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| Reddit apologises for online Boston 'witch hunt' | Reddit apologises for online Boston 'witch hunt' |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Social news site Reddit has issued a public apology for its coverage of the Boston bombings. | Social news site Reddit has issued a public apology for its coverage of the Boston bombings. |
| Its Find Boston Bombers thread - known as a subreddit - named specific people standing near the scene as suspects. | |
| They included innocent people such as 17-year-old Salah Barhoun and missing 22-year-old Sunil Tripathi. | They included innocent people such as 17-year-old Salah Barhoun and missing 22-year-old Sunil Tripathi. |
| Reddit has admitted that it helped to fuel "online witch hunts". The debacle has fuelled debate about how far such speculation should go in future. | Reddit has admitted that it helped to fuel "online witch hunts". The debacle has fuelled debate about how far such speculation should go in future. |
| "We all need to look at what happened and make sure that in the future we do everything we can to help and not hinder crisis situations," the apology read. | "We all need to look at what happened and make sure that in the future we do everything we can to help and not hinder crisis situations," the apology read. |
| "Though started with noble intentions, some of the activity on Reddit fuelled online witch hunts and dangerous speculation which spiralled into very negative consequences for innocent parties." | "Though started with noble intentions, some of the activity on Reddit fuelled online witch hunts and dangerous speculation which spiralled into very negative consequences for innocent parties." |
| It went on to apologise to the family of Mr Tripathi. | It went on to apologise to the family of Mr Tripathi. |
| The family had to suspend the Facebook page they had created to find him because of the amount of negative comments they received. Mr Tripathi's name trended on Twitter and numerous news sites. | The family had to suspend the Facebook page they had created to find him because of the amount of negative comments they received. Mr Tripathi's name trended on Twitter and numerous news sites. |
| The tragedy in Boston created a huge amount of traffic on Reddit, peaking at about 272,000 users according to Google Analytics. | The tragedy in Boston created a huge amount of traffic on Reddit, peaking at about 272,000 users according to Google Analytics. |
| As well as attempting to solve the mystery of who the suspects were, Redditors - as contributors to the site are known - also organised housing for people stranded in Boston, sent pizza deliveries to police and hospitals, and organised "dog therapy" in local parks for traumatised residents. | As well as attempting to solve the mystery of who the suspects were, Redditors - as contributors to the site are known - also organised housing for people stranded in Boston, sent pizza deliveries to police and hospitals, and organised "dog therapy" in local parks for traumatised residents. |
| The apology concludes: "After this week, which showed the best and worst of Reddit's potential, we hope that Boston will also be where Reddit learns to sensitive of its own power". | The apology concludes: "After this week, which showed the best and worst of Reddit's potential, we hope that Boston will also be where Reddit learns to sensitive of its own power". |