Streamer 'PaymoneyWubby' Banned From Reddit For Harassment Over A Private DM That Nobody Reported
Amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the platform's API pricing over the last few weeks, Reddit's moderation practices are now being criticized by Twitch streamer PaymoneyWubby after he was purportedly banned from the site for a week for "harassment" over a private message he sent to a fan.
The message was sent earlier this week following a livestream Sunday night in reference to a Magic: The Gathering card from the newly released Lord of the Rings set that the fan pulled, which Wubby has been hunting for and said he would pay if anyone wound up finding.
It reads, "You are a b*stard man for that pull," which Wubby said was a reference to this scene from Always Sunny. In a tweet by Wubby sharing the news of the ban last night, the streamer calls the message "banter" and points out that Reddit has given him no clear way to appeal the ban.
In an attempt to figure out what was going on, Wubby even had the fan (who has been subscribed to the streamer for 37 months) call into his stream yesterday to offer his side of the story — theorizing it could have been reported.
In the clip, the fan claims he did not find the message offensive or harassing and did not report it. Shortly after, Wubby shared the clip on Twitter, writing, "Looks like Reddit will ban you for private messages whether they get reported or not???"
From Reddit's side, the exact circumstances surrounding the ban are still unclear. Some, however, are worried about the implication that Reddit admins or automod systems have the ability to read private messages and dish out bans for them — even if no one reports it.
Although mere speculation, some viewers on the stream also suggested that the action on Reddit's part could have been a retaliation to Wubby's subreddit /r/PaymoneyWubby participating in the blackout protest earlier this month since Wubby is an admin there.
At the time of writing, Reddit has not responded to Wubby's concerns, but the incident adds to growing backlash online toward the site.