According to /u/Spez, Reddit CEO, the reports of messages edited without any user consent or knowledge are correct as he admits to have done it so himself:
Hey Everyone,
Yep. I messed with the "fuck u/spez" comments, replacing "spez" with r/the_donald mods for about an hour. It's been a long week here trying to unwind the r/pizzagate stuff. As much as we try to maintain a good relationship with you all, it does get old getting called a pedophile constantly. As the CEO, I shouldn't play such games, and it's all fixed now. Our community team is pretty pissed at me, so I most assuredly won't do this again.
Fuck u/spez.
The edits were made in a thread linked from the Washington Post which described the recent ban of the /r/pizzagate subreddit which tried to uncover child-molesters and recently moved to voat.co.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 27 2016, @01:39AM
I'm not missing the point. If they don't have the moral authority to censor more serious subject matters, then I don't see why they would have the moral authority to censor specific words that may cause offense. If they have the moral authority to do the latter, then anything offensive could be censored. Socially accepted norms are irrelevant, because it sounds like you were describing a personal standard ("moral authority").
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday November 27 2016, @01:55AM
PG-13 isn't my personal standard. Which century are you posting from? If you're posting from the 18th century, then I can understand that you don't understand PG-13, or R, or the X's. There are limits to the things that may be posted to forums accessible by children. Now, if you locked your own kids in the closet years back, then I can understand your lack of concern about the content on public forums.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by janrinok on Sunday November 27 2016, @10:13AM
I just happen to believe that it is a parents' job and responsibility to raise their children, not the state's. Children will access things that you might not wish them to see no matter what measures you take. Far better then to teach them responsibility, to feel that they can always turn to their parents for honest advice on any topic, and to let them mature into decent adults with no hang-ups.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 29 2016, @02:25AM
You said: "I don't believe that any major online site really has any moral authority to edit much more than the "seven words you'll never hear on television"." Notice the "I". You were clearly talking about your standard. I see absolutely no reason that major online sites would have the moral authority to censor words you or others don't like but would not have the moral authority to censor opinions you or others don't like. It's incredibly silly, because either way you're just censoring to protect people's feelings.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday November 29 2016, @05:15AM
Well - if you don't see the difference between vulgarity, and opinion, then you just don't see it. Even congress and parliaments around the world exchange ideas and thoughts freely, but they aren't free to curse members. The word that applies is "decorum". If you and I call each other stupid sons of bitches, that adds nothing to the exchange of ideas - it's nonsense. Why bother with it? Yeah, I guess I do indulge now and then in nonsensical name calling, but it adds nothing to the discussion.
What matters is the free exchange of ideas, not the ability to insult each other meaninglessly.