‘Toxic’ Trump trolls: Reddit vows to take ‘aggressive’ action

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman has vowed to crack down on “poorly behaving communities” including the “toxic users” of the controversial subreddit dedicated to President-elect Donald Trump.

Reddit has installed a ban on “stickied” posts in the ‘r/the_donald’ community from appearing on the ‘r/all’ page, which is the site’s latest move to block users that are “devoted to antagonising the broader Reddit community”.

“The United States is more divided than ever, and we see that tension within Reddit itself,” wrote Huffman on the discussion site.

“The community that was formed in support of President-elect Donald Trump organized and grew rapidly, but within it were users that devoted themselves to antagonising the broader Reddit community,” he continued.

Furthermore, the co-founder admitted the company’s reliance on moderators to “curb bad behaviors” has not been “wholly effective”. As a result, Reddit will now be punishing “the most toxic users” in the form of warnings, timeouts and permanent bans.

“We will continue taking on the most troublesome users and, going forward, if we do not see the situation improve, we will continue to take privileges from communities whose users continually cross the line – up to an outright ban,” said Huffman.

READ MORE: Reddit CEO admits he modified posts on Donald Trump supporters’ ‘subreddit’

While ‘r/all’ is not Reddit’s frontpage it is, as Huffman describes it, “a popular listing that our most engaged users frequent, including myself.”

Huffman began the notice by, once again, apologizing for the internet storm he created on Thanksgiving by modifying insulting posts within the ‘r/the_donald’ community page that were directed at him.

“I am sorry: I am sorry for compromising the trust you all have in Reddit, and I am sorry to those that I created work and stress for, particularly over the holidays,” he reiterated.

The CEO said he was attempting to “troll the trolls” by redirecting the posts to Reddit moderators.

“I honestly thought I might find some common ground with that community by meeting them on their level. It did not go as planned. I restored the original comments after less than an hour, and explained what I did,” wrote Huffman.

Huffman went on to say he has “resisted” outright banning the community despite “many” requests to do so, because: “If there is anything about this election that we have learned, it is that there are communities that feel alienated and just want to be heard, and Reddit has always been a place where those voices can be heard.”