Reddit Closes r/Games For a Day to Combat Bigotry

It's April 1 and people are doing their very best to be unfunny since they think "anyone can be a comedian." Yeah, we should appreciate the fact that they're trying to make others laugh but when so many people are doing it, you can't blame anyone for being annoyed. Interestingly enough, Reddit decided not to pull any jokes and make a serious statement by shutting down r/Games, one of their most popular forums, for a whole day.

Why? To fight bigotry of course.

Here's the powerful message Reddit left on the forum, showing people that they will no longer tolerate any hate or bigotry on their site. Granted, there will probably be some posts that come the day after complaining about this but we all know they are doing the right thing since these forums can be filled with insults and attacks disguised as "jokes." They also linked to various charities that fans can donate to, showing how serious they are.

This April Fool's, we decided to take things a little more seriously and shed some light on a growing, pervasive issue that has affected the community of r/Games and gaming communities as a whole. In recent times, it's come to our attention that what has been intended to be a forum for the potential spread of knowledge and involvement in video games has instead become a battleground of conflicting ideas. Ordinarily, this isn't an issue; discussion by its very nature is certain to bring argument, but when that argument descends into vitriolic attacks between individuals on a regular basis with no chance at deescalation, that's when, put simply, something's got to give.

Though certain memes (such as "gamers rise up") surrounding gaming are largely viewed as a humorous interpretation of a mindset, at the core of the humor is a set of very serious issues that affect all gaming enthusiasts. By showing disdain or outright rejecting minority and marginalized communities, we become more insular. In this, we lose out on the chance to not only show compassion to these people, but also the chance to grow our own community and diversify the demographics of those involved in it. Whether it's misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, racism or a host of other discriminatory practices, now is the time to stymie the flow of regressive ideas and prevent them from ever becoming the norm.

At r/Games, our community is becoming increasingly responsible for perpetuating a significant amount of these combative and derogatory schools of thought. We remove those comments, we ban the perpetrators, but the issue still persists at a fundamental level: the notion that it's okay or acceptable to ridicule and demonize traditionally disenfranchised and marginalized members in the gaming community. This is not just an issue in r/Games or on Reddit alone; this is an issue deeply embedded in the ranging depths of the internet, frequently in communities that center around the discussion of games.

What are your thoughts on this temporary shutdown of r/Games? Do you agree with Reddit?

Via Reddit

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