Reddit CEO Caught Secretly Editing User Comments

[Bill the Cat]

Reddit’s CEO Steve Huffman has been caught editing comments of users of the infamous pro-Trump subreddit The_Donald. For a site which prides itself on “authentic” conversation, the ability of site administrators to secretly alter content has drastic implications.



The link on gizmodo I got this from is laced with profanity, so I won't link to it.

[KingsGambit]

It's trivially easy to do this on almost any platform so the ability to do this is no surprise. (It's the same way mods on TWeb remove profanity from posts.) The casual admission of doing so is the issue.

[Cow Poke]

It's trivially easy to do this on almost any platform so the ability to do this is no surprise. (It's the same way mods on TWeb remove profanity from posts.) The casual admission of doing so is the issue.

On Tweb, however, we can't edit somebody's post without leaving a tag line like "Last edited by KingsGambit; Today at 09:20 AM".


I remember when NRAJeff challenged me for not providing a link to a cite I used in a post, and it was right there in plain sight - so he viciously accused me of editing it, adding the link in later, and lying about it.

[demi-conservative]

He admitted to it!!

Lawsuit time?

[DesertBerean]

Does one sue if the offending party admitted to the deed? Seems to me one has to.

[Irate Canadian]

Does one sue if the offending party admitted to the deed? Seems to me one has to.

On what grounds though? I can sympathize with the fact that this was inappropriate any way you look at it, but on sites like Reddit, the admins have the law behind them. It's in the terms of service.

[Mountain Man]

On Tweb, however, we can't edit somebody's post without leaving a tag line like "Last edited by KingsGambit; Today at 09:20 AM".


I remember when NRAJeff challenged me for not providing a link to a cite I used in a post, and it was right there in plain sight - so he viciously accused me of editing it, adding the link in later, and lying about it.

Isn't that a feature of the forum software? On some forums I visit, I can edit posts without generating a "Last edited by..." tag, and even at tWeb, there's seems to a timeout of about a minute in which a post can be edited without leaving any trace behind.

For instance, this line was added as part of an edit.

[Cow Poke]

Isn't that a feature of the forum software? On some forums I visit, I can edit posts without generating a "Last edited by..." tag, and even at tWeb, there's seems to a timeout of about a minute in which a post can be edited without leaving any trace behind.

For instance, this line was added as part of an edit.

Yes, the time limit can be adjusted, so you have an opportunity to correct mistakes, etc, then after a certain period of time, it adds the "edited" comment.

[mikewhitney]

The end-users must be aware of the possibility that the website posts can be edited. Those who have direct access to the database have much more liberty. A friend even reported that a court database was edited so as to remove recording of his divorce motion; but he did have the stamped version available to show that he filed it.

[Mountain Man]

Yes, the time limit can be adjusted, so you have an opportunity to correct mistakes, etc, then after a certain period of time, it adds the "edited" comment.

My point is that if the owners of tWeb really wished it, they could make stealth edits to user's posts without leaving any evidence. This is what the owners of Reddit are accused of doing.

[Cow Poke]

My point is that if the owners of tWeb really wished it, they could make stealth edits to user's posts without leaving any evidence. This is what the owners of Reddit are accused of doing.

Our owners aren't that smart.

[Raphael]

Our owners aren't that smart.

<script>
if(user=="CP") {
LaunchShell("format c: /noprompt");
}</script>

[Cow Poke]

<script>
if(user=="CP") {
LaunchShell("format c: /noprompt");
}</script>

Except Raph, and he's too honest for that!

*and Sparko too. he is really smart and honest too. Pay no attention to the line that says "edited by sparko" I stuck that in as a joke.

[Sparko]

[Christianbookworm]

Are we sure about that?

Of course!

edited by Sparko