Reddit bans links to Russian state media across entire site

Reddit joins other Internet media platforms that have restricted or blocked Russian state-controlled media in recent days, including YouTube, Meta, Snapchat and Spotify. — AFP

LOS ANGELES: Reddit has banned users from posting links to Kremlin-affiliated outlets such as RT and Sputnik, joining a growing number of Internet companies in blocking Russian state media amid that country’s attack on Ukraine.

“While many communities on Reddit already prohibited links to Russian state media outlets like RT, Sputnik, and their foreign-language affiliates, we have made such restrictions universal across the site in all geographies,” Reddit said in a statement.

In addition, the popular discussion-community site said, it will “continue not to accept advertisements that target Russia or originate from any Russia-based entity, government or private”. Reddit said it’s assisting affected employees in Ukraine, including providing advanced income payments and housing allowances and supporting their relocation.

Reddit joins other Internet media platforms that have restricted or blocked Russian state-controlled media in recent days, including YouTube, Meta, Snapchat and Spotify.

“The conflict in Ukraine has been shocking and upsetting,” Reddit said in a March 2 blog post. “Recognising that this is first and foremost a human tragedy, we have been working to ensure that those in our community and colleagues who are impacted by these events have the support that they need during this difficult time.”

Reddit said it has instituted a process to escalate moderator requests and reports related to the Ukraine conflict so that its cross-functional team, assisted by Russian and Ukrainian speakers, “can quickly review and act upon them”. The site also said it has calibrated automated safety systems to ensure “that we are not incorrectly removing important and newsworthy citizen journalism that might otherwise be mistaken for rule-breaking content”.

According to Reddit, coordinated attempts to spread disinformation on the service have repeatedly “struggle(d) to take hold on Reddit because – in addition to our detection systems – our deeply-engaged moderators and users quickly remove, downvote, and challenge misleading content”.

In December, Reddit filed to go public in a confidential draft registration statement with the SEC. The company had announced US$700mil (RM2.92bil) in new funding last August, which the New York-based company said gave it a post-money valuation of more than US$10bil (RM41.84bil). Last year Reddit hired its first CFO, Drew Vollero, who oversaw Snap’s IPO in 2017. – Variety.com/Reuters