Reddit Bans Darknetmarkets Subreddit

Reddit, in a not entirely surprising move, banned the go-to /r/darknetmarkets subreddit. The subreddit was one of the few that prohibited sourcing and made it through some of Reddit’s previous ban streaks.

One “official” subreddit remains: /r/DarkNetMarketsNoobs

The ban followed the ban of other (mostly drug) subreddits that either directly or indirectly permitted users to trade/buy/sell illegal items or material that violated Reddit’s TOS. Despite the noise created by former users of the subreddit, the darknetmarkets sub was far from the only subreddit to receive a ban in less than an hour after an unexpected rule change where Reddit staff intentionally banned before speaking with the subreddit moderators. While darknet market subreddits may have taken the greatest hit, an argument could be made for the subreddits with smaller, closer knit communities that had literally nowhere to turn after the ban.

/r/DNMUK; /r/DNMOZ; /r/Xanaxcartel; /r/danknation; /r/EU_RCSources;  /r/RCSources;  /r/RaptureMarket; /r/DarkNetUK; /r/dreammarket2; /r/dream_dnm /r/Libertas /r/OlympusDNM /r/rapturednm; and /r/cgmc.

The research chemical subreddits provided an excellent example of this. Although the literal name of the sub was “RCsources,” the moderators did not allow direct transactions between users yet the sub got banned. Loss of the subreddits effectively meant that a.) drug users would no longer know where to find XYZ substance and b.) they would be unable to report whether or not a vendor’s substance was the substance advertised. Given that they existed on the clearnet, primarily, the entire landscape shifted constantly. Darknet markets come and go, but users can always find an active market. This is not the case for research chems. The Google search results for “research chemicals” provide literally nothing of use to someone seeking research chemicals.

A heroin testing subreddit also got banned.

People are moving to the darknet forum ‘Dread’

What is Dread? Dread is a darknet forum very similar to Reddit that allows darknet market discussion. A member of the former darknetmarkets subreddit created the site prior to the fall of Reddit’s banhammer.

The marketplace list on this site has all the superlist links, links from the marketplace subreddits, and links updated by the markets themselves. They can be verified through Dream’s marketplace link verification tool or Libertas’ signed link verification message. As always, DeepDotWeb is a trustworthy source of marketplace news and links.