Reddit today severely limited the visibility and functionality of its leading pro-Trump channel over posts that broke rules against violent and threatening material.
The r/TheDonald subreddit is now "quarantined," meaning its content won't show up in search or make it to the main Reddit site, and ads won't be placed on it, among other limitations.
Users navigating to the channel will face a warning page they'll have to click through to enter. Reddit has used the quarantine process in the past as a half-step toward banning controversial communities."The reason for the quarantine is that over the last few months we have observed repeated rule-breaking behavior in your community," the social networking site wrote in note to r/TheDonald moderators.
The company cited content that "encourages or incites violence," including recent posts expressing "encouragement of violence towards police officers and public officials in Oregon."
According to The Daily Beast, some users took to the channel to air grievances that "officials in Oregon were trying to bring back GOP state senators who fled the state to avoid voting on a climate-change bill."
The channel, boasting over 700,000 subscribers, is Reddit's most visible community centered on support for President Donald Trump. It has been linked to a rash of misinformation and inflammatory posts.
The move is sure to raise the ire of conservatives who contend they face discrimination at the hands of tech giants. Trump himself accused Google and Twitter of stacking their platforms against him in a Fox Business interview this morning.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine