Reddit Bans r/DarkHumorAndMemes in the June 2020 Purge
June 2020
r/DarkHumorAndMemes was one of the most active subreddits removed in Reddit's June 29, 2020 mass purge, banned under the new rule against hate based on identity for using a 'dark humor' framing to host identity-based hate.
What happened
r/DarkHumorAndMemes was banned on June 29, 2020 as part of Reddit's mass purge of roughly 2,000 subreddits under its newly rewritten content policy and Rule 1, which prohibited content promoting 'hate based on identity or vulnerability.' Unlike the inactive majority of communities removed that day, it was specifically named by multiple outlets among the handful of most-active subreddits banned.
Variety listed the most active banned subreddits as including 'darkhumorandmemes; consumeproduct; darkjokecentral; gendercritical; cumtown; imgoingtohellforthis2; wojak; and soyboys,' and The Advocate independently named 'Dark Humor And Memes' alongside The_Donald, Gender Critical, and ChapoTrapHouse.
'Dark humor' subreddits of this kind were repeatedly criticized for using an 'it's just a joke' framing as cover for racist, antisemitic, and anti-LGBTQ content — precisely the bad-faith pattern Reddit's revised Rule 1 said it would not protect. r/DarkHumorAndMemes was swept up together with r/Imgoingtohellforthis2, the successor to the long-running edgy-meme community r/ImGoingToHellForThis.
Impact
Confirmed that Reddit's 2020 enforcement reached large 'edgy humor' communities, rejecting the 'just a joke' defense for content that promotes identity-based hate.