The moderators of the 1.7-million-member Joe Rogan subreddit simply moved to close down all politics-related posting till additional discover. Any probability they may additionally average The Joe Rogan Expertise?
It is no secret to anybody within the podcasting or comedy spheres that, over the past decade or extra, Rogan’s function in media has modified from “sometimes humorous podcast kingpin” to “massively influential political operative with direct ties to probably the most highly effective males on the planet.” Followers of the previous Worry Issue host have recognized that Rogan’s rising function in nationwide politics would pose an issue for his following since roughly the hundredth look of Elon Musk on JRE, however, now, the fan group is combating to save lots of itself from a full-on civil struggle.
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Earlier this week, mods on the Rogan subreddit introduced a brand new rule, writing, “All political posts (not feedback) are actually banned on r/joerogan.” Predictably, the Roganites of Reddit reacted to the brand new censorship measure as if the mods simply declared that they have been requiring each person who browses to first placed on a KN95 masks.
“In the present day we’re making the choice to ban all political posts (feedback are nonetheless honest sport) indefinitely,” the Rogan moderators wrote, “After cautious consideration, inside dialogue and tons of exterior suggestions now we have collectively determined that r/joerogan just isn’t the place for politics anymore.”
The ability customers later acknowledged, “It’s not misplaced on us that Joe has grow to be more and more political lately and that his endorsement of Trump could have helped get him elected. That mentioned, we aren’t outfitted to correctly average, arbitrate and curate political posts…whereas additionally selling free speech.”
The mods additional defined that, as hypocritical as that final sentence could appear, they merely shouldn’t have the sources to foster an setting for mass political dialogue that can also be in keeping with the site-wide guidelines of Reddit.
The unique r/joerogan thread concerning the controversial new rule rapidly amassed a whole bunch of outraged feedback earlier than the mods satirically nuked it from orbit, locking the remark part and deleting the publish. The mods then made one other thread concerning the political posting ban with the remark part restricted from the bounce, however one schadenfreude-filled Redditor fortunately recorded the blowback within the r/SubredditDrama discussion board for posterity.
“That is straight bitch shit. I’ve at all times defended the mods right here for not gatekeeping. What modified? That is now a political podcast you morons. Do you even take heed to the present? He talks about politics in each single episode,” one irate Rogan fan wrote in a saved remark. “The mods are being bitches. Ya’ll are simply doing this so we calm down about Epstein.”
One other person requested, “So we won’t discuss what Joe talks about on his personal present? How does that make any sense? Why are you pretending he does not spend hours on politics each day?”
Many, many extra JRE listeners speculated that the politics ban have to be linked to the pending launch of the FBI information on Jeffrey Epstein, with one writing, “Handy timing. A podcast constructed on conspiracy theories is banning posts on the very day a vote is going down on what has been, and should proceed to be, one of many largest conspiracy theories of our time.”
Customers additionally accused the r/joerogan moderators of blatant hypocrisy, contemplating how Rogan himself claims to be a champion of free expression and the free change of political concepts. “Why do folks settle for censorship, you are simply making a mockery of all of the courageous individuals who fought for freedom of speech, that is disgusting,” one First Modification fan wrote.
One other Redditor nonetheless identified the irony of censoring political dialogue whereas claiming to advertise free speech, asking the moderation crew, “You mods do understand that doing this in itself is a political transfer?”
Whether or not or not the attainable implication of JRE visitors within the Epstein information performed a component within the politics ban, the query stays: what, precisely, do the r/joerogan mods anticipate their subscribers to publish about if politics are off-limits? Even within the JRE episodes the place Rogan eschews visitors from the Trump cupboard and talks to a comic book, the conversations at all times flip to political points in some unspecified time in the future.
Hell, simply final week, right-wing comic Jeff Dye made Fox Information headlines when he went on JRE to announce that he was fleeing California out of worry of governor Gavin Newsom, shortly earlier than beginning a GoFundMe to socialize the price of his exodus.
Whereas we won’t fake that the earlier, uncensored model of r/joerogan was precisely a bastion for balanced political discourse, the brand new, non-political subreddit will barely even depend as a discussion board. There are solely so many distinctive posts {that a} 1.7-million-strong subreddit could make about testosterone dietary supplements and chimpanzee assaults.
