Reddit yesterday defended its stance on allowing pandemic misinformation after hundreds of subreddit moderators joined an open letter urging the company to “take action against the rampant Coronavirus misinformation on their website.”
The open letter on r/VaxxHappened was joined by over 450 moderators and said that subreddits existing “solely to spread medical disinformation and undermine efforts to combat the global pandemic should be banned.” The hundreds of subreddits that joined the open letter include 10 with over 10 million subscribers each, over 40 subreddits with 1 million to 10 million subscribers each, and about 20 others with 500,000 to 1 million subscribers.
In response, Reddit posted an explanation of its approach, saying it will continue to allow “debate” and “dissent” on vaccines and other COVID-related matters, even when there is a scientific consensus.
“While we appreciate the sentiment of those demanding that we ban more communities that challenge consensus views on the pandemic, we continue to believe in the good of our communities and hope that we collectively approach the challenges of the pandemic with empathy, compassion, and a willingness to understand what others are going through, even when their viewpoint on the pandemic is different from yours,” Reddit wrote.
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Source: Reddit takes a teach-the-controversy approach to pandemic and vaccines | Ars Technica