Topline
At least 100 communities with millions of subscribers on social platform Reddit are protesting X owner Elon Musk after the billionaire made a gesture at a post-inauguration speech Monday that critics have likened to a Nazi salute, provoking some subreddits to institute or consider bans against links to X, formerly known as Twitter.
Musk made the gesture in a post-inauguration speech. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
Key Facts
The r/NBA subreddit, which has 15 million subscribers, announced Wednesday it would ban users from postings links to X, as well as Meta social platforms Instagram, Facebook and Threads, citing a “stance against Nazi symbolism,” data privacy concerns and an “increase in hate speech and discriminatory language” both on X and “directly from the owner of the platform.”
Also among the biggest subreddits to ban links to X are r/NFL, which has 12 million subscribers, and r/TwoXChromosomes, a women’s issues subreddit with 14 million subscribers, which also banned links to Meta platforms.
The BBC reported at least 100 subreddits, more than 60 of which have more than 100,000 members, have also announced bans on links to X this week, including other large subreddits like r/f1 , r/LiverpoolFC and r/nintendo, which collectively have more than 7 million members.
Musk found himself in hot water this week after making the gesture, though he did not explain what he meant by it and has blasted critics who said it was a Nazi salute.
Some subreddits like r/nintendo instituting the ban have alternatively allowed for members to share screenshots or videos of X posts as long as direct links to the Musk-owned site are not shared.
A moderator on r/pcgaming, a subreddit with 3.8 million members, said the community has contemplated the ban on X links for some time, adding “X has become increasingly hateful, toxic and less and less moderated.”
Other subreddits considering or enacting a ban on X links include r/NYYankees, r/massachussetts, r/Georgia, r/xmen and r/destiny2.
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Chief Critic
Musk, who has not publicly commented on the Reddit protest, said on Monday “The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired” after blasting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who said Musk made a “Heil Hitler salute that was performed and repeated for emphasis and clarity.”
What We Don’t Know
It is unclear what sort of impact the protest will have, as many subreddits are still mulling a ban against X links as of Wednesday morning, and time will tell if the subreddits instituting the bans will stick with them. For example, r/f1 is starting with a trial period for the ban before potentially making it permanent.
Forbes Valuation
We estimate Musk’s net worth at $429.9 billion, making him the world’s wealthiest person.
Key Background
Musk has yet to elaborate on the gesture made Monday, though defenders such as the Anti-Defamation League have chalked up the action to being accidental or awkward as opposed to an intentional Nazi salute. Musk supported Reddit prior to his embrace of right-wing politics but has since bashed the platform on several occasions, saying it has “a possibly terminal case of the woke mind virus” and is “hard-captured by the far left.” Communities on Reddit, which are able to create and enforce their own guidelines to a certain extent, have been popular channels of social media protest before, whether political or otherwise. In 2023, several thousand subreddits went dark in response to a change in Reddit API policies that led to the shuttering of popular third-party apps used to browse Reddit.
Further Reading
X Ban Spreads Across Reddit As Communities React To Musk’s Gesture (Forbes)
Elon Musk’s Salute Sparks Criticism From Foreign Leaders And Democrats (Forbes)
