Reddit has canceled its upcoming in-person moderator events following security concerns raised after an unapproved attendee attempted to enter a meetup at the company’s San Francisco headquarters.
The move comes less than a week after former r/LivestreamFail moderator Bryan Wade, better known as Stale2000, said he was permanently banned from Reddit after trying to attend the San Francisco event.
Wade had been placed on a waitlist for the meetup before arranging to attend as another moderator’s plus-one. According to his account, Reddit security eventually asked him to leave and warned that police would be called if he refused.
Now, Reddit says the incident has prompted a wider overhaul of how its real-world moderator meetups are run.
Reddit pauses mod meetups over security concerns
In an August 20 announcement, Reddit said it was “cancelling all upcoming in-person Mod Events” while it improves security and its attendee vetting process.
The company explained that venue details for the San Francisco meetup had been shared with moderators who were not approved to attend.
Reddit did not identify Wade or any other moderator in its announcement. However, the incident described by the company matches the San Francisco meetup Wade said he attempted to enter before being removed by security.
Reddit said the situation resulted in “valid security concerns” being raised by several internal teams, leading it to pause IRL events for the foreseeable future.
The decision immediately cancels previously announced meetups in Los Angeles and Amsterdam.
Before in-person events return, Reddit says it plans to increase security at venues, restrict how event details are distributed and strengthen its vetting process so only approved attendees can access event spaces.
An administrator also clarified in the comments that while all moderators are eligible to apply for the meetups, attendees must first pass an internal approval process. Those who are not approved are not supposed to receive the location.
Virtual Mod Events will continue during the pause, with Reddit saying it plans to put more focus into its online gatherings while the new security measures are developed.
Wade was previously removed from the LivestreamFail moderation team following controversy surrounding the promotion of the Million Dollar Fan project. He later went viral for arguing that Reddit moderators should be treated more like celebrities or influencers.
Following his removal, he also began calling on the US government to release what he described as the “Twitch & Reddit files.”
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
