For a brief moment early on Friday morning, the internet was a better place. Reddit forum /r/kotakuinaction, the primary hangout for Gamergaters on the platform, was temporarily shuttered by its creator and head moderator, /u/david-me. David posted a lengthy letter explaining his actions, calling the forum “one of the many cancerous growths that have infiltrated reddit,” and that it has become “infested with racism and sexism.”
From Reddit:
So in this moment with years of contemplation, I am Stopping it. I’m closing shop and I can’t allow anyone to exploit my handicap. I’ve watched and read every day. Every single day. The mods are good at what they do, but they are moderating over a sub that should not exist. The users have created content that should not be. Topics that do not require debate. And often times molded by outside forces.
We are better than this. I should have been better than this. Just look at the comment history of any users history. The hate is spread by very few, but very often. Overwhelmingly so.
The post, first spotted by the Daily Beast’s Will Sommer, notes that Kotaku in Action pales in comparison to /r/The_Donald, a Reddit hangout for all things Trump. “Compared to you [/r/The_Donald], I’m a Mini-Me. I’m scratching an itch, yet you are a viral cancer that is destroying the minds of millions of Reddit users each day.” The sentences link to a site for voter registration and Indivisible Project, an organization dedicated to forwarding progressive agendas and taking down Trump. Unsurprisingly, everybody else in the forum did not take too kindly to this post. David has since been stripped of his moderator status and the forum is back online. It was nice while it lasted, though.
