Without doubt, Reddit is one of the most popular user-generated content sites that exists on the Internet today.

Last month, the community-driven news and discussion platform went public and, with a market cap of more than $6 billion, immediately became one of the larger tech players.

While publicly traded companies operate under a different ruleset than private ones, Reddit remains committed to its transparency efforts. A few hours ago, the company released its latest transparency report detailing the actions it took in the second half of 2023.

779,628 ‘Infringing’ Items Flagged

At TorrentFreak, we are mostly interested in copyright-related actions. In recent years, we have seen an increase in copyright takedown notices on Reddit, partly driven by the platform’s growth. In the first half of 2023, rightsholders requested the removal of nearly a million items, which was an all-time record.

During the second half of the year, this upward trend reversed. Reddit reports that rightsholders flagged 779,628 items between July and December, an 18% decrease compared to the first half of the year.

As shown above, not all of these takedown requests resulted in action. Reddit removed 69% of the reported items, which is the lowest removal percentage of the past two years. This logically means that little over half a million items were removed.

The high rejection rate might suggest that rightsholders’ takedown requests are too broad. However, most takedowns are rejected simply because the content has already been removed. In 29,143 cases, Reddit concluded that there was no infringement; other, less common reasons, include suspected fraud and fair use.

Copyright-Related User Bans

Thus far, there is nothing to show that Reddit’s decision to go public had a major impact on its copyright takedown policies. That said, the company does signal a significant increase in copyright-related user bans.

“From July to December of 2023, Reddit banned 792 users for repeat Copyright Policy violations, an increase of 258% compared to the first half of 2023. This large increase is a result of improvements to our detection methods and increased operational capacity,” Reddit writes.

These user bans are in part the result of legal obligations. Under the DMCA, Reddit is required to implement a reasonable policy to deal with repeat copyright infringers on its platform.

Improved detection methods and increased capacity suggest that Reddit takes repeat infringements seriously. However, if we go further back in time, we see that the number of banned users is far from a record. In the first half of 2022 , Reddit banned 3,859 users over repeat copyright infringements.

Subreddit and Counter-Notices

In addition to removing or banning posts, links, and users, Reddit also took action against entire subreddits. In the last half of 2023, the platform banned 452 subreddits, down 20% compared to the six months prior.

Finally, Reddit points out that users can always object to takedown notices by sending counter-notices. In the final half of last year, the discussion platform received 397 counter-notices, of which 216 were deemed valid.

The number of valid notices increased by 86% since the last report, which Reddit attributed to its increased operational capacity. As a result, 1,331 pieces of content were successfully restored.

While not specifically mentioned in the report, Reddit also continued to object to requests from a group of filmmakers to identify Reddit users. The company does typically respond to U.S. subpoenas, but in this case, it argued that the requests violated users’ constitutional right to anonymous speech.

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Reddit’s latest transparency report covering the last six months of 2023 is available here

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

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Company stock price climbed nearly 70% from its IPO, with Condé Nast’s parent company standing to make nearly $1.4bn

Reddit shares opened 38% above initial offer prices in the company’s trading debut on Thursday, valuing the social media platform at $8.87bn in a closely watched opening. The stock peaked at $57.80 a share, up 70%, before dropping to just under $50.

The initial public offering for the San Francisco-based company was first priced at $34 a share, putting its market value at $6.4bn. The company and its selling shareholders raised $748m.

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Platform to make its debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday with a market value of $6.4bn

Reddit will enter a new era as a publicly traded company with a market value of $6.4bn after the social media platform’s initial public offering was priced at $34 per share.

The price, announced late Wednesday, came in at the top of the target range set by Reddit’s investment bankers as they spent the past few weeks gauging investor demand for the stock. It sets the stage for Reddit’s shares to begin trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol RDDT in the largest initial public offering by a social media company in years.

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Reddit’s IPO is worrying for users – big money has a nasty habit of ruining our favourite sites

Like many people who were laid off and house-bound during the Covid lockdowns, I spent an unfathomable amount of time learning an arcane skill that in no way would bolster my CV. Bookbinding was a hobby many of my friends and family were surprised I’d taken up – I wasn’t particularly skilled with my hands, and until then my life had largely revolved around technology and the internet.

I spent hours learning complicated stitching techniques, the chemical composition of adhesives, and how to determine by touch where paper was made. All of my learning took place on a subreddit – a kind of bulletin board or forum on the website Reddit – called r/bookbinding , where a small online community of bookbinders would offer tips and advice on projects I was working on, completely free of charge. In my mind, it was as good as a pricey art school, providing a supportive, enthusiastic community that allowed me to learn the skill at my own pace – and without going bankrupt in the process.

