Quarantine

A quarantine is a moderation state Reddit administrators apply to an entire community whose content is judged offensive, deceptive, or otherwise objectionable but not severe enough for an outright ban. The stated purpose is to prevent the content from being viewed accidentally or without appropriate context. A quarantined subreddit shows an interstitial warning that users must explicitly click through, is excluded from search, recommendations, and non-subscription feeds, generates no advertising revenue, and hides its subscriber count. Users must already know the subreddit's name or URL to reach it.

Reddit introduced quarantines in 2015 and expanded the policy in 2018, when it began allowing communities to appeal and laid out remediation steps. The tool has been used on high-profile communities such as r/The_Donald (quarantined in 2019 before its 2020 ban) and various conspiracy and hate-adjacent forums. Researchers have studied whether quarantining reduces the spread of hateful material, finding that the reduced visibility and removed monetization can dampen a community's growth and influence, though committed members often persist or migrate elsewhere. Quarantine sits between ordinary moderation and a full ban, functioning as both a containment measure and a warning.