๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท 0 points ยท Posted at 13:46:37 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Hi /r/legaladvice. I'm a 17 year old male living in Ohio. I recently was the founder and top moderator of a small sub devoted to a very controversial topic (I'm not gonna give the name here cause I'm trying to avoid attracting the attention of the admins). To make a long story short, my sub was very recently removed for very dubious reasons and when I tried to get some clarification from the admins, my complaints fell on deaf ears. Although this isn't something that I would want to do if I had any other option, I'm starting to consider trying to take legal action. This seems like a very clear case of censorship and suppression of free speech, so I think I might have a case here, but I'm trying to get the opinions of others. Is it possible that I could successfully sue and, if so, how much could I likely make (I have very little legal experience so I'm afraid of possibly getting duped into taking a low settlement)? Please answer as quickly as possible cause I'm afraid that this thread and/or this account might soon get targetted by the admins!!!
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Ramady ยท 358 points ยท Posted at 13:49:44 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)*
Oh, come on. It's way to early for me to start drinking.
You cannot (successfully) sue reddit for deciding what content is or is not welcome on the site that they own. "Free speech" as a legal matter has to do with the government. Private organizations such as reddit are free to censor whatever they like.
E: Maybe /u/krispykrackers has an interesting insight on this one.
gratty ยท 69 points ยท Posted at 14:50:49 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
It's always 5 o'clock in Margaritaville.
Ramady ยท 39 points ยท Posted at 14:54:10 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Good point. Maybe I'll just add whiskey to my coffee.
TheElderGodsSmile ยท 89 points ยท Posted at 14:47:18 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
It's quarter to two in the morning here, I'll break open the wine for you. Can't tell if OP is a troll, a libertarian or just deluded.
thepatman ยท 823 points ยท Posted at 13:49:12 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
You have no case.
Reddit's admins are free to add, or delete, or suppress, any subreddit they feel like at any time, regardless of reason. The only time where you may have an issue would be if the deletion was done for a legally discriminatory reason - because of your gender, or race, or whatever.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -764 points ยท Posted at 13:51:23 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Like I said. It's pretty clear from context that my sub was deliberately targeted because of the controversial topic. Isn't that censorship by definition?
thepatman ยท 811 points ยท Posted at 13:53:11 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Sure, it's censorship. That doesn't make it illegal censorship, though. You can't force anyone else to support your speech, or to use their systems to allow you to speak. The admins are perfectly free to censor you on their systems.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -1128 points ยท Posted at 13:54:14 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
I'm pretty sure all censorship is illegal.
thepatman ยท 1216 points ยท Posted at 13:54:45 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
You could not be more wrong about that.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -763 points ยท Posted at 13:55:46 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Doesn't free speech preclude censorship by definition?
thepatman ยท 698 points ยท Posted at 13:59:44 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
"Free speech", as defined in the Bill of Rights, only applies to government actors, not private entities. Private entities can suppress your speech on their property or equipment all they want.
Even if Reddit were a government agency, they wouldn't necessarily be required to let you speak in all circumstances and manners.
Finally, "free speech" isn't inviolate, as is. There are still lots of things you can't say, even in areas that the First Amendment covers.
So no, censorship is not precluded by the First Amendment.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -593 points ยท Posted at 14:05:43 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Wouldn't it be different here though because they're targetting me selectively?
thepatman ยท 585 points ยท Posted at 14:07:37 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
No. They have no obligation to let you use their servers, at all. They could start a website called "Free Speech For Everyone But wrweewew!" and it would be fine.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -569 points ยท Posted at 14:10:55 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Seems like that would be considered discrimination.
thepatman ยท 201 points ยท Posted at 14:14:09 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
It is. It's just not illegal discrimination. Illegal discrimination is when you are discriminated against because of your membership in a protected class. Those are things like race, gender, religion, et cetera.
They can discriminate against you, personally, all they want.
TheElderGodsSmile ยท 100 points ยท Posted at 14:23:10 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Only (dubiously) if you were a protected class and they were specifically discriminating against you for being a member of said protected class. Are you a protected class?
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -249 points ยท Posted at 14:33:04 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
I could probably tell people I'm a transethnic fairykin.
