Reddit has removed anti-vaccine, anti-mask subreddits r/NoNewNormal from its site and quarantined 54 subreddits that are associated with COVID denial. Reddit's CEO stated in a post a week ago that Reddit was intended to be an open and authentic place for discussion and debate. He also said that it would ban anti-vaccine and anti-mask subreddits r/NoNewNormal and has quarantined 54 other subreddits associated with COVID denial.
Reddit users have cited NoNewNormal as a source for vaccine misinformation. It was also known to interfere in subreddit discussions about COVID and related policies in other communities. According to Reddit security NoNewNormal had 80 such brigades over the past month. The behavior continued even after being warned and eventually led to the community's ban. This community was previously quarantined. Reddit advises potential visitors to Reddit that they should seek medical advice from doctors and not forum members for the 54 other subreddits.
Reddit has been struggling with misinformation regarding COVID treatments, as have other social networks and online markets, in recent weeks. Although the platform has established rules to address these concerns, it admits that its interpretation and enforcement of those rules is not always clear. Today's announcement stated that health misinformation is false health information that promotes or poses a substantial risk of bodily harm to the reader. However, the platform admits that the rules it uses to interpret and enforce those rules have not been clear.
Reddit posted that users are frustrated with Reddit's handling of COVID content denial content. This was in protest at the company's inaction. Partly, this was due to misinformation about ivermectin, a drug that is veterinary-approved for livestock. This has been promoted as a cure for COVID despite warnings from the Food and Drug Administration that it can be deadly.
Reddits' announcement today was not the first time that some Reddits users tried to control the situation. /r/Ivermectin was bombarded with spamming, including calls for trans rights and horse-related porn. The link provides a fairly explicit explanation. This post was marked NSFW by the Sub-Marker. It has been difficult to have conversations in the now-quarantined forum due to the flurry.
