Banned! Reddit Cracks Down On Illegal Beer Trading

reddit, Banned! Reddit Cracks Down On Illegal Beer TradingThere been so much going on in the beer biz lately that we almost didn’t get to this story…Reddit has shut down a popular beer forum on their social media platform as part of larger crackdown on its illegal trading activities.

Here’s the deal…

A social network where users can talk about controversial topics, memes, and online protests, Reddit has also become a platform where some users engage in illegal activities.

And given the site’s estimated 542 million monthly visitors this kind third party activity is almost impossible to monitor in real time.

But perhaps spurred by a controversial US anti sex-trafficking bill that places the burden of policing illegal activity of third party websites such as Reddit on its owners (in this case Conde’ Nast),  the social media platform went on a policy offensive.

In order to crack down on the illegal trading of drugs, ammunition and stolen goods and yes even sexual favors, Reddit has shut down a number of smaller discussion groups known as subreddits.

reddit, Banned! Reddit Cracks Down On Illegal Beer TradingAs part of this new crackdown r/beertrade reddit an active platform with over 20,000 subscribers used by craft beer enthusiasts to talk and trade beer was shutdown. A similar forum called r/scotchswap (users traded in Scotch whisky), was also banned according to the Drinks Business.

This from Reddit…

“Due to the controlled nature of alcohol, Reddit is not built to ensure that the sales are happening legally, and so we can no longer continue to host communities solely dedicated to trading of alcohol or other controlled substances.”

So is this the end of beer trading on the web?

We assure you it isn’t…The internet is an unstoppable and ever-evolving beast.

But r/beertrade reddit was THE destination for legions of beer traders…and for many it’s sure l be missed.

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