Following a movement across various sports communities on Reddit, two of the platform’s largest sports-focused subreddits, the NFL and NBA, have enacted a ban on users posting links to X (formerly Twitter). Moderators announced that content linking to or screenshots of X posts, as well as links to Facebook, Instagram, and Threads on r/NBA, will no longer be permitted.
This movement, which originated in the r/hockey subreddit before expanding to the NFL, NBA, and MLB communities, aimed to prevent users from being directed to X. A key reason for this decision was X’s login requirement, mandating users to be logged into an X account to view linked content. Additionally, both Reddit users and moderators raised concerns about X’s ownership situation.
Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter in April 2022 and rebranded it as X, made headlines recently for gestures that evoked Nazi symbolism during a political rally. This incident has been frequently referenced by Reddit users and moderators in discussions surrounding the ban on X links.
From the announcement on r/NBA:
“We have reached this decision after taking recent events and strong sentiment from our community into account. While we try our best to stay neutral and apolitical, we do not believe taking a stance against Nazi symbolism is or should be a political issue. Hate speech and the promotion of it has never been tolerated in our community.”
The r/NFL community echoed similar sentiments in their announcement:
“There has been much discussion in recent days about the platform and actions of its owner. It has been a point of contention on this subreddit for a long time and for other reasons. For most of this subreddit’s history, these downsides have been understood by the userbase as being inconvenient but necessary. However, in light of recent events and the continuing path that platform is taking to make the user experience for Redditors less than ideal, combined with news sources also moving to other sites, X/Twitter links are no longer allowed on r/NFL.”
The bans are likely to have a substantial impact on those who depend on Reddit for traffic and engagement. Wednesday’s decisions may prompt journalists, leagues, and teams to consider alternative social media platforms, though there appear to be some hurdles to overcome.
For users in these Reddit communities, the landscape of top posts will change significantly, as X posts often represented some of the most popular content, including breaking news and video highlights. Active posters will now need to seek out alternatives for discussing these topics.
