League of Legends Subreddit’s Moderation Controversy
The League of Legends subreddit is an influential hub for the game’s community, attracting thousands of daily pageviews to articles and videos. However, recent events have raised concerns about the moderation of the subreddit.
Gnarsies, a content creator critical of Riot Games, the subreddit, and streaming culture, released a video exposing the business practices of WTFast, an app for League players. The video revealed that the company had incentivized users to write positive reviews on Steam by offering free subscription time. This violated Steam’s terms of service and led to WTFast retracting their offer.
The video gained traction on the subreddit and reached the front page, but it was swiftly removed by the moderation team on the grounds of “witch-hunting.” This decision puzzled many viewers, as the video did not incite any action against the company or disclose personal information. The facts presented in the video were solid, despite some of the language being critical.
Conflicting Reasons for Removal
The moderators initially claimed that the video contained a “call to action” as justification for its removal. However, they later changed their reasoning and focused on the use of the term “snake-oil” and negative customer testimonials as “evidence.” The senior moderator, “KoreanTerran,” explained that the video lacked proper evidence in its second half, which led to its removal.
The subreddit defines witch-hunting as a thread or comment that harms a person or entity’s reputation without solid evidence. While interpretations of the rule can vary, it appeared that other factors influenced the decision to remove the video.
Possible Influential Factors
Upon reaching out to WTFast about the removal, Gnarsies received a response suggesting that a sponsored affiliate had requested the video’s removal. They expressed their disapproval of censorship and requested the video’s reinstatement. The affiliate in question was revealed to be Voyboy, one of Twitch’s top League of Legends streamers.
Voyboy had messaged the moderators prior to the video’s removal, citing the witch-hunting rule. Ironically, his message aligned almost word for word with the moderation team’s justification for the removal. The moderators did not address his affiliation with WTFast or raise any conflict of interest concerns.
Questionable Moderation Practices
Reddit’s rules discourage accepting rewards for moderating decisions, but guidance on status-based influence is less clear. The swift removal of the video following Voyboy’s message raised suspicions of influence. Chat logs from the moderators’ Skype group indicated their initial comfort with the video before the affiliate’s intervention.
Gnarsies expressed disappointment in the subreddit’s accusations against him and the removal of his consumer-focused content, which sparked a necessary discussion. He criticized the moderation team for being influenced and called out the shady practices of both WTFast and League Content Creators who promote the service for money.
This controversy challenges Reddit’s ideal of content thriving or perishing based solely on user engagement. Despite having a 90% upvote ratio, the video was removed for unclear reasons. The removal was seen as a disservice to both WTFast and the Reddit community.
Disclaimer: The author of this story was banned from the League of Legends subreddit shortly before this article’s publication.
League of Legends, subreddit, moderation controversy, controversial removal, influential community members, content creator, critique, business practices, Witch-hunting, sponsored affiliate, conflict of interest.