While not a death knell, Reddit’s quarantine policy has been used for a few years to deter certain subreddits from exposing their offensive content to the larger Reddit community, while also serving as a warning that a subreddit might be on the verge of a full shutdown.
Reddit is now adding an appeal process for subreddits that feel they can be welcomed back into the fold. A Reddit quarantine appeal could mean the difference between life or death for some of the forum’s most controversial groups.
Moderators of a quarantined subreddit (which do not show up in searches, “popular” categories, and do not produce revenue) can now submit an appeal to Reddit leadership. In that appeal, they’re asked to provide a detailed summary of the changes they’ve made to their community moderating policy. That might include bringing on more moderators, adding additional rules, employing auto-moderating tools, or adjusting community style guidelines.
The appeal should also offer evidence of sustained, consistent enforcement of these changes over a period of at least one month, demonstrating meaningful reform of the community,” Reddit stated on r/announcements, their subreddit for official site updates.
Subreddits are quarantined in order to protect the general Reddit populace from being exposed to that particular community’s potentially offensive material. That said, quarantined subreddits must still abide by Reddit guidelines. Reddit is quick to use Holocaust denial and the promotion of other hoaxes as a key example of why a subreddit may be quarantined.
“Moderators should only submit credible appeals that are supported by notable and sustained community transformation,” Reddit stated. “Moderators are encouraged to take the time they need to craft a successful appeal.”
This suggests that Reddit will be unkind to quarantined groups that abuse the function, and may either enact further restrictions or outright ban a group.
You can find a list of quarantined subreddits (and why Reddit says they quarantined them) on r/reclassified. R/theredpill, r/cringeanarchy, and r/watchpeopledie are some of the most recent examples of communities quarantined.
Reddit has also recently begun cracking down on file-sharing subreddits that illegally share copies of films and television episodes.
H/T: CNET