Reddit overhauls 'hate speech' policy, bans 2,000 subreddit communities, including r/The_Donald

'Reddit is a place for community and belonging, not for attacking people'

The popular messaging and networking website, Reddit, updated its hate speech policy Monday and banned 2,000 communities, including a large subreddit devoted to President Donald Trump.

The "subreddit" community, r/The_Donald, was the largest one devoted to Trump on the website, with more than 790,000 followers, according to the New York Times. Executives for the company said that the community, within which users post memes, videos, and various other messages about Trump, had consistently violated its rules by permitting harassment and hate speech.

"Reddit is a place for community and belonging, not for attacking people," said Steve Huffman, the company's CEO, in a call with reporters. "'The_Donald' has been in violation of that."

Like the majority of the subreddits that were banned, r/The_Donald's activity had been in decline as of late. It was started in 2016 during the election, but many of the popular posts on the forum Monday morning were months old, The Hill reported.

In an announcement of the new policy posted on the website, Reddit explained that r/The_Donald "consistently hosted and upvoted more rule-breaking content than average (Rule 1), antagonized us and other communities (Rules 2 and 8), and its mods have refused to meet our most basic expectations."

The announcement also included an explanation regarding Reddit's decision to ban a liberal subreddit, r/ChapoTrapHouse, dedicated to the leftist podcast.

"Though smaller, r/ChapoTrapHouse was banned for similar reasons: They consistently host rule-breaking content and their mods have demonstrated no intention of reining in their community," the announcement read.

"To be clear, views across the political spectrum are allowed on Reddit," the post continued. "But all communities must work within our policies and do so in good faith, without exception."

What else?

The updated policy comes as social media companies are facing increasing pressure to act against so-called hateful content.

Facebook, for example, has come under fire from liberal groups in recent months for its hands-off policy regarding the censorship of content and for choosing not to fact-check or suppress content political ads.

In an effort to force Facebook to change course, liberal groups have begun successfully pressuring major advertisers to stop advertising on the site. The effort appears to have worked, as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg went live on the social media platform last Friday to announce changes.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/reddit-hate-speech-the-donald

Wilbur Ross Says US Revokes Hong Kong's Special Status

While it was just a formality at this point, after the US revealed several weeks ago that it would strip Hong Kong of its special trade now that China's is set to impose its new security law as soon as tomorrow, moments ago US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, issued a statement advising China that Hong Kong’s special status is officially revoked.

"With the Chinese Communist Party’s imposition of new security measures on Hong Kong, the risk that sensitive U.S. technology will be diverted to the People’s Liberation Army or Ministry of State Security has increased, all while undermining the territory’s autonomy. Those are risks the U.S. refuses to accept and have resulted in the revocation of Hong Kong’s special status."

As a result, the Commerce Department said that "regulations affording preferential treatment to Hong Kong over China, including the availability of export license exceptions, are suspended." Ross also said that "further actions to eliminate differential treatment are also being evaluated" and urged Beijing to "immediately reverse course and fulfill the promises it has made to the people of Hong Kong and the world."

Needless to say, and have said it many times in the past, China will not be happy, but so far both sides have shown a willingness to contain themselves to merely jawboning and verbal fireworks instead of escalating and jeopardizing the fragile economic truce between the two nations. That, however, may change in the coming months as the November elections approach.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/wilbur-ross-says-us-revokes-hong-kongs-special-status

US Supreme Court Lifts Limit On President's Ability To Fire Agency Directors In CFPB Case

The court ruled the the limit in the Dodd-Frank Act limiting the president's ability to fire the head of the CFPB was unconstitutional

The court severed the issue from the rest of the law, allowing the agency to continue to operate

Sen. Elizabeth Warren was the agency's first director and hailed Monday's ruling

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday overturned part of a federal law that limited President Trump’s ability to fire the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau without cause, ruling it violated the constitutional separation of powers but determined the agency, itself, is legal.

The justices agreed the issue of the president’s ability to fire the CFPB’s director could be severed from the rest of the case, meaning the agency can continue to operate and its past cases do not need to be revisited.

“The president’s power to remove and thus supervise those who wield executive power on his behalf follows from the text of Article II, was settled by the First Congress, and was confirmed in” a 1926 landmark decision, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion.

He added: “We therefore hold that the structure of the CFPB violates the separation of powers. We go on to hold that the CFPB director’s removal protection is severable from the other statutory provisions bearing on the CFPB’s authority. The agency may therefore continue to operate, but its director, in light of our decision, must be removable by the president at will.”

The 5-4 decision, in which Roberts sided with the four more conservative justices on the court, came in Seila Law v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was filed by a California law firm that refused to comply with a civil investigative demand. Seila Law provides debt-related legal services to clients.

The CFPB was the brainchild of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in the wake of the Great Recession. It was part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act and was charged with protecting consumers from abuses by financial institutions. The law specifically prohibited firing its director without cause.

Warren hailed the decision on Twitter.

https://www.ibtimes.com/us-supreme-court-lifts-limit-presidents-ability-fire-agency-directors-cfpb-case-3002642