Summary

Hundreds of subreddits are debating banning links to X.com (formerly Twitter) following Elon Musk’s Nazi salute at a Trump rally.

Dozens of subreddit moderators have already implemented bans, while others are holding votes among their communities.

The bans span political, regional, and topical subreddits, including r/NewJersey, r/londonOntario, and r/christianity, with some highlighting Musk’s gesture alongside neo-Nazi imagery.

This move reflects growing backlash against Musk and his platform over perceived alignment with extremist symbolism.

  • chetradley@lemm.ee
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    7 days ago

    We’re spending so much media attention on this Nazi salute that I’m wondering if it may have been the intent all along - tie up media coverage while the Trump administration pushes harmful legislation through under the radar.

  • VerifiedSource@sh.itjust.works
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    7 days ago

    Boycotting Twitter is a good idea for many reasons. However this kind of blanket link ban will lead to more informational segregation quickly. This has already happened in many ways since the beginning of the war on Ukraine. Linking to Telegram or any Russian website is no longer allowed in many forums, e. g. Reddit. That has made finding original sources and verifying information much more difficult.

    Take links to videos for example. Reddit is full of videos copied from YouTube, Telegram, TikTok, etc. without attributing the original source. The World Wide Web was supposed to link information together into a network, where you can follow up on origins snd details. Nowadays it has turned into a series of copy & paste silos, enabling the most extreme echo chambers.

    • HolidayGreed@sh.itjust.works
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      6 days ago

      I think segregation is the long term plan.

      Divide and conquer.

      Knowledge is power; Wikipedia is next on the hit list.

      • VerifiedSource@sh.itjust.works
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        7 days ago

        I doubt there’s a plan behind this.

        Social media wasn’t the primary driver behind the Arab spring. The economic issues were the trigger. People couldn’t afford to buy food. Lack of food will topple any government. Media control only gets one so far.

        On the Internet the dominant websites can change quickly. Being banned from Twitter enabled Trump‘s Truth Social. Buying Twitter gave Elon Musk a giant soap box. However new soapboxes are constructed all the time and some succeed.

      • Initiateofthevoid@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        7 days ago

        The changes in attitudes towards social media websites, caused in this instance by Elon Musk are a great way for those in power to suppress another Arab Spring type event in the future.

        The change in attitude is the consequence, not the cause. The best way for those in power to suppress another Arab Spring type event is a change in ownership of a massively influential social media platform where the richest man can take over completely to censor and control the narrative and oh, whoops… that already happened.

          • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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            7 days ago

            Banned is a bit of hyperbole. But it’s clear as day that most of the third places have evaporated over the years. You can blame some of it on economics, but there are prominent right wingers who have talked about changing the language so average Americans from different political systems aren’t able to have a civil conversations anymore, and the need to shut down third places that serve as a melting pot for ideas.

            When I was a child, I distinctly remember many occasions where family or friends would meet and discuss policy… not politicians, actual policy in a civil way. Now those discussions don’t happen, try to talk to a Conservative and see how long you can talk about policy before they bring up Trump, Pelosi or some other figure head.

  • blazeknave@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    I’ve banned new Teslas from going before me at stop signs, passing me on the freeway, and not being cut off by me within inches in the left lane at any opportunity I can take.

    Edit: was really expecting greater than zero downvotes for the last sentence. Thanks for letting me talk shit and knowing I’m not trying to endanger any safety for real

  • pyre@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    eh, spez is probably going to step in and force them back to require Twitter or something. he wouldn’t want to be pushed out of the oligarchy.

    fuck spez in advance

  • ZK686@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    The bots are going nuts over there… lol… no way the TOP comments of some of those are legit…

  • berno@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    It’s actually scary how much of Reddit is full of astroturf and overly sensitive moderators these days. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

  • Dragon@lemmy.ml
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    7 days ago

    Are there other sites to which links are banned? I don’t really like that policy for anything no matter how nefarious. Unless it’s malware or a liability and going to land the visitor in prison.

    • funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
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      7 days ago

      Porn sites without strict CSAM, malicious injection or spam protection, many individual subs ban extreme right-wing sites, Fox News or opposite left-etc

      • Dragon@lemmy.ml
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        7 days ago

        I have less of an issue with individual communities banning certain links, I think an instance-wide ban on anything due to ideology is annoying. I can figure out that Nazis suck on my own, thank you.

    • Omega@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      I have an account for a few specific subs (that shut down during the strike) that don’t have Lemmy equivalents. But I really don’t browse. The only time I get on there is to check reactions to big events (football games, new movies, etc). And even then it’s pretty rare.

        • slax@sh.itjust.works
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          6 days ago

          Thanks for that. I have always been a lurker on reddit and Lemmy (and the other platforms). It’s really pushed me to join and have a voice here.

        • Jeffool @lemmy.world
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          7 days ago

          To anyone else out there thinking about this? Do it. I took over /c/gamedev a couple of months back. Not because I dislike anytging about r/gamedev, but because I want more than one place for that kind of thing on the Internet, and am beginning less of a fan of reddit itself.

          (And yes, it’s slow going, especially with the holidays and job hunting. But I’m okay with that.)

            • Jeffool @lemmy.world
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              7 days ago

              Hey, I’m just a hobbyist. (I’ve tooled around with the programming and made a few things I never released, but I work in journalism, and not games journalism!) If there’s a community you want to help, the best thing you can do is comment, upvote, and when possible, make a post. And if you want to RUN one, trying is better than just letting things not exist. If people don’t like it, they can downvote your posts. That’s fine too.

              • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
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                7 days ago

                I’m a professional embedded systems engineer, and I do have some hobby projects related to game dev, and I do intend to share when I have something shareable!

                • Jeffool @lemmy.world
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                  7 days ago

                  You’re closer to a “gamedev” than me, then. You’re an actual “dev” of some type! That said, I’m still trying to find the character of /c/gamedev, so feel free to toss in things you want to see there.

        • Omega@lemmy.world
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          7 days ago

          I appreciate the support. I actually do post in those situations. And when I say there isn’t a Lemmy equivalent, I mean those communities are dead.

          I just like to see what other people’s reactions are, and I like to see some of other people’s content from time to time. Also, I don’t mind supporting those subs that stood up to the 3rd party app purge.

    • MimicJar@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      That won’t happen. As Twitter dies those users have to go somewhere. While Reddit isn’t a direct competitor as a service, it is in terms of time/eyeballs.

      Ideally folks would move to Mastodon/Lemmy/etc, but that’s a different problem.

      • 3dmvr@lemm.ee
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        7 days ago

        Issue is bluesky is where they’re going but from what I’ve read a bridge could be made? Still very new to this, not sure how that would work.

    • ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml
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      7 days ago

      Or until 2 days, like most (or many) of the subreddits participating in the blackout lol

  • Vipsu@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Honestly the fact how bad user experience X is for unregistered users should be reason enough to ban links to X.

    • estranho@lemmy.ca
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      7 days ago

      The experience for unregistered users on Reddit is almost as bad as twitter, I don’t think Reddit cares about that.

      • Vipsu@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        Yeah, especially on mobile where they keep bugging people to install their app even if you’ve logged in. Sometimes they even block you from viewing certain communities on mobile if you’re not using their app but if you’ve desktop site enabled from browser settings.

  • Optional@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    What a coincidence, I’ve been banning all links to reddit. This is working out great.