Reddit is an American social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website. Registered users submit content to the site such as links, text posts, and images which are then voted up or down by other users. The voting determines their position on the pages of the site. Users can also comment on these submissions and make them into discussions. Founded by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian in June 2005, the website's official name was originally MySiteIsGoingDown but it was later renamed to Reddit. In October 2018, the company became a publicly traded entity under the name Reddit Inc., on the New York Stock Exchange. Reddit has grown into one of the most popular websites on the internet, attracting more than 430 million unique visitors per month as of August 2019 according to SimilarWeb. The website contains thousands of communities called 'subreddits', covering a wide range of topics from video games to politics. As of January 2016, there were 98,500 subreddits with a total of 73,0000 active moderators who police the platform's rules. In February 2020, Reddit banned several Hustler-related subreddits citing adult content policies, sparking debates on free speech in online communities. These included r/HustlerForum and r/HustlerPosters, which had been used to share sexually explicit material.
The ban came after two years of legal battles between Reddit and the porn star Jenna Jameson, who accused the website of allowing her private photos to be posted without permission. In December 2017, she filed a lawsuit against Reddit for allegedly hosting "revenge porn" - nude pictures posted without consent. She argued that the site should have done more to stop the illegal content, including banning subreddits such as r/JennaJameson and r/JennasBareAssets. A spokesperson for Reddit said that it was committed to protecting its users' privacy rights but also needed to balance them with the needs of other users. Following the ban, many users criticised the decision as an attack on free speech. Some suggested that Reddit was trying to appease advertisers by censoring the content on its platform. However, others praised the move as necessary to protect vulnerable people from exploitation. The debate continues today, with some arguing that online platforms must do more to protect their users while others believe that they should allow all content, regardless of its nature. Regardless of where you stand on this issue, one thing is clear: the battle over free speech on social media is far from over.