We Should Sue Reddit... Keep Those Receipts!

submitted by WildApples from self.GenderCritical

I feel like Reddit has engaged in enough misconduct to be taken down a peg legally. While private companies are allowed to make their own rules, they are not allowed to discriminate under certain state laws in the U.S. and I presume elsewhere. I think we could have a strong case for discrimination against women and against lesbians given their purging and banning of women's forums and voices in the past year, and maybe also for religion or creed given that they are pretty outspoken about trying to censor radical feminists beliefs.

It would be great if the mods of GenderCritical, LGBDroptheT, and other purged Reddit subs could share any background information or screenshots that could help build a case against Reddit.

**We need to keep track of all the wrongdoing. We need to document: * innocuous comments and communities that were banned, who did the banning and when, and the reason for the banning;

  • comparable material around the same time that did not result in banning;

  • appeals of suspensions and bans and the decisions for those appeals (This is key to showing that Reddit was involved in the censorship, not just private moderators.);

  • anything that suggests Reddit staff involvement in targeting us for adverse treatment;**

If we gather enough evidence of wrongdoing, we could potentially persuade an attorney general's office or legal group to investigate and potentially sue. What do you think?

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[–]censorshipment 8 insightful - 6 fun8 insightful - 5 fun9 insightful - 6 fun -  (3 children)

I'm curious to know if you know who instigated the 2020 banwaves.

Open Letter to Steve Huffman and the Board of Directors of Reddit, Inc– If you believe in standing up to hate and supporting black lives, you need to act - https://www.reddit.com/r/AgainstHateSubreddits/comments/gyyqem/open_letter_to_steve_huffman_and_the_board_of/

Also, it seems like some shit went down in 2015.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Blackout2015

https://www.reddit.com/r/WatchRedditDie was created 5-6 years ago.

So this censorship shit was happening before 2020. Hell, maybe the developer of SaidIt can help.

Also, even Bardfinn (TRA leader) is complaining about Reddit's AEO (AntiEvil Operations) system.

PSA: Reddit Sitewide Rules Enforcement is Broken and Subverted. - https://www.reddit.com/r/AgainstHateSubreddits/comments/m2qmqp/psa_reddit_sitewide_rules_enforcement_is_broken/

Good Morning Admins and /r/ModSupport. - https://www.reddit.com/r/ModSupport/comments/m2sfmt/good_morning_admins_and_rmodsupport/

[–]Femaleisnthateful 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

That last link is depressing. People openly calling for every user of a banned subreddit to be banned from Reddit. Also it seems like anything they disagree with politically is 'hate speech'.

[–]WildApples[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Thanks for all those links! I know the 2020 purge came from top management at Reddit, which is why I think we'd be able to show that the disparate treatment we have suffered was intentionally discrimination by Reddit management. That is basically the extent of my knowledge about Reddit's operations. I am hoping others will keep jumping in and filling in the blanks.

[–]pancakewaffle 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The post on AEO was interesting in the fact that bardfinn was attacking a few subs and complaining that it took to long to shut down superstraight while issuing what some people could interpret as a threat at the end. I mean just how much bullshit can an admin put up with while covering up incompetence

Edit - just read the following post. That is some grade A drama brewing. Guess the whole superstraight debacle really got to someone.

[–][deleted] 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The fact that they won't allow subreddits for people who are exclusively same-sex attracted is pretty blatant discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

That alone is lawsuit worthy in a lot of countries. We'd just have to get people who are willing to take on the risk to do a lawsuit like that because they will absolutely be targeted with threats against themselves, their families, everyone they ever loved, and likely have their job and livelihood targeted. That's the kind of crazy we're dealing with.

[–]Femaleisnthateful 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I would love to see the site sued for same-sex descrimination. I think that would open a lot of eyes. More generally, I would like to see a very public expose of the kinds of people wielding control of many of the subreddits, notably Aimee Challenor and that ilk. I think parents need to be more aware that Reddit isn't just a forum where a bunch of kids get together and chat with their peers - there are some extremely warped individuals dictating the terms of discourse and the culture at large.

[–]SharpTomorrow 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Didn't meghan murphy try to to sue Twitter and lost or something? Don't bother, that's a waste of time and money, in USA at least.

[–]yousaythosethings 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I think the thing that has the best chance of making a splash is suing companies for banning spaces to focus only on same-sex attraction. Even if you don’t win, the optics are bad. Are HRC and GLAAD gonna come out and say that lesbians should not be able to breathe their own online spaces to discuss just their issues. So they really want evidence of how hostile the other spaces that claim to be for lesbians are for lesbians?

[–]WildApples[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

She did, but AFAIK she sued under contract laws, which us a very difficult argument to make for a completely free service. They set all the terms, owe us nothing, and we participate at their discretion.

This would be different because the companies do have a statutory responsibility not to discriminate under various jurisdictions' laws regardless of the terms of their contract. And we would show that there is a pattern of treatment affecting entire groups of people, not just one person. Plus, Reddit probably more than any other social media company has open itself up for this by actively discriminating between groups. It will be harder for them to show that they are simply trying to apply their rules evenly because they have gone so far beyond that.

I think we'd stand a good chance, and it would not necessarily have to cost a lot of money. Many places in the U.S. have agencies that investigate discrimination claims for free and attorney generals who might be willing to prosecute. I could see some up and coming conservative attorney general wanting to take this on. Censorship in tech is a hot topic for conservatives right now, and this would also gain them civil rights points.

If we were successful, it could bring the issue into public view and send a message to other tech companies to be careful with how actively they engage in substantive censorship.