Advertisement
Tech

Reddit communities are banning links to X following Musk’s ‘salute’

Subreddits with millions of members are in open protest against the billionaire.

Photo of Mikael Thalen

Mikael Thalen

Elon Musk giving nazi salute with x over his face towards a computer that has reddit on the screen

Communities on Reddit are banning links to X following billionaire Elon Musk’s stiff-armed salute on Monday during an inaugural event for President Donald Trump.

Featured Video

Countless subreddits, including r/NewJersey, which boasts over 464,000 members, are announcing the new rule change in posts across the platform this week.

“Fuck this guy,” the user NewJerseyModTeam wrote. “X links are now banned from r/newjersey.”

Advertisement

Other subreddits are asking their members to weigh in, with some holding votes on whether X links should be permanently axed.

Over at r/DND, a 4 million member strong subreddit for all things Dungeons & Dragons, moderators plan to make a decision soon.

“Given Musk’s actions on Monday, it may be time to rethink how we engage with the platform,” u/OhNo71 wrote. “Beyond Musk giving two Nazi salutes, he has repeatedly amplified harmful rhetoric and interacted with accounts promoting Nazi ideology, raising serious questions about Twitter’s role in spreading hate and extremism.”

Advertisement

While Musk has not explained what exactly his gesture meant, the tech CEO vaguely dismissed accusations that he performed a Nazi salute in a post on X.

“Frankly, they need better dirty tricks,” Musk wrote. “The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”

In a post on r/rupaulsdragrace, a group of the community’s more than 1 million members petitioned the subreddit’s moderators to block links to X as well.

“Dear /rupaulsdragrace Moderators,”the group began, “We, the undersigned members of this community, respectfully request the removal and ban of all links to X from our subreddit. This action is essential to uphold the values of inclusivity, respect, and integrity that our community stands for.”

Advertisement

In a response just 4 hours later, an account for the moderation team wrote: “Automod will now remove links to x.com. Fuck Nazis.”

Even r/Formula1, an independent community of racing supporters, told its 4.8 million members that X links would be forbidden for the foreseeable future.

“Starting today, we are banning Twitter/X content on r/formula1,” one moderator wrote. “We urge all journalists, creators, photographers and other F1 personalities to also make their content available on alternative platforms.”

Advertisement

Community members appear largely supportive, with many users arguing that X has become a cesspool of shoddy informaiton.

“Twitter was such a low bar for quality news anyway,” one redditor wrote. “Any hapless wannabe hero could spout out a rumour and it’d circulate as truth for days unless debunked.”

The bans come amid a time of instability for social media apps. Whether the TikTok ban or Meta’s decision to abandon fact-checking, users are finding an ever-growing list of reasons to migrate towards more friendly alternatives.

Advertisement

Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.

 
The Daily Dot