A guide to Reddit's r/piracy subreddit, and how the community discussion site is combating illegal sharing (2024)

Even if you've never used Reddit, you've no doubt heard of it; it's one of the largest sites in the US, and with more than 2 million "subreddits," it has a stunning depth and breadth of content.

With all that activity, it's not surprising that Reddit has become a hub for digital piracy, and the site has struggled with managing copyright violations for several years. A subreddit called r/piracy (all subreddits begin with an "r/") in particular has become the focus of some unwanted attention.

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Reddit's piracy subreddit, explained

While other subreddits have occasionally shared copyrighted material, the r/piracy forum is, by design, for individuals interested in the tools, techniques, and resources of online piracy.

With more than 640,000 members, it was created in 2008 with the mission of being "a community dedicated to the discussion of digital piracy," according to its own description. That you can find discussions of the vulnerabilities of piracy laws on Reddit is unsurprising.

"Google 'reddit piracy' and you'll find lots of active links, where Reddit users openly discuss the weakness and vulnerabilities of various piracy laws," said Monica Eaton-Cardone, chief operating officer of Chargebacks911.

Given the subject matter, the piracy subreddit attempts to thread a particularly precarious needle. According to the rules of the subreddit, "submissions must be related to the discussion of digital piracy." The rules of the forum specifically prohibit activities like linking directly to pirated media, requesting activation keys, asking others to download pirated content, or asking how to pirate specific copyrighted works (though generalized conversations about pirating techniques are acceptable).

A guide to Reddit's r/piracy subreddit, and how the community discussion site is combating illegal sharing (1)

A scan of r/piracy reveals an active community (at any given time, there are more than 1,000 users online) with threads about a diverse range of topics, including tips and tutorials on using popular tools and utilities, troubleshooting tips ("why are my 4K movies purple?"), and news about sources for copyrighted content.

Unlike many online forums elsewhere on the internet, though, r/piracy is a moderated community (Reddit moderators are unpaid volunteers from the community) and the discourse is largely civil and on-topic.

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The state of piracy on Reddit

Reddit has been attempting to address piracy on its platform for several years, with serious efforts to mitigate copyright infringement beginning around 2019. Eaton-Cardone said, "Reddit has banned some of the more blatant abusers — /r/NFLstreams, /r/NBAstreams, /r/soccerstreams, /r/UFCstreams, /r/WWEstreams — but Reddit is one of the largest sites in the world. Policing it is extraordinarily difficult."

Nir Kshetri, a professor at the Bryan School of Business and Economics, explained why Reddit was compelled to act: "When it was shut down, r/NBAstreams had 474,000 subscribers who could access pirated NBA content for free. The subreddit r/soccerstreams had more than 400,000 subscribers who had access to pirated soccer streams."

Rather than shutting down r/piracy outright, as happened with those other subreddits, Reddit decided in 2019 to delete all of r/piracy's posts and comments created prior to September 2018 — a decade's worth of content, erased from the Reddit archives.

In Reddit's transparency reporting, it's clear that the platform has been increasing its content monitoring exponentially. In 2018, Reddit received 9,534 copyright notices, which resulted in 26,234 content removals. In 2019, Reddit received 34,989 copyright notices, which resulted in 124,257 content removals — nearly five times that of the year before. In 2020, Reddit received 86,866 copyright notices and removed 375,774 pieces of content — three times as many as in 2019.

Based on the takedown requests — and actual takedowns — Reddit appears to have a piracy problem, and r/piracy moderators have existential concerns about the future of their subreddit. "We are now on thin ice," moderators wrote in one post, and added that the subreddit is in jeopardy. "We definitely do not want to be banned like r/megalinks, which was a subreddit specifically tailored to providing links to pirated content."

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Cleansing Reddit won't eliminate piracy

Even if members appear to follow guidelines and avoid posting links to copyrighted material, some users say that the subreddit is still a direct vector to piracy.

Will Peach, a fourth-year medical student who regularly uses the r/piracy subreddit, said, "It happens via the backdoor. Recommendations are made in various threads and then DMs [direct messages] are sent privately. Piracy happens via other portals, like Google Drive. But it almost always starts on Reddit."

A guide to Reddit's r/piracy subreddit, and how the community discussion site is combating illegal sharing (2)

Reddit moderators appear to be enforcing guidelines in hopes of staving off a full shutdown of the r/piracy subreddit, yet they're also planning for the worst.

