Reddit Cites Lawsuits Against Users and Mods for 230’s Benefit
Yes, even social aggregation and discussion site Reddit came out to support 230, and it had one of the more interesting arguments of the bunch. Reddit, for its part, argued that 230 doesn’t just protect its site but also the volunteer moderators who handle the online discussion boards. A spokesperson for Reddit told Gizmodo “everyday people, including our users, could face lawsuits for participating in these activities.” The company pointed to mods of r/Screenwriting who were sued for leaving up posts questioning if a competition was a scam. Reddit was also sued by another user when r/StarTrek mods banned another user for saying one of the show’s characters was a “soy boy.”
Of course, by no means did Reddit invent the idea of community mods, but it points to just how much the discussion-oriented parts of the internet depend on community organizing. The idea of volunteer moderators being in the crosshairs of internet content has very different ring to it than the platforms themselves being responsible for what users post.
