Anyone know of an Irregular Asexual Colored (just couldn't resist that as I was typing -- sorry) Vegetable Online Special Interest Group?
      • That's a gross mischaracterization of the idea that race and gender are social constructs. That idea does not posit that someone can simply decide to switch between races and genders. Rather, that race and gender are more accurately described by the way society sees you rather than immutable biological characteristics.

        A white dude who presents as male can't successfully declare himself a black woman because nobody in society will treat him as such, and nobody is arguing they should. Same reason I can't go a

        • by zugmeister ( 1050414 ) on Thursday June 18, 2020 @12:49PM (#60198016)

          A white dude who presents as male can't successfully declare himself a black woman because nobody in society will treat him as such, and nobody is arguing they should.

          You [foxnews.com] were [breitbart.com] saying? [yahoo.com]

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by nealric ( 3647765 )

            I don't see anything in your links about a white male presenting himself as a black woman. Moreover, for a transgender person to be accepted as such, they have to actually present as their chosen gender. If you declare yourself transgender but make no effort to change your gender presentation, nobody is going to accept you in that new gender.

            Transgender athletes competing are an interesting issue, but there all sorts of reasons why athletes are grouped. A 250lb guy can't complete as a flyweight boxer even i

        • Rather, that race and gender are more accurately described by the way society sees you rather than immutable biological characteristics.

          So what you're saying is that my identity is determined by how others see me, not how I see myself? Effectively - my identity is just a function of those around me.

          Truly, it is the color of the skin, and not the content of the character that matters...

      • by MrL0G1C ( 867445 )

        Are you actually butt hurt because you the unfit old white guy might be excluded from the black females group?

        Imagine how you might actually feel if you were a black female and a whole lot more was unavailable because of rampant racism and sexism, job promotions passed over, unlikely to get into the best universities because of the background you were born in to.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by frencha ( 2520612 )
      Talking about issues that affect you on the grounds of race or sex (or a combination of both) isn't inherently racist or sexist. Here are a couple threads from that subreddit:

      These black men really threw this black girl in the dumpster. No words. We need to have a conversation about misogyny within the black community, like, yesterday.

      finally figured out my hair textures after years.

      African American Nutrition is often perceived as poor, what are some possible solutions?

      This is not an attack on you (or men, or white people), it's a place for conversations about race and gender and how it affects their lives. Unless you're suggesting black women face exactly the same issues as every other demographic, and there's no cultural nuances to their experiences? Or is it that they shouldn't talk about it? I'm

      • Individuals face their own challenges. Some other individuals might sometimes treat people they interact with differently based on their sex/race/whatever, but in the end it's all individuals.

        Because individuals might share a need it makes sense to sometimes group people by need - for example "people subjected to sexual violence". However, when you generalize based on largely irrelevant characteristics, you're going to end up dealing with a group who do not all have the need(s) you're looking to address, wh

      • > it's a place for conversations about race and gender and how it affects their lives.

        I'm in a Facebook that's for a somewhat similar purpose. At first I recoiled at the invitation because I think artificially dividing people by skin complexion is really dumb, but after a few days I decided to read and find out what's going on with the group. Maybe it could be beneficial for me to tactfully and lovingly share that viewpoint, if this group is a place where people listen?

        Herbert Spencer* said:
        --
        There is

    • by eepok ( 545733 )

      Yes and no. You can definitely out-prejudice the (assumed) prejudiced. You can definitely out-exclude the exclusive and win. There is a contingent of my liberal community that is blinded to the ethical wrongness of their methodology by the righteousness of their cause... and currently they're achieving their goals.

      I would modify your statement to "You don't beat racism by being more racist than the last person... and continue to be the 'good guys'."

  • by KingFatty ( 770719 ) on Thursday June 18, 2020 @11:03AM (#60197346)
    I think this article misses some major issues in blaming Ohanian's lack of action: 1) Ohanian is married to a black woman, who is very famous, and 2) Ohanian stepped down from the board. I think there is more to the story, and would be helpful to look into whether the lack of action was because Ohanian perhaps did all he could to help and saw that there were more deep-seated problems?
    • I think there is more to the story

      Steve "Valuable Discussion" Huffman

      and saw that there were more deep-seated problems?

      Steve "Blatant Racism Is Okay Unless the News Writes About It" Huffman

  • They are relentless, coming in barrages," the moderators wrote. "We have a racist user problem and Reddit won't take action.

    The thing is, just because they use racist material, does not make them a racist. It's almost always simply a troll, using whatever tool is best to press hot buttons.

    It helps to simply be more indifferent to them, the screeching reaction from moderators as we see here is kind of a solid gold reward for the trolling, and ensures you will get heaps more as they laugh at your complaints.

    • Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday June 18, 2020 @11:16AM (#60197412)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by hey! ( 33014 )

      I think there is considerable truth in what you say, but it's not as if actual, sincere racists don't exist. The trolls give them a bigger footprint than they'd have on their own. If you a target of a threat, you can't just assume it's someone posing.

    • The thing is, just because they use racist material, does not make them a racist. It's almost always simply a troll, using whatever tool is best to press hot buttons.

      Could be both.

    • by dfghjk ( 711126 )

      "The thing is, just because they use racist material, does not make them a racist. It's almost always simply a troll, using whatever tool is best to press hot buttons."

      So what you're saying is that non-racists use racist tropes because they enjoy the result. Does that change the problem ANY? Should we have a more positive view of these people because they may NOT be racist? How does this help and why should "reasonable solutions" be different because of it?

      I can only imagine how this sort of view and app

    • The thing is, just because they use racist material, does not make them a racist. It's almost always simply a troll, using whatever tool is best to press hot buttons.

      What makes you think a troll using racist material is able to separate racism from reality? I mean the vast majority of trolls is unbearable dipshits in real life too, so it's no stretch that someone who gets shits and giggles out of being racist is in fact a racist dipshit in real life too.

  • There is a reason why Robert's Rules of Order was published in 1876, people are not good at being civil during discourse.
  • with 40,000 black ladies and no men to look after them?! ... Where do I sign up??

  • If a post is obviously and badly racist, then it is marked as such by a moderator. Then a link to the best is added to all the other posts of that person, or if there are no other links, the account is removed.

    A lot of people would be a lot less racist if their peers were told about their racism.
  • How was that ever going to work? Is there some sort of "members only" function on reddit that I've never heard of before?

  • Some this isn't racism. Some of it is just: Oh you have a black ladies only group? Well lets just shoot this at you!!!

    Some I'm sure are just bots.

    Unfortunately, some is racist peeps with nothing better to do.

    Dang I don't have time to mow the lawn, let alone take time to post racist comments to people I don't know, etc.

    Huh, I guess I have time to post here...

    I have thinking to do...

  • Seriously, how is "website X's users hate website X but won't quit" news for nerds?

    How mightily the Slashdot has fallen...

  • I don't know if I'm the only one, but I see this as another indictment of the police. There's no way that what these online bullies are doing is legal. It's harassment. You can't harass people. In the real world it's illegal. Yet the police just ignore it. Don't tell me that these people are anonymous and untraceable. If media companies can track down that one guy who downloaded Transformers 4, then I don't buy for a minute that these people are untraceable. The thing is, it wouldn't surprise me if
  • People as long as you keep using reddit, they have no incentive to change. Leave.

    Slashdot is not perfect, it has its share of trolls and gadflys. But its crowd sourced moderation system works decently and it can be improved too.

"Take that, you hostile sons-of-bitches!" -- James Coburn, in the finale of _The_President's_Analyst_

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