The movement appears to be gaining momentum across Reddit, as dozens of subreddits have chosen to block links to X within their communities over the past 24 hours. Hundreds more are actively discussing or considering similar moves with members.
By Engadget’s count, more than 20 subreddits with millions of combined members have already restricted their communities from posting content from X in some way in recent days. These include large subreddits like r/formula1, which has around 5 million members, and smaller communities like r/ultraman, which has 30,000 members.
The move appears to have been propagated, at least in part, by r/newjersey, which announced a ban on X-links on Tuesday. “Fuck this guy. X-links are now banned from r/newjersey,” he shared in the post, which currently has over 65,000 upvotes. The post also included a photo of Elon Musk with his arms outstretched, and Musk gave two apparent Nazi salutes during his speech at President Donald Trump’s inauguration. This has been widely praised by fascists online.
Many other subreddits quickly followed suit, many of which shared links to the r/newjersey post. X-links include r/military (489,000 members), r/comics (2.7 million), r/casualnintendo (184,000), r/spiderman (1 million), r/pcgaming (3.8 million), r/rupaulsdragrace ( 1 person). million), r/KingdomHearts (345,000), r/Therapist (142,000), and many more. “We weren’t trying to start a trend, and we didn’t expect it to go viral,” r/newjersey mods said in a statement to Engadget. “Not everyone will agree with our choices, but Reddit has always been a place where each community can decide these things independently. Our announcement will help the discussion about the role social media plays in the modern era. If it stimulates people, I think that’s a good thing.”
When announcing the ban on X-links, many mods also reference the fact that X makes it increasingly difficult for users to view posts unless they are logged in. Source: Login requirements, bot inundation, prioritization of content from paid users, promotion of sensational content,” the r/formula1 mod wrote in the post. “But unlike the news sites in our source rating system, Twitter didn’t really have an alternative.”
The subreddit instead encourages members to share Bluesky content, which does not require a login to view posts. The mod said it would allow “screenshots of related posts by teams, drivers and F1” if the same content is not available elsewhere.
Moderators of r/antiwork, which has 2.9 million members, point out that its rules prohibit links and screenshots from X as well as all other social media sites, including Facebook, Instagram, and even LinkedIn. did. “We want the anti-work message to come naturally from you here in the OC format, but if it comes from a photo or post of something else, it will stick. If there is, we would like that too,” they wrote. “It’s not just Twitter.”
Many other subreddits are considering similar measures. Mods on r/dnd (4 million members), r/baseball (2.8 million), r/AlanWake (80,000), and r/Xmen (270,000) are currently conducting voting among their members. Moderators on r/hockey (2.7 million people), r/georgia (237,000 people), and r/popheads (2.8 million people) also shared that they were discussing possible bans.
Not all moderators accept such bans when they are raised. A mod on r/chess said such a ban would “cause a bit of a logistical problem” for the community. “The unfortunate reality is that Twitter is the source of the majority of subreddit content,” they wrote. “Therefore, a ban would require some rule changes. We welcome suggestions, but cannot promise anything at this time.” Similarly, a moderator of r/fauxmoi, a subreddit dedicated to gossip, wrote, “People “We want to leave a link so users don’t send fake or doctored screenshots.”
While this isn’t the first time Reddit users have banded together in protest, it’s notable that so many are calling for popular sources of Reddit posts to be removed.
