Reddit shut down of two alt-right subreddits believed to be related to attack on Richard Spencer

Discussion site Reddit has banned two popular subreddits harbouring alt-right communities after their users violated the website's terms of service by sharing the confidential information of an unidentified person.

Both r/altright and r/alternativeright display messages saying the communities have been banned, saying: "This subreddit was banned due to a violation of our content policy, specifically, the proliferation of personal and confidential information."

The ban may be related to the incident that occurred on President Donald Trump's inauguration day (20 January), during which outspoken white nationalist Richard Spencer was punched in the face.

According to The Verge, citing chatter on Reddit rival Voat, the personal information was that of the man who punched Spencer on live TV, kick-starting one of the year's most popular memes.

In a statement regarding the ban, Reddit said: "We are very clear in our site terms of service that posting of personal information can get users banned from Reddit and we ask our communities not to post content that harasses or invites harassment.

"We have banned r/altright due to repeated violations of the terms of our content policy. There is no single solution to these issues and we are actively engaging with the Reddit community to improve everyone's experience."

The statement also said Reddit strives to be a "welcoming, open platform all by trusting our users to maintain an environment that cultivates genuine conversation and adheres to our content policy".

When they were shut down r/alteright and r/alternativeright had a combined 16,200 subscriber base. The subreddits were communities fostering white nationalists and, more recently, Donald Trump supporters.

Trump-supporting subreddit r/TheDonald is the likely destination of the shuttered subreddits' communities. Others have moved over to Voat where discussion of the Reddit bans is taking place, rife with anti-Semitic language.