Reddit Begins Purge of Offensive Content, Bans ‘Handful' of Racist Communities

Reddit, the online message board site known for free-wheeling discussions, is updating its content policy as it tries to be a more welcoming place for everyone.

Co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman posted Wednesday that the San Francisco-based website's goal is to consolidate the "various rules and policies that have accumulated over the years into a single set of guidelines.''

He says illegal content, inciting violence and "involuntary pornography'' are still banned.

So what's new? A community can now be quarantined – so that only people who choose to see its content can see it. Huffman says groups will be quarantined if they would be "extremely offensive'' to the average Redditor.

He says Reddit is also banning "a handful of communities" that exist solely to annoy others, and "generally make Reddit worse for everyone else.

"Our most important policy over the last ten years has been to allow just about anything so long as it does not prevent others from enjoying Reddit for what it is: the best place online to have truly authentic conversations."

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us