Although Reddit does not bar publications from submitting their own content, the site's FAQ states that "if your contribution to Reddit consists mostly of submitting links to a site(s) that you own or otherwise benefit from in some way, and additionally if you do not participate in discussion, or reply to peoples questions, regardless of how many upvotes your submissions get, you are a spammer."

In addition, the site strictly forbids any collusion among users in the interest of artificially boosting the apparent popularity of submissions.

The recent wave of bans, however, has rubbed many in the site's user base the wrong way. Complaints about a lack of transparency in the process and questions over the decision to ban well-regarded sources like the Atlantic and Business Week were common.

"I am failing to see the logic here. Seems like it just neuters the content on reddit, and could be used to censor opposing viewpoints," wrote one Reddit user.

However, others applauded Reddit's move.