Allan Borch, founder of the tech marketing blog Dotcom Dollar, said, "[They] already have a list of forum replacements, including rival discussion site Raddle.me." Referring to the purge of posts older than 2018, Borsh added, "Indeed, those posts 10 years in the making aren't actually gone. They've already been archived on GitHub. Piracy might move away from Reddit, but that doesn't mean it's dead."

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A guide to Reddit's r/piracy subreddit, and how the community discussion site is combating illegal sharing (2024)

FAQs

Does Reddit allow piracy? ›

Reddit won't ban you for simply talking about and discussing illegal activity. Reddit does ban subreddits if they go from simple discussion to actively assisting each other with committing illegal activity.

What is Reddit's purpose? ›

Reddit is an online social media forum where users share news stories and other content. Reddit was launched in 2005 by American entrepreneurs Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian; it became a publicly held company in 2024.

Is Reddit free to use? ›

The site name is a play on the words "I read it." Reddit member registration is free, and it is required to use the website's basic features. For a monthly fee or yearly subscription, redditors can upgrade to Reddit Gold. This service provides a set of extended features not available to nonpaying users.

What makes piracy illegal? ›

Copyright law protects the value of creative work. When you make unauthorized copies of someone's creative work, you are taking something of value from the owner without his or her permission.

Did Reddit ban all NSFW? ›

Reddit has blocked access to mature content on its platform via third-party apps. Users will now have to log in to the official Reddit app to view explicit content. The move by Reddit is aimed at forcing users to adopt the official app instead of third-party apps.

Does Reddit store my IP? ›

Reddit captures your IP address and infers a general location based on that IP address. To do this we use an IP lookup service that provides us with a city/region/country location based on your IP address.

What are the controversial subreddits? ›

The largest of the banned subreddits, r/FatPeopleHate, had an estimated 151,000 subscribers at the time of its banning. r/FatPeopleHate hosted photos of overweight people for the purpose of mockery. The other four subreddits were r/hamplanethatred, r/neofag, r/transfags, and r/shitniggerssay.

What is Reddit mostly used for? ›

Reddit (/ˈrɛdɪt/) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and forum social network. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images, and videos, which are then voted up or down by other members.

Does Reddit have inappropriate content? ›

Beyond that, there are no age checks. Additionally, subreddits that show up on r/all or in a user's regular feed may allow NSFW content. This won't necessarily be pornographic in nature but could contain content inappropriate for teens.

Who uses Reddit the most? ›

In the US, Reddit is most commonly used by 18 to 29-year-olds.

What was Reddit originally used for? ›

In 2005, Steve & Alexis moved to Cambridge after their graduation. Their preliminary vision for Reddit was simple - A community-led news website, with the popularity of the content decided by anonymous user upvotes & downvotes.

What does the R mean in Reddit? ›

Literally short for reddit. The prefix is to denote the difference between a sub-reddit and a user, thus r/ and u/ Upvote 2 Downvote. DiogenesKuon. • 1y ago.

Can you go to jail for pirating? ›

81. Most overt acts of piracy come with a mandatory minimum of life imprisonment, while most others carry a maximum of 10 years in prison—not to mention hefty fines in many cases. Penalties for crimes of “participating in piracy” come with a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.

How do people get caught for piracy? ›

ISPs and copyright trolls are constantly monitoring P2P networks like Bittorrent and uTorrent to identify who is downloading and sharing copyrighted files. If you live in the US, UK, Australia, or Europe and you torrent these files without using a private and secure VPN, it's quite possible you will get caught.

Can piracy get you in trouble? ›

While it is widespread and tacitly accepted in some circles, piracy can lead to civil liability and criminal penalties under federal law.

Is Reddit browsing tracked? ›

Generally the answer is no.

Is game piracy illegal Reddit? ›

YES. pirating games are illegal. Will you go to jail - doubt it.

Does Reddit allow inappropriate content? ›

Beyond that, there are no age checks. Additionally, subreddits that show up on r/all or in a user's regular feed may allow NSFW content. This won't necessarily be pornographic in nature but could contain content inappropriate for teens.

Is Reddit anonymous tracked? ›

You can use Anonymous Browsing when you want to browse the Reddit mobile app without associating your Reddit activity (like your Reddit searches or the communities you view) with your Reddit account. While you're Anonymous Browsing, Reddit won't: Save your browsing or search history to your Reddit account.

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