The Great Reddit (Libation Migration)

[pylorns]

On March 22nd 2018 Reddit moved to ban all questionable market places and subreddits. This includes the usual places that you would expect like /r/deepfakes and places where potential adult interactions could occur. But they also banned the pipe market place, cigar market place, scotch and whiskey. Basically Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Oh and airsoft.. yes that’s right, a kids toy gun subreddit.
Any market places that remotely facilitated sales or trades of pipes, pipe tobacco, cigars, beers, whiskey, guns, all were banned.
-- read the rest here (pictures etc):
https://medium.com/@pylorns/the-reddit-spring-the-great-libation-migration-b181a09f9292

 

[ashdigger]

So, there's zero reason to go to Reddit. Thanks.

 

[pylorns]

Basically.

 

[mikethompson]

You only use reddit for tobacco? Seems like you should go to a tobacco forum for that.
This has been discussed before, each site or forum makes its own rules and members/posters agree to those rules. If you find yourself in conflict with the rules then don't use that site. There were a few people here who insisted on posting political themed threads, and well, you know.

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

I like the new site, speakeasy. Already done a nice trade there, have gotten verified, etc.
Just to be clear, while I was never on Reddit except as a lurker, the pipe and tobacco market violated absolutely no known rules. They were banned without notice, as in zero. Nada. Zilch. Not sure what wasn't clear about that if you have followed this development at all.

 

[lazar]

They allow open racism and hate speech, but not tobacco or alcohol. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/12/racism-slurs-reddit-post-ceo-steve-huffman?CMP=fb_gu
Now THAT is P.C. gone mad!

 

[ashdigger]

Mike, I used Reddit for Pipes, Tobacco and Ammunition Reloading. Does that help?

 

[perdurabo]

Yea, Lazar, I've seen some vicious antisemitism on Reddit. I've also seen it on college campuses, for what it's worth.
A world where tobacco and guns are considered more harmful than tyrannical belief systems is indeed an upside down world. If I ran Reddit, I would allow all of the above. In the name of freedom, but that freedom doesn't keep one from looking like a backwards ass.

 

[mikethompson]

Agreed lazar, their rules are certainly enforced unequally.

 

[tuold]

My biggest beef with Reddit is that many of the subreddits are not there for discussion but rather are a safe meeting place for whatever tribe has issues there. For instance, there might be a thread on /latestagecapitalism that makes it all the way to front page because it got upvoted so much. That's when I see it, but I can't respond without being banned because of the "safe space" rules. It gives Reddit the appearance of being nothing but a hall of mirrors and echo chambers, much like the rest of the Internet.
I wouldn't grieve if the entire thing evaporated. I suppose I would miss /rarepuppers and /aww though.

 

[sablebrush52]

Perhaps the site should be renamed riddit.

 

[sablebrush52]

Now THAT is P.C. gone mad!

Nothing to do with P.C. It's simple libertarianism. Any philosophy can be taken to a place where it becomes ludicrous.

 

[ashdigger]

Sable, many things have proven that true. Many forms of discussion, protests, fake outrage, "journalism", ethics and lobbying have spun out of control.
Echo chambers are in full howl.

 

[perdurabo]

What does libertarianism have to do with Banning guns, ammo, pipes, tobacco, etc...but allowing hate speech?

 

[sablebrush52]

What does libertarianism have to do with Banning guns, ammo, pipes, tobacco, etc...but allowing hate speech?

Lazar's comment had to do with reddit's position on hate speech. Huffman's statement regarding reddit policy on speech is right in line with libertarianism, where reddit is the state and its members are its citizens.
"an extreme laissez-faire political philosophy advocating only minimal state intervention in the lives of citizens."

“On Reddit, the way in which we think about speech is to separate behavior from beliefs,” said Huffman under his username spez. “This means on Reddit there will be people with beliefs different from your own, sometimes extremely so. When users’ actions conflict with our content policies, we take action.”

He make a distinction between speech and actions. So they can be quite libertarian on speech and quite the opposite on actions, banning your toys of choice.

 

[lazar]

Either way, they suck. :wink: I actually don't think they banned tobacco etc. on "moral" ground but on legal ones. Didn't a new law just get passed making website owners potentially liable for what its users do via that website?

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

@lazar, my understanding is that the new law would not have _compelled_ Reddit to shut down the alcohol and tobacco sites, but that this was a convenient enough excuse. The management of Reddit has never really found a way to monetize their site, and running out the riff raff, or what Fortune 50 companies are likely to see as riff raff, is one step in making it more attractive to sponsors/advertisers. Just like Bank of America wasn't _compelled_ to stop lending to people in the firearms business. As noted here, they have had other issues as well, and presumably those are the next stalls in the Augean stable that is Reddit to be cleaned out. Huffman's comments that might imply tolerance for mere "hatespeech" notwithstanding.

 

[brian64]

running out the riff raff

If there's one thing there's near universal agreement on, it's that tobacco users are riff raff.

 

[ashdigger]

Brian, I'm the type of Riff Raff that gives that sort of Riff Raff a bad name and that includes the Riff Raff that are involved in shenanigans and other sorts of peevish misappropriations.

 

[perdurabo]

Hey Brian, is that kind of the same logic as when called a "racist" your like fuck it, "Yea, I'm white. I'm a racist!" You may not be white Brian, but you get my point. 8O