The Reddit page r/JoeRogan is dedicated to discussing the world’s most popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. But in a very confusing decision, the subreddit’s moderators have decided to ban posts about politics. And some contributors to the subreddit are not happy about all this.
It all started on Tuesday, when a moderator of r/JoeRogan wrote that “All political posts are now banned on r/JoeRogan.”
“Today we are deciding to indefinitely ban all political posts,” the explanation said. “After careful consideration, internal discussion, and a lot of external feedback, we have collectively decided that r/Jerogan is no longer the place for politics.”
That post did not get a good response. One contributor wrote, “Every Reddit mod is a hall monitor dork, change my mind. You’re banning the topic he talks about the most. You guys are hypocrites and the antithesis of free speech. If you can’t mod effectively then paint your Warhammer statues and let someone else do it.”
Another commenter wrote, “Will you ban Joe Rogan from talking about politics?” While someone else wrote, “This subreddit has been circling the drain for so long, and thank god you finally cleared the handle!”
The main post was eventually removed, but replaced with an explanation that was more specific about what wouldn’t be allowed. People can comment on politics below a post, but anything political will be prohibited as the topic of the main post. The moderator explained that the subreddit was becoming too difficult to moderate.
“It’s no secret to us that Joe has become increasingly political in recent years and his support of Trump may have helped him get elected,” the moderator wrote. “That said, we are not equipped to properly moderate, arbitrate, and control political posts… while also promoting free speech. I think it’s so contradictory but Reddit has rules they want to enforce and until we add 20 more mods, we are unable to do it well. I don’t think anyone here wants more moderation and a rigid approach about what political posts stay and what goes.”
The moderators said they would post one thread per day allowing a broad scope of topics, including politics, although it would be “very lightly moderated”. Comments on that post have been locked.
What does the r/JoeRogan page look like now? A number of older politically focused posts are still prominent, but they date back a few days, including one about President Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen and another about the Epstein files.
But posts published after the ban on politics are far more common. They include a full YouTube episode of Rogan’s latest, an interview with comedian Adam Ray. The post simply read “Joe Rogan Experience #2415 – Adam Ray” and nothing else. A quick search of an automated transcript from the episode reveals six mentions of the word Trump and eight mentions of Biden.
Another post on r/Xerogan reads, “Current state of r/Xerogan” and includes a clip from the Simpsons TV show, where Ralph tries to make small talk with Lisa by asking, “So, do you like things?”
The Simpsons clip gets to the heart of the political ban on r/JoeRogan. The podcaster is inherently a political person, and everything he talks about is political in some way. A pre-ban thread discusses Rogan’s silence on recent legislation that would ban CBD-infused beverages. Legislation is inherently political. Will it be missed in the current apolitical environment? That part is unclear.
Rogan has become one of the most important political influencers in popular media. Trump went on his podcast in preparation for the 2024 election, and Kamala Harris recently said she regretted not appearing on his show. It’s strange to imagine discussing Rogan, a man who often celebrates Trump and his policies, without getting into politics.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether the people of r/JoeRogan will stick to their political ban. But if Rogan Rogan remains, the subreddit will become a much quieter place.