In an interview with “Axios on HBO,” Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said the company supports pornography on its platform, as long as it’s not exploitative.
Why it matters: Most other social media platforms — such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Tumblr — have banned pornographic content.
“You can look at [porn] as exploitative. And, indeed, much of it is. And that’s not the content that we want on Reddit,” Huffman said. “But there’s another aspect that’s empowering. And these are people sharing stories of themselves, pictures of themselves. And we are perfectly supportive of that.”
- “There are difficult decisions to make in this sphere, but we think they’re worth making, as opposed to saying, you know, ‘No sex at all,’ for example,” he said.
- Of note: Twitter still allows pornographic content as well.
Huffman also spoke to Reddit’s involvement in the GameStop frenzy. He told “Axios on HBO” he was proud of r/WallStreetBets, the forum on Reddit that was largely responsible for making GameStop’s stock go haywire.
- “That community exposed a gap between those who have access to the financial markets and those who are on the outside,” Huffman said.
- “In WallStreetBets you see a community, among many things, that is breaking in or trying to break through into that establishment.”