Reddit /r/worldpolitics Moderation Controversy

Overview

The Reddit /r/worldpolitics Moderation Controversy refers a series of random and graphic content uploaded to the /r/worldpolitics subreddit to protest the moderation practices of the board. Users complained that the subreddit's moderators had frequently ignored posts that were deliberately intended to gain upvotes, not discuss world politics.

Background

On May 7th, 2020, users of the /r/worldpolitics subreddit began uploading random images to the message board, Star Wars and graphic adult content (screenshot below).^[1]

Developments

Mods' Reaction

That day, moderators for the subreddit attempted to reduce the amount of irrelevant and graphic content being uploaded. That day, Redditor^[4] IAmAnAnonymousCoward posted, "Don't post anything that might get this subreddit banned or quarantined." They wrote:

Yes I know y'all want to know how far you can go so now you know.

And by the way our rules are still in effect and they're the following:

do not encourage or incite violence

do not abuse your fellow redditors

do not spam

Posting in rapid succession might be considered spamming and get you timed out.

The moderators also attempted to institute "rate limiting," which restricted users from making more than two posts per hour.^[5]

Online Reaction

That day, Redditor^[2] InsaneGamer191 posted in the /r/OutOfTheLoop subreddit, "What happened here? I enjoyed the sub casually and I came back one day and its marked NSFW and full of random posts. Some are saying it fell into anarchy as a result of a lack of mods, but there are still recent mod posts. Is this some sort of demonstration?" The post received more than 3,825 points (94% upvoted) and 385 comments in less than 24 hours.

Redditor^[3] Portarossa explained that the sudden change in the types of posts on the page was due to problems some users had with moderation. Some believed that mods were not properly removing posts that were intentionally attempting to gain upvotes not further conversation. The user concluded that the "mods bailed" on the subreddit, allowing for the "free for all" that took over the page. They wrote:

Basically, the moderation on the sub has been… let's say 'somewhat lacking' for a while. There was a series of posts that were variations on the theme of 'Let's upvote this picture to drive it to the top of the Google rankings' (most notably one of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, which then became a whole series of their own) -- an attempt at googlebombing or karmawhoring, depending on who you ask -- which were allowed to stay up despite being against the rules of the site and the sub.

The sub's users -- or at least, a vocal minority of them -- apparently decided that if the mods weren't going to remove (what they perceived to be) blatantly rulebreaking posts, everything was fair game. They spent a while posting pictures of vegetables, and now it's become… well, this. Currently, it looks like there's an influx of posters from GoneWild, so pretty much everything is marked NSFW.

The sub was flooded with pictures of anime girls for a while, so the subreddit /r/anime_titties was set up in protest as a place to discuss actual world politics. (Sort of how /r/trees is about weed, and /r/marijuanaenthusiasts is Reddit's dendrology hub.)

/r/anime_titties

That day, Redditor^[6] M1chaelSc4rn launched the /r/anime_titties subreddit, which allowed for posts that would normally be reserved for /r/worldpolitics. In announcing the subreddit,^[7] they wrote, "Please post any news related to foreign policy and world politics in general. Articles containing the U.S. exclusively are prohibited. News that features the U.S. on a minor scale are allowed." The post received more than 1,600 points (99% upvoted) and 165 comments in less than 24 hours.

Within 24 hours, the subreddit garnered more than 16,700 subscribers.

Memes

Some posted memes joking about the situation. For example, on May 7th, Redditor^[8] Jim_Draven posted a Top Gear meme that received more than 9,900 points (95% upvoted0 and 145 comments in less than 24 hours (shown below, left). Redditor^[9] Baxter0331 shared an Are Ya Winning, Son? meme about the moderators. The post received more than 3,800 points (98% upvoted) in less than 24 hours (shown below, right).

External References