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> challenges that being pro freedom of speech brings Well, the thing is, reddit is a private company and so the classic "freedom of speech" definition does not

> challenges that being pro freedom of speech brings Well, the thing is, reddit is a private company and so the classic "freedom of speech" definition does not apply to it. And while their goal was unrestricted discussion a few years back, in attempt to pave road for profitability they have abandoned that goal. The goal of reddit right now it to become as attractive to advertisers as possible. What that entails is up to them to decide. One of the effects is heavy moderation of anything controversial. They seem to be attempting to "play it safe". We'll see if it will pay off.

knorker 11y ago
> reddit is a private company and so the classic "freedom of speech" definition does not apply to it. I think you completely missed the point of the comment and instead answered in the lines of "why you can't tell your boss to fuck off without getting fired, despite the first amendment".
CM30 11y ago
Well, to some degree, that's their problem. They made their bed and they have to lie in it. A key community manager rule is 'don't promise freedom of speech on your site, because you likely don't have it and you will get absolutely eviscorated the minute you try and censor anything': http://www.managingcommunities.com/2010/01/24/when-talking-about-what-you-allow-on-your-community-dont-say-freedom-of-speech/ http://www.managingcommunities.com/2010/01/24/when-talking-a... http://www.managingcommunities.com/2015/07/16/your-online-community-does-not-allow-free-speech/ http://www.managingcommunities.com/2015/07/16/your-online-co... If you say your community is pro freedom of speech or allows freeom of speech, you pretty much make yourself obliged to allow anything that's not literally illegal. That will include an awful lot of stuff that you personally don't like, that your corporate backers don't like, that other members on the site don't like... And hence you have to make the awful decision; do you allow anything (like Voat or certain chan boards) and accept the consequences? Or do you start censoring and immediately lose the right to say you allow freedom of speech? Making comments like this is a great way to cause a site or business to self destruct spectacularly. Reddit may be a private company, but their community was founded on a freedom of speech stance. They've turned against those ideals, so now they're going to struggle a lot more since people feel they've been betrayed. That's a situation Reddit is going to have a lot of trouble escaping. And they could have at least delayed it by not hiring people who dislike the principles the company and site was founded on.
- cLeEOGPw 11y ago
  It is frustrating for those that pioneered reddit to grow to what they are now that the site has completely changed, but looking from business perspective, early adopters are not the crowd that brings profit. They generate content, but they mostly generate content for others like them (mostly technology/programming and other geek stuff related). Those that generate profit, i.e. in reddit's case buy reddit gold AND don't use adblock, are the people that care about other things, and freedom of speech is the least of their concerns. So from business analytic's perspective, he sees the numbers and he sees the target audience PLUS advertiser contract clauses (like no racism/sexism/certain porn things, non-liberal leaning things in general), and you get essentially private censorship. It's not a pretty sight, especially looking at deleted and locked threads daily, but it has a certain logic behind it. That logic is not in out favor, but we are not all people.

knorker 11y ago

> reddit is a private company and so the classic "freedom of speech" definition does not apply to it. I think you completely missed the point of the comment and instead answered in the lines of "why you can't tell your boss to fuck off without getting fired, despite the first amendment".

CM30 11y ago

Well, to some degree, that's their problem. They made their bed and they have to lie in it. A key community manager rule is 'don't promise freedom of speech on your site, because you likely don't have it and you will get absolutely eviscorated the minute you try and censor anything': http://www.managingcommunities.com/2010/01/24/when-talking-about-what-you-allow-on-your-community-dont-say-freedom-of-speech/ http://www.managingcommunities.com/2010/01/24/when-talking-a... http://www.managingcommunities.com/2015/07/16/your-online-community-does-not-allow-free-speech/ http://www.managingcommunities.com/2015/07/16/your-online-co... If you say your community is pro freedom of speech or allows freeom of speech, you pretty much make yourself obliged to allow anything that's not literally illegal. That will include an awful lot of stuff that you personally don't like, that your corporate backers don't like, that other members on the site don't like... And hence you have to make the awful decision; do you allow anything (like Voat or certain chan boards) and accept the consequences? Or do you start censoring and immediately lose the right to say you allow freedom of speech? Making comments like this is a great way to cause a site or business to self destruct spectacularly. Reddit may be a private company, but their community was founded on a freedom of speech stance. They've turned against those ideals, so now they're going to struggle a lot more since people feel they've been betrayed. That's a situation Reddit is going to have a lot of trouble escaping. And they could have at least delayed it by not hiring people who dislike the principles the company and site was founded on.

cLeEOGPw 11y ago
It is frustrating for those that pioneered reddit to grow to what they are now that the site has completely changed, but looking from business perspective, early adopters are not the crowd that brings profit. They generate content, but they mostly generate content for others like them (mostly technology/programming and other geek stuff related). Those that generate profit, i.e. in reddit's case buy reddit gold AND don't use adblock, are the people that care about other things, and freedom of speech is the least of their concerns. So from business analytic's perspective, he sees the numbers and he sees the target audience PLUS advertiser contract clauses (like no racism/sexism/certain porn things, non-liberal leaning things in general), and you get essentially private censorship. It's not a pretty sight, especially looking at deleted and locked threads daily, but it has a certain logic behind it. That logic is not in out favor, but we are not all people.