Since December, Luigi Mangione, the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has become an internet phenomenon. Both scorned and idolized, his notoriety has given rise to a number of online communities. Some have begun embracing violent rhetoric.
A moderator from the long-standing subreddit r/popculture, where discussions about Mangione had been ongoing, was recently suspended for approving a large number of comments (by Reddit standards, that means at least 20) that contained direct calls for violence.
“This sub has been placed in restricted mode, and the main mod was suspended for approving comments that mentioned ‘Luigi,” a post on r/popculture claimed. “Apparently, saying ‘Luigi’ is now against the rules too, even though they never told us. All comments with the word ‘Luigi’ get flagged as possibly inciting violence.”
While some users claimed they had been blocked or censored simply for mentioning Mangione’s name, a Reddit spokesperson said there’s no sitewide filter for the word ‘Luigi’ or expectation that users stop talking about Mangione. According to the spokesperson, the /popculture moderator’s suspension was a result of allowing comments that advocated for violence—a direct violation of the company’s Mod Code of Conduct.
Despite the crackdown, plenty of other Mangione-related subreddits remain active on Reddit. r/FreeLuigi, which describes itself as a place to “keep up to date on the case involving Luigi Mangione,” boasts some 37,000 followers. (Slate recently spoke to one of the r/FreeLuig moderators, who claimed the subreddit was not meant to condone violence against health insurance CEOs. “No one in r/FreeLuigi wants anyone to get murdered, and no one is celebrating that a man died,” the moderator said.)
Reddit’s safety team recently issued a warning to users that subreddits found promoting or amplifying violent content could face consequences. “Today we are rolling out a new (sort of) enforcement action across the site,” the alert read. “[S]tarting today, users who, within a certain timeframe, upvote several pieces of content banned for violating our policies will begin to receive a warning.” (Upvotes and downvotes are core to Reddit’s algorithm, determining a post’s visibility.)
The message concluded with a note that, while the system is currently “warn only,” additional enforcement measures could eventually follow.
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