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[2015] Was Reddit always about free speech? Yes, and no (www.theverge.com)
submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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I'm sharing this old article because it's useful to contrast the situation back then (protests against hate speech) and now (protests due to the APIcalypse).

Here are a few highlights:

  • Back then, the admins were already eager to shift their discourse back and forth, depending on the convenience. Reddit was always about free speech, then it never was.
  • Former CEO Yishan Wong's "[shutting down subreddits] won't become a regular occurrence"
  • If you try to follow the link sourcing the quote above, you'll notice that most Reddit blog official communications towards users are gone. Instead you'll find a blog clearly geared towards investors, vulture capital, and corporate.

Any other old piece of news that you guys feel like sharing, that can be contextualised to show Reddit going downhill?

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[-] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

I dunno... Reddit didn't turn corporate until the Condé Nast sale. Prior to that, things seemed very laissez-faire (for better and worse).

I remember they made a giant deal about hiring a new admin and the office looked like someone's (large) apartment in photos.

Not that jailbait represented the spirit of Aaron Swartz, but the company wrestled with decisions about silencing communities and I appreciate that

[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

The fact that they sold Reddit to Condé Nast is on its own a sign that they were already corporation-minded. Otherwise they'd simply say "nah, we thank you for the offer but we see Reddit as a public service, not as a business". That's likely what Swartz would've done.

Also the fact that kn0thing remained in Reddit a long time after it was bought, and that Greedy Pigboy is still there as its CEO.

this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2023
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