Reddit Introduces New Anti-Harassment Tools, To Let Users Contact Company Employees To Report Abusive Posts

Reddit recently announced a number of new anti-harassment tools, suggesting that it will be playing a more significant role in fighting online abuse.

"Unfortunately, not all the changes on reddit have been positive. We've seen many conversations devolve into attacks against individuals. We share redditors' frustration with these interactions," said the company in a blog post. "We are also seeing more harassment and different types of harassment as people's use of the Internet and the information available on the Internet evolve over time. For example, some users are harassing people across platforms and posting links on reddit to private information on other sites."

The new changes come after the company conducted a study about its users. The company considered around 15,000 of its users and about half of them reportedly said that they would not recommend Reddit to a friend, citing hateful content as the main reason.

"Instead of promoting free expression of ideas, we are seeing our open policies stifling free expression; people avoid participating for fear of their personal and family safety," the company added in its post.

Reddit is known for the unconstrained nature of its discussions among people who post anonymously. The company also said it will now let users contact Reddit employees to report abusive posts.

However, in an ongoing discussion thread on Reddit, some users called the changes vague as the company did not clarify what constituted harassment.