All mods of /r/self and /r/shittylifeprotips were removed and suspended for 7 days without any warning first.
We toggled to 18+ and sort of let nature take its course by only enforcing TOS. I say "we" but in reality I was the only active mod on either sub, so I do feel bad for getting awkwardtheturtle banned by association (lol). After the fact got the "It’s not ok to show people NSFW content when they don’t want to see it.
Mods should not make malicious changes to their communities, such as allowing rule-violating behavior or encouraging the submission of sexually explicit (18+) content in previously safe-for-work spaces."
This isn't the first time reddit has removed moderators -- I'm sure everyone remembers the_donald. While the td mods did get plenty of direct warnings from the admins, ultimately the admins don't need to provide any form of warning. Reddit does own the platform (and your content), after all.
The funny thing is the bastards are still trying to pretend this is all just about people losing free access to the API, when it is now quite firmly about them and their plantation mentality toward users and their unskillful power tripping. It's all how weak people think strong people act, and it's equal parts infuriating and pathetic.
The best part is that many of these are huge, moneymaker subs from the front page. Surely the average facebook-y lurker that Spez was pandering to will have noticed the drama by now as well.
I don't think there are any moderator rules at all. Reddit is just doing anything they can get away with, which is what corporations do anyway.
I am a bit surprised at how slipshod they are about it though, I'd have expected them to hammer out an action plan and then trigger it all in the same hour, but we're getting this slow trickle of changes which suggests that they don't have a plan at all, but are just sort of flailing.
Is there actually a particular rule against turning SFW subs into NSFW subs?
No, and historically it's been the admins' stance that it's up to the mods to determine what is an acceptable level within the sub. They're absolutely just making up the shit as they go and trying to retroactively justify their impulsive actions after the fact.
Previously, reddit admins could distance themselves from what the moderators were doing.
You know plausible deniability. "We allow our users to post stuff, users moderate themselves. Oopsiedoodle. We allowed users to post pictures of underage girls on reddit for years, time to fire the volunteer mod responsible."
Obviously, anyone who's been on reddit for a while, knows that's bullshit. Reddit's perfectly happy to profit off questionable and outright illegal content. But the admins had that excuse.
But now they're literally and openly forcing subreddits like /r/piracy to re-open.
This strikes me as legally questionable. They're not just tolerating or even condoning some of the more questionable content, they're now actively promoting it.