[deleted] ยท 181 points ยท Posted at 14:35:16 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
K, but in this context that doesn't matter, because they are not censoring you for being whatever you just made up. The are censoring the content.
Ramady ยท 221 points ยท Posted at 14:36:11 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Not to mention the fact that it's legal to discriminate against transethnic fairykin.
TheElderGodsSmile ยท 81 points ยท Posted at 14:41:48 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Google says no
Ramady ยท 79 points ยท Posted at 14:14:24 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Yes, it would be discrimination in the sense that it is:
That isn't illegal. What is often illegal is the other part of the dictionary definition:
Now, on what basis were you discriminated against? Race? Age? Sex? Something else?
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -174 points ยท Posted at 14:15:08 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Expressing controversial thoughts.
Ramady ยท 138 points ยท Posted at 14:16:59 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Then, as has been stated dozens of times, you have not been legally wronged.
If reddit kicked you off because you were black or because you were white or because you're a man, then we can talk. But they're free to kick you out because you're "expressing controversial thoughts" or because they just don't like you.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -245 points ยท Posted at 14:38:21 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
What if I tell people that I'm a demisexual agender wolfkin and kicking me out hurt my feefees?
Ramady ยท 257 points ยท Posted at 14:39:39 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
It's legal to discriminate against demisexual agender wolfkin.
ichabodcrane690 ยท 304 points ยท Posted at 14:06:09 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
The first amendment forbids passing of laws which abridge the freedom of speech. Reddit isn't congress.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -458 points ยท Posted at 14:08:34 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Doesn't mean they can just do whatever they want.
[deleted] ยท 361 points ยท Posted at 14:13:29 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
As long as it is legal they can. And you have pretty much given 0 reasons why this would be illegal.
Ramady ยท 259 points ยท Posted at 14:15:06 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
When it comes to regulating speech on their servers? Yes, absolutely.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -391 points ยท Posted at 14:21:13 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
So they could ban someone from their servers for being black then?
Ramady ยท 149 points ยท Posted at 14:23:24 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Are you even reading the things to which you're responding?
CreeperCrafter63 ยท 51 points ยท Posted at 14:59:54 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Yes they can but it would be illegal and it would probably not stick you got a court order but you would half to prove that was the reason they banned you. And last time I checked being black isn't a controversial thing.
SJHillman ยท 208 points ยท Posted at 14:15:02 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
On their servers, it more or less does. Think of it this way, let's say I plopped my ass down in your living room and just spent the whole day and night yelling about how you're impotent, have herpes, and should only be allowed to marry goats. You're essentially saying that you should not be allowed to kick me out of your living room or otherwise shut me up because what I'm doing is speech.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -271 points ยท Posted at 14:15:51 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
I wasn't insulting anyone though.
SJHillman ยท 55 points ยท Posted at 14:17:38 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
So? You're effectively arguing that all speech is free speech and none of it should be censored. But are you now saying that certain kinds of speech (insults in this case) should be censored?
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -83 points ยท Posted at 14:19:05 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
I never said that.
SJHillman ยท 47 points ยท Posted at 14:20:58 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Link
So which is it? Do you believe all censorship is illegal, or do you believe that certain kinds of censorship are allowed?
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -88 points ยท Posted at 14:21:58 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Censorship is illegal but there's a difference between an insult and an opinion.
SJHillman ยท 55 points ยท Posted at 14:26:19 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
If you're arguing that all censorship is illegal, then there really isn't a difference.
[deleted] ยท 43 points ยท Posted at 14:42:35 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Nope, censorship by the government is illegal not by private organisations.
Ramady ยท 165 points ยท Posted at 13:57:36 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Where did anybody say that free speech was guaranteed?
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -407 points ยท Posted at 14:04:49 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Pennsylvania in 1776.
Ramady ยท 260 points ยท Posted at 14:05:38 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Show me. Lots of things happened in Pennsylvania in 1776.
TheElderGodsSmile ยท 205 points ยท Posted at 14:20:52 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
The key phrases here being Congress, reddit is not the United States Congress.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -285 points ยท Posted at 14:22:20 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
I never said it was.
