Perhaps the White House could issue the same warning to the President, who is harassing impeachment inquiry witnesses AS THEY ARE TESTIFYING.
On a subreddit, which has been publicly endorsed by Trump, personally, his “brown-shirts” are apparently coming too close to explicitly threatening the whistle-blower.
New York (CNN Business)Reddit has warned users of its forum for President Trump supporters that "systematic harassment" of the alleged potential whistleblower whose complaint kicked off the impeachment inquiry "must stop immediately." The company cited in part its policy prohibiting "inviting vigilantism."
The Reddit forum, known as "The_Donald" subreddit, has previously been embraced by Trump and his inner circle.
In a message to the Trump supporters that run the forum that was posted Tuesday, Reddit staff said, "posts that do nothing more than attempt to focus mob attention on this alleged individual cross a line." The company said it had seen a "dramatic rise" in these types of posts in recent days.
The obvious question which came to my mind is “Stop the harassment………..or else what?” That appears to have no current answer from Reddit. I would guess they would warn or ban individuals, based on their actions, but not an entire subreddit, which makes sense.
But……..….what’s this? They HAVE banned an entire forum, and less than two months ago?
Reddit has revised its policies to make cracking down on abuse easier. An administrator posted the new rules earlier today, saying that the “narrowness” of the earlier policy had reduced its effectiveness. These new changes broaden the definition of threats, harassment, and bullying, and they allow bystanders (not just victims) to report violations of the rules. Like previous changes, this gives Reddit greater leeway to police its platform, but it also creates confusion for users of the large and sometimes chaotic forum.
As administrator Landoflobsters lays out, Reddit previously defined harassment as “systematic and/or continued” behavior that made people fear for their “real life” safety. Now, Reddit proscribes “anything that works to shut someone out of the conversation through intimidation or abuse, online or off.” That includes “menacing someone, directing abuse at a person or group, following them around the site, encouraging others to do any of these actions, or otherwise behaving in a way that would discourage a reasonable person from participating on Reddit.”
“USERS AND SUBREDDITS THAT ENGAGE IN SUCH BEHAVIOR WILL BE BANNED.”
This policy applies to entire subreddits, not only individual users, and it appears to have resulted in several subreddits getting banned. That list includes r/Braincels, a major forum for the virulently misogynist incel movement, which is currently in the news after the US Army speculated that members might target screenings of the film Joker. “We have made several updates to our site wide policies against harassment. This includes explicitly prohibiting content or behavior that threatens, harasses, or bullies groups of people. Users and subreddits that engage in such behavior will be banned,” a spokesperson tells The Verge.
Interesting to see if they follow through the same way with The_Donald.