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Reddit Watch is a comprehensive, well-sourced, neutral-but-critical public archive of Reddit's documented issues, controversies, moderation problems, defamation challenges, and real-world impacts from Reddit's 2005 founding to 2026.

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An independent, non-affiliated research project. Not endorsed by or associated with Reddit, Inc. See our methodology & disclaimers.

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The archive

Issues Database

Every documented issue, searchable and filterable by category, year, and keyword. Toggle between grid and timeline views, and export the filtered set to CSV.

The r/Bitcoin censorship war under 'theymos' (2015–2016)

During the Bitcoin 'block size' war, r/Bitcoin's lead moderator 'theymos' deleted comments, banned users, and removed moderators who supported alternative software like Bitcoin XT — pushing dissenters to found the rival r/btc.

Moderation & Power AbuseMajor Scandals & Backlashes

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123

2014–20154 sources

Reddit Notes: The Cryptocurrency That Was Announced and Never Launched

Reddit unveiled plans for a native cryptocurrency, 'Reddit Notes,' promising to distribute 950,000 tokens to the community in 2015, but the project was quietly abandoned within months amid regulatory uncertainty and leadership upheaval.

Major Scandals & Backlashes

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20143 sources

The Dogecoin community's Reddit-driven charity drives (2014)

In 2014 Reddit's Dogecoin community channeled a joke cryptocurrency into real-world goodwill — funding the Jamaican Olympic bobsled team, sponsoring a NASCAR driver, and backing water and service-dog charities — in a celebrated display of crowd philanthropy.

Major Scandals & Backlashes

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April 20143 sources

r/technology Stripped of Default Status After Secret AutoModerator Keyword Censorship

Moderators of r/technology, then a Reddit default subreddit, were exposed in April 2014 for secretly using AutoModerator to delete any submission whose title contained ~50 banned keywords including 'NSA', 'Snowden', 'Bitcoin', and 'net neutrality'. Reddit removed the subreddit from its default list in response.

Moderation & Power AbuseMajor Scandals & BacklashesPolicy Changes & User Revolts

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