A Reddit moderation tool is flagging ‘Luigi’ as potentially violent content

Mar 08, 2025 06:01 AM - 1 week ago 10253

Reddit’s automatic moderation instrumentality is flagging the connection “Luigi” arsenic perchance convulsive — moreover erstwhile the contented isn’t.

Earlier this week, a moderator from r/popculture saw Reddit’s AutoModerator system emblem a post astir the video crippled Luigi’s Mansion 3 because it included the connection “Luigi,” giving them instructions to “check for violence.”

A Reddit spokesperson, who requested that The Verge not usage their sanction owed to the delicate taxable matter, said location is nary “sitewide select for the connection ‘Luigi’ aliases anticipation that users extremity talking astir Luigi Mangione,” the personification who prosecutors impeach of sidesplitting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson successful December.

But Reddit does appear to beryllium flagging comments that mention “Luigi” successful immoderate cases, moreover those unrelated to Mangione — conscionable not successful the measurement that it first appeared to be. The Reddit spokesperson said that because r/popculture had precocious fallen down to a azygous moderator, automod features kicked in, including a measurement to select for “keywords that could — but don’t needfully — bespeak violating content.” The remaining moderator of r/popculture told The Verge that the mod squad didn’t adhd “Luigi” to the database of keywords, Reddit did.

The r/popculture moderator posted astir the Luigi rumor to the r/FreeLuigi subreddit, a grassroots organization wherever group discuss the Mangione case. The subreddit has strict rules successful spot to debar violating Reddit’s moderation rules, for illustration referring to Mangione’s by his initials and a broad prohibition connected contented that calls for aliases endorses violence. But the moderators still fearfulness that Reddit will determine to unopen it down — moreover if they don’t tally afoul of the platform’s rules.

Meanwhile, r/popculture — which has complete 125,000 members — is closing down owed to issues that the remaining moderator pins connected Reddit. The moderator who posted astir the “Luigi” issue announced past nighttime they were shutting down the full organization “due to Reddit admins being complete fucking morons.” In the post, the moderator says that different personnel of the squad was suspended and that Reddit has been unhelpful successful trying to resoluteness the suspension.

The Reddit spokesperson said that the r/popculture moderator was suspended for approving contented containing nonstop calls for violence, “including images celebrating [the Donald Trump rally shooter] and contented calling to assassinate the president.” An r/popculture moderator denied this happened, and said the contented successful mobility was a photograph of the shooter that did not observe him. The Reddit spokesperson notes that the automod features are impermanent for r/popculture and that moderators tin still o.k. the contented for posting.

The “Luigi” rumor comes the aforesaid week arsenic Reddit’s caller crackdown connected banned content. Earlier this week, the company announced it would pass users who upvote contented that is banned connected the platform. The argumentation applies to users who upvote specified contented respective times successful “a definite timeframe,” Reddit says successful a post, and the institution will statesman pinch enforcing the norm connected convulsive content. The spokesperson says that astatine this clip cipher has been suspended nether the caller rule.

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