Reddit CEO Said Sex Is Universal And The Platform Will Not Ban Nudity

Reddit CEO Said Sex Is Universal And The Platform Will Not Ban Nudity

At what point in history did sex become a dirty thing? It’s a private activity, I understand. But why does  our society perceive it as “inappropriate” or stigmatizes sex? Now if you really enjoy having apples, and apples are good for your health, would the world make the fruit a taboo? Or act like women must eat ‘em but not enjoy the taste? It’s just hideous. If they stop talking about apples, and make it sound like the most indulgent fruit ever and make it completely unavailable, people will probably think there’s something wrong in having it. Online platforms make it really easy for pervs to go around sending di*ck pics, messaging inappropriate things and being creepy. But Reddit? I have found it to be well-managed even though it’s called the front page of the internet and has several threads going on at all times!

It was only a few months back that I joined Reddit – it’s a platform for adults, and you can choose to follow the topics or subreddits that you are interested in. All the posts are moderated and gendered slurs, people being assholes, trolling, hatred etc is not tolerated. Not once have I found content that shouldn’t have been there. Just people discussing, sharing and openly talking about a lot of things.

Of course, there are forums that discuss sex and relationships! And thankfully, it’s allowed! Reddit doesn’t see it as “inappropriate”. People share their experiences, give tips and simply indulge in a discussion. It’s all so healthy. Best thing? All these posts with sexual content are labelled ‘NSFW’ meaning Not Safe For Work so you know it should be opened in privacy.

In fact, I have come across several wholesome subreddits talking about body positivity. Women share the pics of their imperfect bodies (without their faces!) and talk about how they embraced their flaws, and took charge of the way they’d like to define beauty. And people are so encouraging and motivating in the posts! Of course, the moderators are strict and negativity or non-consensual nudity is not taken lightly; this makes Reddit a whole and safe platform with largely ethical and consensual nudity. Even the viewers are given a choice to watch the content or not.

So when asked during an interview about pornographic content on Reddit, CEO Steve Huffman explained why the company allows nudity on the platform. He said, “Sex is universal, and like many topics on Reddit sex is one of those topics that’s often not well-served online or offline.” He added that yes, pornography can be unethical too, if it’s non-consensual. But he clarified “that’s not the content that we want on Reddit.”

He went on to say how having a safe platform where you can share your stories and feel not judged is empowering and he wouldn’t like to take that away from people. “But I think there’s another aspect that’s empowering, and these are people sharing stories of themselves, pictures of themselves, and we are perfectly supportive of that,” he explained.

He further explained that Reddit works on consent. Sexual content is fine as long as it is voluntary. “We want people to be safe, we have rules on Reddit – no involuntary sexualization. And if anybody makes those sorts of reports to us we take those very seriously,” Huffman said, adding that the site also bans sexualisation of minors.

Reddit’s policy on “involuntary pornography” includes content “depicting any person in a state of nudity or engaged in any act of sexual conduct apparently created or posted without their permission, including depictions that have been faked.” “There are difficult decisions to make in this sphere, but we think they’re worth making. As opposed to saying ‘no sex at all,’ for example,” he said.

Speaking from personal experience, I have found wholesome content that’s empowering. Women have threads that talk about pregnancy and breast feeding. While that is nudity and not porn, the content is still monitored and perps are kept away!

Instagram on the other hand, has so many creeps who will go and comment the shadiest of things and who is moderating all of that? What Instagram will however monitor instead is a woman of colour showing skin or a woman talking about her period. Or female bodies, in general!

ALSO READ: Sabyasachi Getting Trolled For His Androgynous Collection Is Exactly Why We Need More Campaigns Around Gender-Fluid Fashion

I believe in the end, online content will have adult themes and that’s okay because we are adults, right? But it’s the ethical responsibility of the platform to keep it clean, consensual and not full of hatred. If you make a community, you should make sure it’s safe and people are free to express themselves. It’s like being the Mayor of a city and making it progressive with good values and freedom of expression! As long as Reddit has created a safe platform, I don’t see why it should ban nudity.

ALSO READ: Netflix And Amazon Prime May Go Under Censorship After A PIL Has Been Filed Calling Its Content Obscene. Oh FFS

Akanksha Narang

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