TheElderGodsSmile ยท 201 points ยท Posted at 14:27:56 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Indeed! Therefore as long as they aren't discriminating against your sub because it or you constitute a protected class you have absolutely no grounds for legal action. None. Zip. Nadda.
Ramady ยท 125 points ยท Posted at 13:55:51 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
I'll bite. Can you cite a source for that?
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -322 points ยท Posted at 13:57:33 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
The constitution.
Ramady ยท 174 points ยท Posted at 13:59:05 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Which part? Because the closest I can come is the first amendment. That says:
What part of that applies to reddit, a private company? Last I checked, reddit is not Congress.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -300 points ยท Posted at 14:01:20 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
There are anti discrimination laws that apply to companies though. It seems kind of like I'm being selectively discriminated against here.
Amymars ยท 145 points ยท Posted at 14:09:26 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Do you work for reddit? Using their services doesn't equal employment. You could argue under title II but I would imagine reddit falls under a private club.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -270 points ยท Posted at 14:12:46 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Companies can't selectively refuse to do business either. If I had a bar that refused to serve black people, I'd probably get sued for millions by the NAACP.
[deleted] ยท 45 points ยท Posted at 14:21:06 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Reddit still provides you service (the bar wouldn't) only reddit doesn't want you to have the type of subreddit you had.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -88 points ยท Posted at 14:22:47 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Part of the service is allowing people to make their own subreddits though.
Citicop ยท 101 points ยท Posted at 14:29:44 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
And when you started using that service you agreed that:
[deleted] ยท 41 points ยท Posted at 14:23:40 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
And they are still completely free to moderate which subreddits are allowed and which aren't.
But please tell us the type of subreddit.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -97 points ยท Posted at 14:31:58 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
It was devoted to criticizing SJW influence on reddit, which is probably why we were banned.
[deleted] ยท 60 points ยท Posted at 14:37:56 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Completely legal to delete that subreddit.
[deleted] ยท 20 points ยท Posted at 15:02:19 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)*
[deleted]
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -80 points ยท Posted at 15:03:10 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Nope.
Ramady ยท 151 points ยท Posted at 14:02:14 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Who says discrimination is illegal? It usually isn't.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -281 points ยท Posted at 14:08:49 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
The civil rights movement did.
Ramady ยท 137 points ยท Posted at 14:11:13 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Ah, yes.
"I have a DREAM! That all whiny teenagers shall be able to be annoying on the internet without restriction!"
--Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
SJHillman ยท 44 points ยท Posted at 14:16:05 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Nope. It says certain, very limited, forms of discrimination are illegal. Discrimination, in general, is fine.
CreeperCrafter63 ยท 41 points ยท Posted at 15:03:57 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
What topic is it then. Also the civil rights movement said it was illegal to discriminate based on race.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -109 points ยท Posted at 15:04:50 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Like I said before, It was devoted to criticizing SJW influence on reddit.
Ramady ยท 190 points ยท Posted at 13:55:23 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Sure. It's censorship. Censorship in many (most?) cases is perfectly legal. This is an important lesson for you to learn:
The first amendment prevents the government from punishing you for saying something controversial. Everyone else is free to do as they like. For example, your boss can fire you. Your school (in many cases) can expel you. Your girlfriend can dump you. And, yes, reddit can delete your subreddit. You just can't be sent to prison for it.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -264 points ยท Posted at 13:59:13 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Companies can't just do anything they want though. They couldn't ban my sub because I was black for instance and I don't really see how this is that different.
Ramady ยท 176 points ยท Posted at 14:01:34 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Those are two drastically different things that have nothing to do with each other. This is like saying "I can drive my car down the street legally, but I cannot do cocaine. I don't see why this is different."
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -245 points ยท Posted at 14:03:36 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
They seem fairly analogous to me. Both are cases of discrimination.
Citicop ยท 207 points ยท Posted at 14:09:06 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
You can't get fired for being black.
You CAN get fired for telling your boss to F*ck off, even though that's perfectly legal speech.
Do you see the difference now?
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -262 points ยท Posted at 14:10:21 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
I wasn't telling anyone to fuck off.
