The Aftermath of Disbanding an Online Hateful Community

TL;DR

This study examines the impact of banning a large hateful subreddit on user behavior and community dynamics, showing that such bans can effectively reduce harmful interactions and influence user conduct.

Contribution

The paper provides an empirical analysis of Reddit's subreddit ban policy, revealing its effectiveness and behavioral consequences in diminishing online hate speech.

Findings

Reduced interaction of banned users with Reddit post-ban

Counter-actions by users were short-lived and neutralized

Forum banning can effectively diminish objectionable content

Abstract

Harassing and hateful speech in online spaces has become a common problem for platform maintainers and their users. The toxicity created by such content can discourage user participation and engagement. Therefore, it is crucial for and a common goal of platform managers to diminish hateful and harmful content. Over the last year, Reddit, a major online platform, enacted a policy of banning sub-communities (subreddits) that they deem harassing, with the goal of diminishing such activities. We studied the effects of banning the largest hateful subreddit (r/fatpeoplehate or FPH) on the users and other subreddits that were associated with it. We found that, while a number of outcomes were possible --- in this case the subreddit ban led to a sustained reduced interaction of its members (FPH users) with the Reddit platform. We also found that the many counter-actions taken by FPH users were short-lived and promptly neutralized by both Reddit administrators and the admins of individual subreddits. Our findings show that forum-banning can be an effective means by which to diminish objectionable content. Moreover, our detailed analysis of the post-banning behavior of FPH users highlights a number of the behavioral patterns that banning can create.