The Largest Joe Rogan Fan Forum Just Banned Politics Talk

The moderators of the 1.7-million-member Joe Rogan subreddit just moved to shut down all politics-related posting until further notice. Any chance they could also moderate The Joe Rogan Experience?

It's no secret to anyone in the podcasting or comedy spheres that, over the last decade or more, Rogan's role in media has changed from “occasionally funny podcast kingpin” to “massively influential political operative with direct ties to the most powerful men on the planet.” Fans of the former Fear Factor host have known that Rogan's growing role in national politics would pose a problem for his following since roughly the hundredth appearance of Elon Musk on JRE, but, now, the fan community is fighting to save itself from a full-on civil war.

Earlier this week, mods on the Rogan subreddit announced a new rule, writing, “All political posts (not comments) are now banned on r/joerogan.” Predictably, the Roganites of Reddit reacted to the new censorship measure as if the mods just declared that they were requiring every user who browses to first put on a KN95 mask.

“Today we are making the decision to ban all political posts (comments are still fair game) indefinitely,” the Rogan moderators wrote, “After careful consideration, internal discussion and tons of external feedback we have collectively decided that r/joerogan is not the place for politics anymore.”

The power users later acknowledged, “It is not lost on us that Joe has become increasingly political in recent years and that his endorsement of Trump may have helped get him elected. That said, we are not equipped to properly moderate, arbitrate and curate political posts…while also promoting free speech.” 

The mods further explained that, as hypocritical as that last sentence may seem, they simply do not have the resources to foster an environment for mass political discussion that is also in line with the site-wide rules of Reddit.

The original r/joerogan thread about the controversial new rule quickly amassed hundreds of outraged comments before the mods ironically nuked it from orbit, locking the comment section and deleting the post. The mods then made another thread about the political posting ban with the comment section restricted from the jump, but one schadenfreude-filled Redditor thankfully recorded the blowback in the r/SubredditDrama forum for posterity.

“This is straight bitch shit. I’ve always defended the mods here for not gatekeeping. What changed? This is now a political podcast you morons. Do you even listen to the show? He talks about politics in every single episode,” one irate Rogan fan wrote in a saved comment. “The mods are being bitches. Ya’ll are just doing this so we quiet down about Epstein.”

Another user asked, “So we can't talk about what Joe talks about on his own show? How does that make any sense? Why are you pretending he doesn't spend hours on politics every day?”

Many, many more JRE listeners speculated that the politics ban must be connected to the pending release of the FBI files on Jeffrey Epstein, with one writing, “Convenient timing. A podcast built on conspiracy theories is banning posts on the very day a vote is taking place on what has been, and may continue to be, one of the biggest conspiracy theories of our time.”

Users also accused the r/joerogan moderators of blatant hypocrisy, considering how Rogan himself claims to be a champion of free expression and the free exchange of political ideas. “Why do people accept censorship, you're just making a mockery of all the brave people who fought for freedom of speech, this is disgusting," one First Amendment fan wrote.

Another Redditor still pointed out the irony of censoring political discussion while claiming to promote free speech, asking the moderation team, “You mods do realize that doing this in itself is a political move?”

Whether or not the possible implication of JRE guests in the Epstein files played a part in the politics ban, the question remains: what, exactly, do the r/joerogan mods expect their subscribers to post about if politics are off-limits? Even in the JRE episodes where Rogan eschews guests from the Trump cabinet and talks to a comic, the conversations always turn to political issues at some point. 

Hell, just last week, right-wing comedian Jeff Dye made Fox News headlines when he went on JRE to announce that he was fleeing California out of fear of governor Gavin Newsom, shortly before starting a GoFundMe to socialize the cost of his exodus.

While we can't pretend that the previous, uncensored version of r/joerogan was exactly a bastion for balanced political discourse, the new, non-political subreddit will barely even count as a forum. There are only so many unique posts that a 1.7-million-strong subreddit can make about testosterone supplements and chimpanzee attacks.