Citicop ยท 173 points ยท Posted at 14:12:51 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
It doesn't matter.
Telling someone to fuck off is legal. It's protected by the first amendment.
But if you go to the forums for the Disney Channel and use that language, they can ban you from the forum because your language is inappropriate in their opinion. They are allowed to do that.
Your speech here was legal. It was protected by the first amendment. But reddit can ban you because they find the topic inappropriate.
How do you not realize that it's the same thing?
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -236 points ยท Posted at 14:14:10 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
There's a difference between expressing a controversial opinion and insulting someone.
tkeon168 ยท 76 points ยท Posted at 14:16:54 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
And reddit can legally ban you for either.
Citicop ยท 72 points ยท Posted at 14:18:35 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Not in this context there isn't.
They are both legally protected speech. You can face consequences for both.
You can get fired for having a controversial opinion. If your boss sees you on TV at a KKK rally, you can get fired for that, even though it's not illegal to be at the rally, or to say whatever you said, or to have that opinion.
The speech is protected, but you can still face consequences for it.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -117 points ยท Posted at 14:56:54 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
SJWs have successfully sued companies for firing them before. Couldn't a similar strategy work here?
kyrpa ยท 101 points ยท Posted at 14:58:18 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
go for it. hire a lawyer and sue. please report back once the lawsuit is completed.
Ramady ยท 108 points ยท Posted at 15:00:56 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
No.
Listen: knock it off. You've been told what's going on, and that you have no recourse. Continuing to argue it makes you seem like a petulant child. In ten years, you'd be horrified to see yourself acting like this.
Citicop ยท 64 points ยท Posted at 14:58:43 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Cite a source for that.
No it will not work here, and I don't believe that it worked in other cases either.
Feel free to provide documentation that proves me wrong.
gratty ยท 44 points ยท Posted at 15:01:43 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
/u/thepatman and /u/ramady explained correctly that you have no case in clear and simple terms. You cannot possibly be as dense as you try to appear. Even if your initial post was honest and in good faith, now you must be trolling.
[deleted] ยท 56 points ยท Posted at 14:10:43 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Censorship isn't always discrimination. And discrimination isn't illegal most of the time.
Citicop ยท 97 points ยท Posted at 13:49:15 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Censorship and suppression of free speech refers to actions the government takes.
You have zero legal right to use a private space (like reddit) to voice your views. Reddit can restrict your speech however they want and it's perfectly legal.
You can go start your own website that has rules more to your liking if you want, or find one that already exists that better suits your needs.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -136 points ยท Posted at 13:53:17 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
I'm pretty sure that the admins were deliberately targetting my sub for it's controversial subject matter though. Isn't that pretty much the very definition of censorship?
Citicop ยท 91 points ยท Posted at 13:55:44 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Yes. But censorship by private entities in a private space is allowed.
If I come to your house or business and say things you don't like, you can make me leave.
If I have an internet forum about baseball, and you show up and want to talk about how baseball sucks and basketball is better, you have the legal right to say those things.
But not on my website. I can ban you from the site because I don't like what you're saying.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -128 points ยท Posted at 13:57:22 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Companies still can't selectively discriminate against people though, which seems to be what's going on here.
Citicop ยท 132 points ยท Posted at 14:01:57 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
They absolutely can discriminate against people.
You can be fired from your job because your truck has a confederate flag on it. You can be fired from your job because you wear red tennis shoes. You can be fired from your job because you don't watch "Empire." You can be fired from your job because you said that DC Comics was better than Marvel Comics.
You have the freedom of speech. But go into your bosses office and tell him to **** your **** because he's an ******* who deserves to spend eternity licking the ****** of a goat and see if you get fired for your perfectly legal speech.
Companies can discriminate against you for nearly any reason except for being part of a protected class (race, religion, gender, etc.).
You have the freedom of speech. But your speech still has consequences.
Reddit can ban you for your perfectly legal speech. You can go start your own website that allows that.
Amymars ยท 42 points ยท Posted at 14:05:41 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Yes they can. You do realize that the KKK and neo-nazis discriminate against people on their sites. They also have to struggle to find servers that will provide them hosting.
