Reddit has temporarily banned the subreddit r/WhitePeopleTwitter after Elon Musk complained about the community. The subreddit is currently inaccessible with a message from Reddit stating that the community has been banned for 72 hours due to “a prevalence of violent content.”
The popular subreddit is known for posting funny tweets and memes from X. On Monday, an X account called “Reddit Lies” posted screenshots from a thread on r/WhitePeopleTwitter in which users were discussing the identities of the individuals with ties to Musk who have reportedly played a key role in the takeover of technical systems within the federal government.
A Reddit spokesperson pointed to the message in r/WhitePeopleTwitter notifying users about the ban, but declined to comment further. “This subreddit has been temporarily banned due to a prevalence of violent content. Inciting and glorifying violence or doxing are against Reddit’s platform-wide Rules. It will reopen in 72 hours, during which Reddit will support moderators and provide resources to keep Reddit a healthy place for discussion and debate.” The company also permanently banned a subreddit called r/IsElonDeadYet for breaking its rules around violent content, according to a notice posted to the community.
Musk has used his role as head of the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) to enter federal agencies and take control of their systems and install a potentially illegal server at the US Office of Personnel Management. Musk has reportedly been helped by a group of very young engineers with little work experience. Those individuals have been the subject of much speculation online amid reports that they have helped him take control of secure systems within the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Treasury Department.
Musk has repeatedly accused people who post the names of his DOGE associates on X of breaking the law (to be clear: doing so absolutely is not a crime). He made a similar claim in response to the screenshots from r/WhitePeopleTwitter posted by Reddit Lies, saying “they have broken the law.” Engadget was unable to verify the Reddit comments posted by the account, but it included statements like “time to hunt” and “this nazi stooge needs to be shot.”
In a letter addressed to Musk, interim US Attorney Ed Martin offered his assistance in “protecting the DOGE work” from threats. “We will not tolerate threats against DOGE workers or law-breaking by the disgruntled,” he wrote on X Monday. “Any threats, confrontations, or any actions in any way that impact their work may break numerous laws,” he wrote.
Many Reddit users have grown increasingly frustrated with Musk, who was once a popular figure on the site. Last month, dozens of subreddits announced that they were banning links to X following Musk’s speech at President Donald Trump’s inauguration in which he made an apparent Nazi salute.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/reddit-temporarily-bans-rwhitepeopletwitter-after-elon-musk-claimed-it-had-broken-the-law-212131945.html?src=rss
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