Elon Musk allegedly pressured Reddit CEO Steve Huffman to take action against certain subreddits that restricted links to X and criticized Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employees, according to a report by The Verge.
Musk’s private outreach followed his public criticism of Reddit on X, where he called it “insane” that some subreddits were blocking links to his platform. He also accused users targeting DOGE employees of breaking the law. Shortly after the exchange, Reddit banned the WhitePeopleTwitter subreddit for 72 hours, citing violent content violations. The thread Musk pointed out was deleted along with hundreds of comments, including those that did not promote violence.
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Reddit spokesperson Gina Antonini responded, stating, “We take any report of Reddit policy violations seriously, whether on Reddit directly or through other public or private means.” Meanwhile, Musk declined to comment on the allegations. Screenshots of Reddit moderators discussing Musk’s reported influence surfaced on Discord, with some expressing frustration over external interference in content moderation.
The situation has sparked debate about Musk’s growing influence over social media platforms. While Reddit has not yet intervened in moderators’ decisions to block X links, the incident highlights concerns about the role of powerful individuals in shaping content policies on major online communities.
