Reddit apologizes for "Online Witch Hunts" regarding Boston events

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http://blog.reddit.com/2013/04/reflections-on-recent-boston-crisis.html

After some reflection we want to share our thoughts about the reddit activity during the recent crisis in Boston. We all need to look at what happened and make sure that in the future we do everything we can to help and not hinder crisis situations.

During the tragedy and the aftermath, people found many different avenues to help on reddit. The vast majority of these activities were positive. They provided a way for people to stay informed, as well as a place to just discuss, cope, and try to make sense of what happened. Primarily, reddit served as a great clearinghouse for information. Continual ongoing updates by users such as /u/JpDeathBlade, /u/cedargrove, /u/NeonRedSharpie. /u/_supernovasky_ made reddit one of the best sources for staying up-to-date about the recent events. On top of that, redditors did everything from donating to relief funds, having pizzas delivered to area police and hospitals, to arranging for people with dogs to bring them to a park so people could escape a bit with some cute animal therapy, and even arranging housing and transportaion for out-of-towners who were stranded in Boston because of the bombing. We are all incredibly proud that the reddit platform enabled this help.

However, though started with noble intentions, some of the activity on reddit fueled online witch hunts and dangerous speculation which spiraled into very negative consequences for innocent parties. The reddit staff and the millions of people on reddit around the world deeply regret that this happened. We have apologized privately to the family of missing college student Sunil Tripathi, as have various users and moderators. We want to take this opportunity to apologize publicly for the pain they have had to endure. We hope that this painful event will be channeled into something positive and the increased awareness will lead to Sunil's quick and safe return home. We encourage everyone to join and show your support to the Tripathi family and their search.

A few years ago, reddit enacted a policy to not allow personal information on the site. This was because “let’s find out who this is” events frequently result in witch hunts, often incorrectly identifying innocent suspects and disrupting or ruining their lives. We hoped that the crowdsourced search for new information would not spark exactly this type of witch hunt. We were wrong. The search for the bombers bore less resemblance to the types of vindictive internet witch hunts our no-personal-information rule was originally written for, but the outcome was no different.

This crisis has reminded all of us of the fragility of people’s lives and the importance of our communities, online as well as offline. These communities and lives are now interconnected in an unprecedented way. Especially when the stakes are high we must strive to show good judgement and solidarity. One of the greatest strengths of decentralized, self-organizing groups is the ability to quickly incorporate feedback and adapt. reddit was born in the Boston area (Medford, MA to be precise). After this week, which showed the best and worst of reddit's potential, we hope that Boston will also be where reddit learns to be sensitive of its own power.
 
Its pretty crazy that FBI released the images because of the witch hunt on the internet. Their initial plan was to apprehend them while they least expect it e.g. in classroom.

Could've been much peaceful if it wasn't for them meddling kids.

EDIT: Link: http://news.yahoo.com/f-b-released-tsarnaev-brothers-photos-because-reddit-170345320.html

EDIT: Again, don't take my word for the whole thing and read the article. There were numerous articles (most of them sourcing Washington Post) that Reddit and New York Post's false witch hunt was the reason the photos were revealed. They were debating whether to release these photos or not because releasing them would make the suspects more alert.

Again, I/there may be super exaggerating in reading discussions (which I read in Reddit, duh!). They also tried face recognition software but didn't work because the videos were not clear enough. Oh and as much as Reddit may take credit for being the ones to alert cops about the higher-res photo of the bomber fleeing from the scene, it was reported by someone else instead.
 
we-re-sorry-south-park-o.gif
 
How can Reddit apologize?

This basically amounts to a "Sorry our community is kind of shit, but it's too big to really moderate, so lol. Memes"
 
Some of the people here were embarassing. Even after seeing a picture of both parties, people were still stickign to their guns and defending Reddit.
 
Wow that's textbook bad apology:

- start off by making it an "all of us" problem not a "me" problem
- Tout how much good you've done on other fronts
- Spread more blame
- Say your sorry
- But look at how many hits we had!

D- reddit. Try again.
 
Yeah there was some very borderline stuff done during this. Yes I understand that people wanted to help find these guys. But people thinking they're starring in an episode of CSI or something is scary as shit.

Of course this won't change and the next event like this will see the same things happen.
 
The people running the site hope that everyone will behave next time? So basically, nothing will change.

Yeah, they're apologizing for something they did without detailing how they're going to prevent it in the future. Which assuredly means it will happen again.
 
Its pretty crazy that FBI released the images because of the witch hunt on the internet. Their initial plan was to apprehend them while they least expect it e.g. in classroom.

