That Took a While: Reddit Finally Bans Racist Subreddits

Wait, how long did that take?

Recommended Videos

In a post to /r/announcements, current Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman wrote that they’re updating their Content Policy to better reflect the desires and needs of the community. Specifically, they’re going to start applying “Quarantines” to certain offensive subreddits, and more importantly, they’re finally banning some racist communities. Who knew it took soul searching and a little less than a month to decide that “/r/CoonTown” was a hateful community? Reddit did, apparently.

If you’ll remember, back in mid-June after a wave of some community bans, Huffman explicitly wrote that subreddits like /r/CoonTown would be allowed to remain on the site under “Quarantine.” To view a subreddit under “Quarantine,” a member would have to be registered and explicitly opt-in to viewing the content after being warned about its nature.

But now that subreddit/community is gone, along with a few others. According to The Daily Dot, the other subs that are now gone include: /r/WatchNiggersDie, /r/bestofcoontown, /r/koontown, /r/CoonTownMods, /r/CoonTownMeta.

Really, though? Only now? It took all this backlash and feedback and all these articles and things to get you to realize that oh, a community with a racial slur in its name is maybe a bannable thing? Okay. Sure.

—Please make note of The Mary Sue’s general comment policy.—

Do you follow The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?


The Mary Sue is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more
related content
Read Article We Had No Idea ATEEZ Had This Many Albums, Did You?
ATEEZ all members in the Bouncy Music Video.
Read Article Chris Pratt Has Given the Internet a Completely New Reason To Be Pissed Off at Him
Chris Pratt as James Reece in The Terminal List
Read Article Ellen DeGeneres Complaining About Being Canceled on a Major Public Platform? Groundbreaking.
Dakota Johnson on Ellen
Read Article ‘Mindless Self Indulgence’ Controversy Explained
Jimmy Urine and Lyn-Z of American band Mindless Self Indulgence perform on stage at the Reading Festival, England on August 24 2008. (Photo by Nigel Crane/Redferns)
Read Article Sophia Bush Comes Out as Queer and the Discourse Is Too Much
Sophia Bush at the 2024 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.
Related Content
Read Article We Had No Idea ATEEZ Had This Many Albums, Did You?
ATEEZ all members in the Bouncy Music Video.
Read Article Chris Pratt Has Given the Internet a Completely New Reason To Be Pissed Off at Him
Chris Pratt as James Reece in The Terminal List
Read Article Ellen DeGeneres Complaining About Being Canceled on a Major Public Platform? Groundbreaking.
Dakota Johnson on Ellen
Read Article ‘Mindless Self Indulgence’ Controversy Explained
Jimmy Urine and Lyn-Z of American band Mindless Self Indulgence perform on stage at the Reading Festival, England on August 24 2008. (Photo by Nigel Crane/Redferns)
Read Article Sophia Bush Comes Out as Queer and the Discourse Is Too Much
Sophia Bush at the 2024 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.
Author
Jessica Lachenal
Jessica Lachenal is a writer who doesn’t talk about herself a lot, so she isn’t quite sure how biographical info panels should work. But here we go anyway. She's the Weekend Editor for The Mary Sue, a Contributing Writer for The Bold Italic (thebolditalic.com), and a Staff Writer for Spinning Platters (spinningplatters.com). She's also been featured in Model View Culture and Frontiers LA magazine, and on Autostraddle. She hopes this has been as awkward for you as it has been for her.