- The moderators of popular subreddit /r CombatFootage say that Reddit has threatened to ban it if it doesn’t remove videos showing the perspective of HAMAS fighters.
- Footage that shows the perspective of Israeli fighters is seemingly fine.
- Reddit says that the perspective of HAMAS needs to be censored because it is considered a terrorist organisation, but many would disagree.
The moderators of /r CombatFootage, a subreddit with 1.6 million members dedicated to sharing viral footage of ongoing wars across the globe are deleting videos that show the perspective of Palestinian and HAMAS fighters, while allowing footage that shows combat from the perspective of forces from Israel.
Previously footage from both sides was allowed to be uploaded by users, but according to the moderators, Reddit itself reached out and instructed them to ban footage from the perspective of HAMAS.
“The Reddit Admin team has reached out to us and have warned us that certain types of videos that are getting posted on this sub are in violation of their rules and may result in a sitewide ban of the sub. Particularly videos showing the perspective of HAMAS whether they are combat related footage or not will no longer be allowed as per the Reddit Administration,” the moderators shared in a post on Tuesday.
In a screenshot shared by the moderators, Reddit explains that it has policies against content that involves torture, executions, gratuitous displays of dead bodies, and content created by or promoting legally designated foreign terrorist organisations. Reddit says that since HAMAS is one such organisation, footage relating to its perspective in the ongoing crisis in Israel and Gaza must be deleted.
The ubiquitous use of social media by the world’s populations has led to modern wars, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and now the conflict in Gaza, receiving enormous amounts of on-the-ground coverage from citizen journalists, bystanders, and even people involved in the combat themselves, through the likes of helmet-mounted Go Pro cameras and smartphones.
These videos become uploaded by those following the conflict on social channels, such as YouTube, Reddit, X, TikTok, Telegram, and others. This rise in the pervasiveness of combat footage has led to the showcasing of incredible never-recorded-before moments in live warfare.
To say that we are in a new age of war correspondence is an understatement, but misinformation now is more rife than ever thanks to the same social channels that make wartime information so easily accessible. While some social platforms take the wrangling of misinformation seriously, others have steadily removed key barriers that have made the spread of fake information all the more prominent.
X, the former Twitter is a keen example of this. Reddit, however, and the /r CombatFootage subreddit, through its moderation team has been a place where people can see the human experiences of conflicts, past and present from any perspective, any side.
For footage from the war in Ukraine, you can find both from Ukrainian soldiers and Russian soldiers, but for the conflict in Gaza, only that of Israel forces is now allowed to be uploaded.
“We want to make it clear that we do not agree in spirit with this form of censorship [from Reddit], but we will respect the decision and act accordingly. We are here to moderate the Combat Footage forum/community, NOT pick sides in a very complicated and tense geopolitical conflict,” explains the moderation team.
“Ideally, we would like to allow our users to see the conflict from a variety of different perspectives, but that will not be the case going forward.”
“We have allowed videos and pictures of combat operations strictly of the military sense that sometimes includes footage from terrorist organizations. The reason was not to glorify any terrorist group but to serve as a source of information, news, and education that many mainstream news media sites do not show,” they add.
Why is the banning of footage from a HAMAS perspective a problem? Because the adage of one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter is playing out before us on social media. Many supporters of Palestine do not see HAMAS as terrorists as Reddit has indicated.
Many see the recent escalation and atrocities committed by HAMAS against Israel as justified retaliation for years of apartheid and oppression of the Palestinian people by the government of Israel and army that has led to thousands of Palestinian civilians themselves being killed.
For those looking to educate themselves and understand the actual conflict, an unbiased perspective would be the most beneficial, especially for conflict with so many implications and complexities.
The users of /r CombatFootage have reacted negatively to the ban.
