MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
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Reddit apologizes for 'online witch hunts,' asks community to be 'sensitive of its own power'
By EmmaZahn on Tue, 04/23/2013 - 8:25pm |Reddit General Manager Erik Martin has apologized for the Reddit community's reaction to the Boston Marathon bombings, after amateur investigators frustrated the public and law enforcement with a flood of misinformation about the perpetrators of the attacks.
"Though started with noble intentions," Martin writes, "some of the activity on Reddit fueled online witch hunts and dangerous speculation which spiraled into very negative consequences for innocent parties." In particular, Martin calls out Sunil Triphathi, who was pegged as a suspect by amateur online detectives on 4chan and Reddit — information that spread quickly online. "We have apologized privately to the family of missing college student Sunil Triphathi, as have various users and moderators," Martin writes. "We want to take this opportunity to apologize publicly for the pain they have had to endure."
URL:
http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/22/4253320/reddit-apologizes-online-witch-hunt-boston-marathon-bombing
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