I agree with your larger point, but I think the article was referring to how content moderation supported Reddit's goal of going public. From that perspective,

I agree with your larger point, but I think the article was referring to how content moderation supported Reddit's goal of going public. From that perspective, it is irrelevant whether the good subreddits stay or leave, or which moderator does what. All that matters, in that context, is that Reddit's management did what was required to create a hot IPO. The future of reddit is entirely not relevant, again, in that context.