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Elon Musk directly pressured Reddit CEO to ban r/WhitePeopleTwitter, delete subreddit's DOGE post, and undo bans on X links, new report reveals.

This is a follow-up in part to the drama surrounding the WhitePeopleTwitter ban that occurred on February 3rd, 2025 after the personal info of DOGE staffers was published in that sub, as well as the bans on X links that were enforced in multiple subreddits at the time following Elon Musk's Nazi salute.

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What was known at the time was that, on February 3rd, Musk retweeted another X account's screenshot showing death threats being made against DOGE staffers in a WhitePeopleTwitter post, replying: "They have broken the law". That in turn was screen-shotted and posted to WhitePeopleTwitter.

That same day, the user who made the DOGE post was suspended, the thread was deleted, and the entire subreddit was banned for three days with the message:

>This subreddit has been temporarily banned due to a prevalence of violent content. Inciting and glorifying violence or doxing are against Reddit's platform-wide Rules. It will reopen in 72 hours, during which Reddit will support moderators and provide resources to keep Reddit a healthy place for discussion and debate.

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Today, an article posted in The Verge by editor Alex Heath reveals the Musk was directly behind the subreddit's ban as well as the removal of the thread and all of its comments (which Heath directly posted an archive link of) that Musk shared on X:

>As it turns out, Musk wasn't only using his X platform to call out content on Reddit. He was also privately messaging Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, according to people familiar with the matter.

>Shortly after the two CEOs exchanged text messages, Reddit enacted a 72-hour ban on the "WhitePeopleTwitter" subreddit that hosted the thread about DOGE employees, citing the "prevalence of violent content." The specific thread Musk shared on X was also deleted, including hundreds of comments that didn't call for violence or doxxing.

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The article also says that few Reddit moderators at the time were made aware of Musk's chat with the Reddit CEO, and discussed the matter in Groomercord.

One such moderator implied that Musk also wanted the subreddit bans on X links lifted, after Musk had tweeted about the bans prior to the WhitePeopleTwitter incident:

>After one wrote, "Musk is coming for r / Comics," which was one of the subreddits that was banning links to X, another responded by calling him a "giant baby," according to screenshots of the conversation that were shared with me.

>"Elon called out death threats," wrote another Reddit moderator. "He should not be able to influence Reddit, but if what he calls out is death threats then of course they need to come down."

>Yet another responded: "Oh, I don't have any problem with removing rule-breaking content (and taking the respective admin action on said accounts), but I find it a bit problematic that he's able to exert influence on both public and private institutions."

The lifting of bans on X links, ultimately, did not come to pass:

>So far, Reddit doesn't appear to have intervened in any moderator decisions to ban X links from the subreddits they oversee.

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The Verge's article has been shared in multiple subreddits whose comment sections can be viewed below:

Technology: https://old.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1jl7jtp/elon_musk_pressured_reddits_ceo_on_content/

NoShitSherlock: https://old.reddit.com/r/NoShitSherlock/comments/1jl6wgo/elon_musk_pressured_reddits_ceo_on_content/

Collapse: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/1jl7zns/elon_musk_pressured_reddits_ceo_on_content/

Fauxmoi: https://old.reddit.com/r/Fauxmoi/comments/1jlai3x/elon_musk_pressured_reddits_ceo_on_content/

Politics*: https://old.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/1jl6smd/elon_musk_pressured_reddits_ceo_on_content/

*r / politics mods deleted their post due to it allegedly not covering US politics despite gathering over 33K upmarseys.


https://old.reddit.com/r/SubredditDrama/comments/1jljn4y/elon_musk_directly_pressured_reddit_ceo_to_ban/

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i know death threats are illegal but idk if this ever got enforced on behalf of public figures til now

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"True threats of violence" that are directed at a person or group of persons that have the intent of placing the target at risk of bodily harm or death are generally unprotected. However, there are several exceptions. For example, the Supreme Court has held that "threats may not be punished if a reasonable person would understand them as obvious hyperbole",

it is illegal to knowingly and willfully make "any threat to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict bodily harm upon the president of the United States." This law is distinct from other forms of true threats because the threatener does not need to have the actual capability to carry out the threat

So no, it is not illegal to say that I want to shoot Elon Musk in the face in Minecraft !lawyers but it would be to say that about the president

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people are starting to go a little hogwild on the internet. it makes sense that the tech class is corralling the masses. also it's very important to note the Pentaon has been doing this type of foolishness in east asia for a while. during covid there was a lot of tilting the scale against Chinese vaxs in Philippines by them. Reuters ran a great article about the Pentagon and Sinovoc.

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