London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 23, 2025

Reddit chief: I was late to spot GameStop stock mania

Reddit chief: I was late to spot GameStop stock mania

Reddit boss Steve Huffman has told BBC News he supported the aims of controversial sub-Reddit WallStreetBets.

A long-time fan of the group, he said he had been slow in spotting its effect on 0GameStop0's huge share-price spike in January.

"I was actually a little late to the party, because I didn't realise that Reddit had leaked into the real world again", he said.

0GameStop0's share price ended up reaching nearly $500 (£350) before falling.

1WallStreetBets1 had been hyping up the computer-game retailer's shares.

The idea was if enough Reddit users bought 0GameStop0 shares, they could drive up the price, hurting hedge funds who had bet against the company.

Some claimed the group had collectively manipulated the market.

But Reddit decided to leave it up.

"We were... trying to keep 1WallStreetBets1 online," Mr Huffman said.

When the media talks about the big social-media platforms - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram - Reddit is often ignored.

But as hedge funds learned during the 0GameStop0 share-price spike - ignore it at your peril.

Reddit likes to think of itself as different.

At its heart, it certainly feels more alternative.

Its system of upvoting content mean ideas either fly or die.

It's not called the front page of the internet for nothing.

Mr Huffman has also had to deal with another big story this year - conspiracy theories peddled by Donald Trump about electoral fraud.

"What do you do when the president doesn't live up to the ideals, like the principles of our country?" Mr Huffman said.

An influential sub-Reddit called TheDonald was instrumental in hyping up Mr Trump across the internet.

Reddit banned it last year.

Mr Huffman told BBC News it was the most difficult moderation decision he had had to make.

Huffman is one of handful of men in Silicon Valley - along with Twitter's Jack Dorsey and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg - that make huge decisions on what we can and can't see on the internet.

The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

When did you first come across 1WallStreetBets1?


So I've known about 1WallStreetBets1 for years.

1WallStreetBets1 is, in fact, one of my guilty pleasures on Reddit.

How much was the group about having a laugh?


A lot of it, as I think it's the cornerstone to a lot of friendship and human experience.

At the end of the day, this community is fun and it's funny.

And obviously, there's some cohesion there, talking about the trades.

When did you start realising 1WallStreetBets1 was having an impact on 0GameStop0's share price?


So I think I was actually a little late to this, because I've been on 1WallStreetBets1 for a while.

And they've been talking about 0GameStop0 for a while.

And so on 1WallStreetBets1, there's often a couple of stocks or companies or positions that have their attention.

And so over the years, it's been Tesla.

It's been Virgin Galactic.

It's been Blackberry.

It's been different things.

And so, in my mind, I'm just browsing Reddit and OK, yeah, 0GameStop0's got their infatuation right now.

So I was actually a little late to the party, because I didn't realise that Reddit had leaked into the real world again.

And so it was, I think, really at the the take off of the mania when I was like: "OK, this is a bigger one."

Then there was that crazy period where the 0GameStop0 share price went from $20 to $400. What was going through your mind at that point?


You know, I love reading business stories.

I love reading books about investors and their successes and failures.

So it's just a topic I'm interested in.

I just thought it was a fascinating story.

And it's such a smart thing to do.

And I, personally, have found it a fair thing to do.

So you were always supportive, like ideologically, of what the group was doing?


Yes, because I think if you've got one transaction where one group has taken an extreme position and then another group can see that opportunity that maybe they've overextended themselves.

Obviously, there's a lot of risk there.

But I think everybody goes in that situation aware of that risk.

The shares at one point got almost up to $500 a share. At that point, was there any pressure on you to maybe lock down 1WallStreetBets1?


We faced that question, like that literal question: "Should you do something?"

But our motivation, or what we were trying to do in that situation, was actually the opposite - to keep 1WallStreetBets1 online.

So you decided: "This needs to stay up"?


The question of should it go down or not was a very fast conversation.

