Reddit bans 'misogynist' group which blamed women for its members' celibacy

The "incel" community had over 40,000 subscribers
Alexandra Richards9 November 2017

A Reddit group dedicated to men who were struggling to find sexual partners has been shut down.

The group described itself as a “support group” for individuals who were lacking sexual and romantic relationships in their lives.

Over 40,000 people subscribed to the thread entitled “incels” and many posts include misogynistic messages, are abusive towards women and some advocate rape.

On the group women are referred to as “femoids” and the men they have sex with are called “chads”.

A subreddit entitled IncelTears, included posts where individuals either condoned rape or described rape as a “made up construct”.

One post warned that incels will “snap and rape”. The post detailed a case where a man was jailed for life for raping a woman. The user wrote:

“Although I don’t condone what celbro Frank Yeager did, normies and femoids need to understand what can happen after you bully us for so long.”

In the incel group’s rules, it claims that individuals who claim that there are “as many female incels in the same situation as male incels will receive a warning and then a ban. Most can agree that women can be an incel in some rare situations such as extreme disfigurement, but their numbers do not come close to male incels.”

Speaking to the Guardian, a Reddit spokesperson said: “Communities focused on this content and users who post such content will be banned from the site. As of November 7, r/Incels has been banned for violating this policy,” said a Reddit spokeswoman.

“Reddit is the home to some of the most authentic conversations online. We strive to be a welcoming, open platform for all by trusting our users to maintain an environment that cultivates genuine conversation.”

The incel group was banned this week following Reddit’s decision to update its policy to prohibit content that “encourages, glorifies, incites or calls for violence or physical harm against an individual or group of people”.

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