Hokie95 ยท 25 points ยท Posted at 14:35:54 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
If you don't like it, open up a site of your own to host your content. Reddit has no obligation to provide you with a platform.
As for First Amendment actions, you need a state actor. When you find one, get back to us.
gratty ยท 17 points ยท Posted at 14:54:14 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
That's generally incorrect. You might be thinking of discrimination based on traits like race, religion, disability, etc. But there's no law against Reddit discriminating against you because it doesn't like your message.
Thornnuminous ยท 121 points ยท Posted at 14:54:41 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Pay attention, this is important:
You can say anything you want. But you have to deal with the consequences of what you say.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -186 points ยท Posted at 14:55:31 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Isn't that sort of like saying "You can be whatever race you want. But you have to deal with the consequences of not being white."?
Thornnuminous ยท 184 points ยท Posted at 14:56:48 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
No.
๐๏ธ wrweewew ยท -201 points ยท Posted at 14:57:24 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Seems fairly analogous to me.
[deleted] ยท 267 points ยท Posted at 15:01:56 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
That is because you don't have the slightest idea about the law.
AtariBasic ยท 21 points ยท Posted at 14:31:37 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Doesn't matter. A company is free to censor you all it likes. A company is also free to discriminate against you personally simply because they disagree with what you said, or because they don't like you, or because it's Thursday.
But here's the short answer that completely deflates all your arguments: if you don't like what we're saying, go and speak with an attorney. I guarantee you that if you dig deep enough, you'll find at least one lawyer who will be happy to take your money and look into the matter for you. I'd expect him to come back after a few dozen billable hours and tell you "nope."
xkrysis ยท 17 points ยท Posted at 13:58:00 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Yes. And it is perfectly legal for Reddit to censor you regardless of the reason.
gratty ยท 13 points ยท Posted at 14:51:55 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Doesn't matter. Censorship is generally not illegal.
thepatman ยท 82 points ยท Posted at 15:06:04 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Thread locked due to off-topic posting.
AtariBasic ยท 36 points ยท Posted at 13:49:53 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
It's not. You have every right to go and start your own reddit-like site. No action taken by the reddit moderators can prevent you from doing that. If I kick you out of my home because I don't like what you're saying, that's not oppression of your first amendment rights. Ditto for kicking you out of my store, or banning you from my website.
In other words, no.
Napalmenator ยท 20 points ยท Posted at 13:49:30 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Reddit can run its website however it wants. It doesn't want your sub. Create your own website and then you can do whatever you want.
Also, admin does not care that you think you can sue when you have no legal grounds.
NotALawyer506 ยท 10 points ยท Posted at 13:49:34 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
Reddit doesn't have to let you be on their site at all let alone make any sub you want. Free speech doesn't apply to private owned websites
sweetmoonbeam ยท 12 points ยท Posted at 13:49:25 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
The first amendment protects your right to free speech from the government, not a private company. I'm not a lawyer but I'm gonna guess that your lawsuit would be laughed out of court.
ethanjf99 ยท 18 points ยท Posted at 13:48:26 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
No.
CreeperCrafter63 ยท 12 points ยท Posted at 14:56:32 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)*
Dude reddit can discriminate agaist any content or person they want as long as it's not an illegal reason. And the 1st admentment on you protects you from the government.
[deleted] ยท 11 points ยท Posted at 13:57:55 on December 3, 2015 ยท (Permalink)
have you read through their privacy/disclosure agreement?
Did they disclose why the subreddit was closed *breaking x, y, z rules)
There are some very strict guidelines as per why subreddits are shut down.
You havent provided enough details for anyone here to say whether it was justified or not. Knowing reddit, you likely broke the rules the they shut down the sub redit.
Taking legal action against reddit would be sily, try mediate and retaliate the reasons for closing the subreddit and see what happens from there.
The mods here are generally fair with subreddits, so without sufficient details your case is just a teenage whinge.
First step as legal advice would be silly, your goal is to appeal the closure with justifiable evidence your sub was within the rules of reddit guidelines.
From there is up to you (and you're unlikely to see any damages unless you were profitiing from the subreddit itself, which also unlikely as it is a public forum, not an advertising market)