Places like r/bookbinding are increasingly rare in the age of platform-based social media driven by clickbait, algorithmic recommendations and invasive advertising designed to keep us scrolling for ever. The internet used to be full of special-interest forums populated by anonymous users sustaining a niche community, but most have either shut down or are rarely used. It is on Reddit, which started life in 2005 as a link-sharing messaging board, where the last remnants of the forum culture of the old internet remain. But, as it prepares to make its stock market debut this week, opening itself up to corporate investment and further venture capital, such communities are at risk of going extinct entirely.

Hussein Kesvani is a journalist who writes on digital culture and politics

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Company plans to raise up to $748m from sale of 22m shares, some of which have been set aside for users

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The social media network Reddit has revealed it is seeking a valuation of about $6.5bn (£5bn) at its imminent flotation on the New York Stock Exchange .

The company said in a corporate filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday that it planned to raise up to $748m by selling 22m shares valued at between $31 and $34 each in the largest initial public offering of a social media network in four years.

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Early last year, a group of filmmakers obtained a subpoena that required Reddit to reveal the identities of users who commented on piracy-related topics.

The movie companies said they were not planning to go after these people in court but wanted to use their comments as evidence in an ongoing piracy lawsuit against Internet provider RCN .

Reddit wasn’t willing to go along with the request, at least not in full. The company objected, arguing that handing over the requested information would violate its users’ right to anonymous speech. Reddit later responded similarly to a second and third subpoena request.

The movie companies took these cases to a federal court, asking it to compel Reddit to comply. The court refused to do so, thrice .

It’s Not Over Yet

The filmmakers are unhappy with these decisions and don’t intend to give up easily. After U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Hixson denied their most recent attempt last month, they moved for a ‘de novo’ review at the California federal court.

In their request, the rightsholders cite jurisprudence suggesting that an IP-address is not necessarily ‘unmasking’ personally identifying information. They believe that the Magistrate Judge ignored key arguments and ended up drawing the wrong conclusion.

“The Order’s conclusion that an IP address is unmasking information was contrary to law and erroneous,” the movie companies argue.

The companies insist that the commenters could prove crucial in their battle against ISP Frontier . A suggestion that there might be other ways to obtain similar evidence is premature, they argue.

The movie companies believe that Magistrate Judge Hixson failed to properly weigh the nature of the speech involved. Since the comments allegedly involve ‘illegal’ activity, anonymous speech should not necessarily enjoy protection, they note.

“Movants previously pointed out that the comments at issue are boasts of criminal conduct. Accordingly, the speech concerns unlawful activity subject to no First Amendment protection,” the movie companies write.

Reddit’s Objections

In a replay of moves, Reddit objects to the request for a ‘de novo’ review. They argue that, as the court repeatedly found, the filmmakers have other non-intrusive options to gather evidence against Frontier. This includes seeking evidence from the ISP directly.

Reddit further notes that the filmmakers’ argument that IP-addresses do not “identify” users is misguided at best.

“Reddit does not require its users to give their real name or addresses, and so the only identifying information Reddit may maintain on its users is their IP address, which is precisely why the Movants here seek the users’ IP addresses. If IP addresses were not identifying, Movants would not be seeking them.”

At worst, the argument is disingenuous, Reddit notes. The movie companies previously used a Redditor’s IP-address to obtain the name and address of a subscriber, requesting their torrenting history and more .

“[A]fter Reddit provided Movants with IP address data for a single Reddit user last year, the Movants immediately identified that IP address by subpoenaing T-Mobile, and they have been harassing that user with motions practice ever since,” Reddit counters.

Illegal Speech?

Finally, Reddit addresses the suggestion that the nature of the speech may be unlawful and that it therefore deserves “the lowest” First Amendment protection, or no protection at all.

While the nature of speech indeed plays a role, Reddit stresses that its users are merely third-party witnesses in this case, and that no court used lower protection standards in similar circumstances.

The second suggestion, that the comments themselves are unlawful and therefore undeserving of First Amendment protection, wasn’t brought up earlier and should therefore be ignored, Reddit says. If the court decides to review it, however, it should be rejected.

“[T]he Court can easily reject it anyway as wholly inconsistent with fundamental First Amendment jurisprudence. Free speech in America is not so flimsy that it evaporates at the faintest whisper of illegality,” Reddit writes.

It is now up to the court to decide whether the movie companies get the chance to argue their case anew, or if the current decision stands. Whatever the outcome and given the recent history, further appeals or new cases can’t be ruled out.

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A copy of the movie companies’ request for a ‘de novo’ determination is available here (pdf) and Reddit’s objections to it can be found here (pdf)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Les plateformes sociales stars des années 2000 se sont trouvées une nouvelle manne financière à l'éthique discutable.