And we were, you know, confident that that community was well moderated and well within our content policy.

Are you proud of what 1WallStreetBets1 managed to achieve?


I am always, I think, proud when people do amazing things.

And so I think maybe pride isn't even the right word.

I think I'm happy or encouraged when humans come together to do something incredible.

Do you think that it was a David-and-Goliath story?


Oh, absolutely, because, you know, institutional investors have so much.

There's so many more resources in terms of knowledge, relationships, the ability to execute large trades.

No individual could have done this.

Although hedge funds wage war on each other all the time, we never see it.

And so to see a group of individuals kind of band together against some really well resourced institutions, I think that's an intriguing story from any angle.

Some people lost a lot of money. Do you feel any responsibility?


I think any trade, not just risky ones like 1WallStreetBets1, has risk.

But it also has opportunity.

I think there are two things that are really important.

One is that individuals have that opportunity.

I don't think we as a society should be so paternal to say that, well: "This group is smart enough to make these decisions - but this group, you know, we should keep them out," because you're not just protecting them from risk, you're eliminating their participation in the gains.

Did the Capitol Hill riots make you reappraise the inherent goodness of the free internet?


I'd be lying if I say that thought hadn't crossed my mind.

But we've seen, I think, on Reddit, the power of people to do, I think, the right thing generally.

One of the ways we look at Reddit, one of our duties, is to make sure the volume of any particular viewpoint is in proportion to the number of people who actually have it.

And so that is to say we don't want a small number of loud people to have control beyond their numbers.

And I think on Reddit we've gotten pretty good at that.

I suppose you're wrestling with two things here. You don't want to get involved in censoring or overly censoring people?


We feel, I think, there's an enormous responsibility for getting that balance right.

And, you know, we are learning,

I think, along with everybody else, we do our very best because it's not just the right thing to do for our business - it's the right thing to do for our users.

And I think it's the right thing to do generally.

And, for example, the QAnon conspiracy theory, we saw that on Reddit and banned it three years ago, long before it metastasized online and in the real world.

Do you think you should have done more on TheDonald? That's one of the criticisms of Reddit that comes up a few times.


Look, TheDonald was a series of hard decisions.

And there's never a hard decision that I don't, upon reflection, wish we had made faster.

But I think there's a matter of reality here - the principle of free speech was designed specifically to protect political speech.

And so we went through a crisis not just at Reddit but in the United States and, I think, around the world of what do you do when the president doesn't live up to the ideals, like the principles of our country.

That's a real conflict.

And so I think there's no way around that conflict.

Is that the most difficult decision that you've had to make?


I think it might be, yes, because the other ones were more matters of getting the words right.

Other policy changes we've made over the years around, you know, violence or harassment or bullying or involuntary sexualisation, we always knew what our gut told us - what the right thing was.

And so those were sometimes complicated because we had to figure out how to get there and how to kind of balance all of our values.

But we always knew where we wanted to go.

I think with political speech, and in this particular moment, it was particularly challenging given the context of, like, the United States and the president of the United States being almost in conflict with each other.

Fake news, conspiracy theories, how do you stay on top of it?


Misinformation is another word for propaganda.

And propaganda is as old as politics.

This is not a new problem.

And so, we've faced this problem in different forms over pretty much our entire existence.

And so the solution, that we've seen, ultimately lies within people.

It lies within a free press.

It lies within access to information.

It lies within people being allowed to have good judgements and societal pressure to to be truthful, to behave well, all of these things.

Finally, there are some pretty niche sub-Reddits. What are the oddest ones you've come across?


Oh, my goodness.

BreadStapledToTrees is probably the weirdest one that I'm comfortable saying in an interview.

And it's as the name implies.

It's literally pictures of bread stapled to trees.

There's another, I think, favourite around the office, CatStandingUp, which is just pictures of cats standing up.

But that one is very strictly moderated.

So every comment within every post in that community has to be the single word "Cat".


Watch: What's been going on at 0GameStop0?


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
×