Reddit Expands Ban on Offensive Content

The CEO reverses his earlier stance and revises the company’s policy

Steve Huffman, the new chief executive of Reddit, in San Francisco on July 16, 2015.
Photographer: Jason Henry/The New York Times via Redux

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By Eric Newcomer

August 5, 2015 at 10:57 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Reddit shut down another group of offensive sections on its website as part of a revision to last month’s policy change. The latest closures represent a reversal in thinking for Steve Huffman, who replaced Ellen Pao as chief executive officer for the online forum on July 10.

Many of the newly banned sections contain racially charged content, and make “Reddit worse for everyone else,” Huffman says. Less than a week after taking over as CEO, Huffman responded to a question about one of these forums, saying, “The content there is offensive to many, but does not violate our current rules for banning.” Huffman, the site’s co-founder, now says Reddit is also banning communities dedicated to animated child pornography.