Reddit bans 2,000 subreddits, including The_Donald and Chapo Trap House

US President Donald Trump speaks during an American Workforce Policy Advisory Board Meeting in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on June 26, 2020.
(Image credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Reddit has banned about 2,000 forums, including the pro-Trump section, The_Donald.

Reddit announced on Monday it was banning a large number of subreddits, most of which it says are inactive, as part of a crackdown against hate speech, The New York Times reports. Among them was The_Donald, the board for supporters of President Trump that had almost 800,000 users. Trump has in the past tweeted memes that were first posted there.

"Reddit is a place for community and belonging, not for attacking people," Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said, per the Times. "The_Donald has been in violation of that."

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A post to Reddit's announcement subreddit laid out the site's new content policy, saying that "communities and users that promote hate based on identity or vulnerability will be banned." As far as The_Donald goes, the announcement said it has "consistently hosted and upvoted more rule-breaking content than average," as well as "antagonized us and other communities," and "its mods have refused to meet our most basic expectations."

Another popular community to be banned was the group for listeners of the leftist podcast Chapo Trap House. Users who visit the page are now met with a message saying the group was "banned for violating Reddit's rule against promoting hate."

Reddit's former CEO, Ellen Pao, previously said the site should ban the pro-Trump forum. "You should have shut down The_Donald instead of amplifying it and its hate, racism, and violence," Pao wrote earlier this month in a tweet directed at Huffman. "So much of what is happening now lies at your feet."

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.