Metal bands aren't known for coming up with the most friendly, G-rated album names, and Reddit isn't having it. The platform apparently permanently bans users for mentioning Metallica's debut Kill 'Em All, as pointed out by one fan who suffered the consequences.
One user wrote a post in the Metallica Reddit page titled "Reddit permanently bans you for saying your fav album is KEA. Stay safe out there, y’all." The post contained a 16-second YouTube video with the title "A Look at Reddit's Censorship," which showed screenshots from the website.
"You've been permanently banned for violating Reddit's rule against threatening violence in the following content," the first screenshot in the clip reads. "Reddit is a place for creating community and belonging, not threatening or encouraging violence against people or animals. We don't tolerate any behavior that encourages, glorifies, incites or calls for violence or physical harm against an individual, groups of people, places or animals."
The creator of the video then shared a screenshot of their original post, which was in the Megadeth SubReddit. The title of the post was, "Best Debut Album of the Big 4," which was just seeking the opinions of other thrash fans. The person who was eventually banned had written, "Kill 'Em All was definitely what originally brought many people into the metal community. I'd say, from an objective standpoint, it would have to be Kill 'Em All."
See the video below.
In the description, the user noted that they attempted to appeal the ban of their account multiple times, but all of the requests have been ignored. Thus, their account is permanently gone. Fans in the Metallica Reddit page, where the issue was brought to light in the aforementioned post, commented the name of the album several times to see whether it would happen to them, but they are still visible as of now.
Reddit's Content Policy has eight different rules, and the first one mentions violence.
"Remember the human. Reddit is a place for creating community and belonging, not for attacking marginalized or vulnerable groups of people," it states. "Everyone has a right to use Reddit free of harassment, bullying, and threats of violence. Communities and users that incite violence or that promote hate based on identity or vulnerability will be banned."
As for enforcing the rules, they have several different methods of enforcement. The site has moderators (aka mods) that volunteer to oversee different Reddit threads and ensure that users aren't violating the rules. They may simply request that people adhere to the guidelines, temporarily suspend accounts, remove certain privileges or content, or, finally, permanently ban the account.
For future reference, users suggest that Metallica fans utilize the acronym "KEA" rather than writing out Kill 'Em All to avoid repercussions.
Reddit Permanently Bans Users for Mentioning Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All
