Topline
Several communities 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 Reddit forums 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)
AFP via Getty ImagesKey Facts
Large subreddits such as r/f1 , r/LiverpoolFC and r/nintendo, which collectively have more than 7 million members, have instituted a ban on links to X, citing Musk’s controversial gesture.
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 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.”
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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)
Reddit Blackout Rolls On For More Than 5,000 Subreddits Past Planned End Date—Some Of Which Plan To Stay Dark Indefinitely (Forbes)
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