Guys, it’s happening. Reddit just became the Communist front page of the internet.
Reddit is reportedly set to land a massive investment from a Chinese censorship powerhouse in order to keep the “Internet’s front page” rolling. Web-tech giant Tencent is expected to inject $210 million into the website as part of a Series D fundraising round, and depending on how much Reddit raises, the round is expected to push the company past a $3 billion valuation, according to TechCrunch.
But the union between Tencent and Reddit is being challenged by a confused public, who are very much aware of the fact that Reddit is currently blocked in China, and has been for the past 90 days. As part of China’s notorious censorship regime, the Great Firewall of China, Tencent’s impending investment in the Silicon Valley company and what sort of influence it will gain at Reddit still remains unclear.
As one of the main architects of the Great Firewall of China, which blocks access to selected foreign websites restricting people from accessing online content, Tencent’s new western venture has raised questions regarding Reddit’s future as users are fearing their beloved social website will inevitably be censored.
“It is representative of the strange bedfellows that the interaction of the US and Chinese technology systems creates,” said Adam Segal, a cybersecurity expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. There is much bringing them together — money, people, and ideas. And there are serious political forces pulling them apart.”
The deal has sparked a furious reaction on Reddit, as avid users take to the website to post photos exposing China and its firewall before the potential “censorship” starts.
Reddit is already Authoritarian Left to begin with. But this might make things go EVEN FURTHER