WallStreetBets, the investor coalition that gained notoriety for boosting stocks from its spot on Reddit, was banned by communications platform Discord for not doing enough to stop hateful statements.
A Discord representative said on Wednesday that it had been watching the group for a while for violating community guidelines and issued multiple warnings to the administrator of the so-called server – essentially a digital space where people can gather to chat.
The move was not linked to WallStreetBets’ efforts to get shares like GameStop Corp., the representative said. It was for allowing ‘hateful and discriminatory content after repeated warnings’. Discord’s guidelines stop hate speech, the glorification of violence and the spread of misinformation.
“Discord welcomes a wide variety of discussions about personal finance, from investment clubs and day traders to students and professional financial advisors,” said the spokesman. “We are monitoring this situation and if there are allegations of illegal activity, we will cooperate with the authorities where necessary.”
The ban came down as a separate drama unfolded on Reddit, where WallStreetBets turned itself off to new users. Shortly after 6:30 pm in New York, the WallStreetBets homepage indicated that moderators had made the chat private, meaning an invitation was required to join. The site had attracted more than 3 million members and was promoting stocks such as GameStop and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., leading to stratospheric profits.
GameStop, a video game wrestler, is up 1.745% this year. AMC, a cinema chain that flirted with bankruptcies, has won 839%.
– With the help of Katherine Greifeld and Sarah Ponczek