Could've been much peaceful if it wasn't for them meddling kids.

What? Where is your source for this? This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
 
Before people start on reddit, neogaf wasn't exactly a beacon of reason or fairness either.

It wasn't. There was one guy saying we'd all eat crow once it became clear that suspect #2 was Sunhil.

That being said, there wasn't an organized effort on gaf to internet detective things. Unlike Reddit, we weren't the source of misinformation, but we were part of the waves cascading it outwards.
 
Its pretty crazy that FBI released the images because of the witch hunt on the internet. Their initial plan was to apprehend them while they least expect it e.g. in classroom.

Could've been much peaceful if it wasn't for them meddling kids.

? I thought the FBI released the images because they were out of clues and needed to identify the suspects before another attack happened.
 
Stupid. CNN trying to shift the blame,when they did the exact same thing. they did the same thing in Newton releasing the wrong kids name for hours
 
Before people start on reddit, neogaf wasn't exactly a beacon of reason or fairness either.

Not much but posts were deleted and people banned. And for everyone saying "Sunil" there were several posts calling them out about how there was no proof. Reddit sorta just let things happen. I guess it's a symptom of their lack of strong centralized moderation depending on the subreddit.
 
So I wonder when CNN and the other mainstream news services are also going to apologize considering some of them took took those pictures people were speculating on and running them as "breaking news from insider sources" during all of this.


Stupid. CNN trying to shift the blame,when they did the exact same thing. they did the same thing in Newton releasing the wrong kids name for hours


Exactly. Also just like now the newton mixup was from CNN trying to pass off what they found on the internet as insider information of breaking news.
 
? I thought the FBI released the images because they were out of clues and needed to identify the suspects before another attack happened.

Yeah, that was my impression too. Not that they had to do it because of kids on Reddit, please.
 
It wasn't. There was one guy saying we'd all eat crow once it became clear that suspect #2 was Sunhil.

That being said, there wasn't an organized effort on gaf to internet detective things. Unlike Reddit, we weren't the source of misinformation, but we were part of the waves cascading it outwards.

There was a good amount of people convinced it was Sunil here.
 
What? Where is your source for this? This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

? I thought the FBI released the images because they were out of clues and needed to identify the suspects before another attack happened.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...d8c322-a8ff-11e2-b029-8fb7e977ef71_print.html

I'm unaware of any discussion about the FBI hoping to get them in class, but they have said the photos were released in large part to stop the accusations against others. FBI and other agencies also seem fairly confident that releasing the photos spurred the suspects back into action.

The release did help them get IDs, but that doesn't appear to have been the primary motive in releasing the photos. They wanted to stop the out-of-control media and Internet from blaming so many innocents, and creating unnecessary work for themselves.
 
Wow that's textbook bad apology:

- start off by making it an "all of us" problem not a "me" problem
- Tout how much good you've done on other fronts
- Spread more blame
- Say your sorry
- But look at how many hits we had!

D- reddit. Try again.

yep, exactly.
 
So, all in all, nothing will change the next time this happens.

Way too many hits to warrant a new stance on moderating this type of "help", right?
 
Yeah, they're apologizing for something they did without detailing how they're going to prevent it in the future. Which assuredly means it will happen again.
Oh yes. The admins are extremely inconsistent and hands off on Reddit. They can't/won't stop the next hunt.
Yeah, that was my impression too. Not that they had to do it because of kids on Reddit, please.

“In addition to being almost universally wrong, the theories developed via social media complicated the official investigation, according to law enforcement officials,” the Post reported. “Those officials said Saturday that the decision on Thursday to release photos of the two men in baseball caps was meant in part to limit the damage being done to people who were wrongly being targeted as suspects in the news media and on the Internet.”
 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...d8c322-a8ff-11e2-b029-8fb7e977ef71_print.html

I'm unaware of any discussion about the FBI hoping to get them in class, but they have said the photos were released in large part to stop the accusations against others. FBI and other agencies also seem fairly confident that releasing the photos spurred the suspects back into action.

None of that contradicts the premise they were released to help with identification.

Law enforcement officials debated whether to release the photos, weighing the risk of the suspects fleeing or staging another attack against the prospect of quicker identification.
 
Its pretty crazy that FBI released the images because of the witch hunt on the internet. Their initial plan was to apprehend them while they least expect it e.g. in classroom.

Could've been much peaceful if it wasn't for them meddling kids.

Woah, this is pretty crazy, does that mean that Reddit and the internet detectives are basically responsible for the police officer that died trying to apprehend the two suspects? (or do I have the timeline wrong? was that police officer shot before the FBI photos were released?)
 
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