Reddit says it’s “not acceptable” for communities to go NSFW in protest

Reddit is cracking down on the latest form of community protest: switching to Not Safe for Work (NSFW). Some subreddits had switched to NSFW to protest Reddit’s recent treatment of moderators and upcoming API pricing changes, but a Reddit admin — i.e. an employee — said Wednesday that doing so was “inappropriate” and against the rules. Is.

ModCodeofConduct’s admin wrote, “Turning a previously SFW community into an NSFW community to protest Reddit policies is unfair to your community members and not acceptable.” on Wednesday, ModCodeofConduct said that moderators may be violating Reddit policies by “marking your community incorrectly”, which could lead to a warning or removal.

Converting a community to NSFW changes things in a few ways: users must confirm they are 18 years or older before they can view the subreddit, users must be able to access the community on a mobile device Mobile app requires login, and NSFW subreddits not eligible for advertising — all restrictions that limit participation and Reddit’s ability to make money.

Reddit’s action on the NSFW switch appears to be working. On Tuesday, I noticed that r/formula1, r/homeKit, and r/homepod were all NSFW, but those subreddits are no longer labeled. An r/Formula 1 mod explains ledge that the mods removed the NSFW label “after a series of brief threats received from u/ModCodeOfConduct”.

According to that mod, ModCodeOfConduct sent this message:

While we can see that you haven’t started encouraging explicit sexual content by taking over the subreddit, we need to separate your community from communities that engage in those behaviors so that your community’s moderation team can be considered allies. I should not be seen Please fix the NSFW marking on your subreddit so we can separate those who harm your community.

r/Formula 1 Mod resignationCiting “the admin handling of API changes, the reasons Tone Huffman chose to use in every single interview, and the whole approach of u/modcodeofconduct”.

explains another moderator with both the r/HomeKit and r/HomePod communities ledge that he changed the subreddits back to SFW after seeing disciplinary action (suspension) against the moderators of the larger subreddits that were flagged as NSFW. The mod noted that he worked alone and did not collaborate with the communities when making the decision to switch to NSFW.