SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Reddit is one of the most cited sources for those AI-enabled answers at the top of Google searches. The social media forum where people can comment on questions or news items is also figuring into high-profile investigations, including the fatal shootings at Brown University and, later, of an MIT professor. Ben Brock Johnson is co-host of Endless Thread, a podcast about what can be the blurred line between online communities and real life. It is produced by member station WBUR. He joins us now from Amherst, Massachusetts. Ben, thanks so much for being with us.
BEN BROCK JOHNSON, BYLINE: Thank you, Scott.
SIMON: How did Reddit become involved in the manhunt that stretched from Providence, Rhode Island to Salem, New Hampshire?
JOHNSON: Well, the intersection, so far, Scott, is that Reddit was really the first place where a user seemed to post some of the key information leading to the big break in the case. This information was posted in the r/providence subreddit. The way Reddit works is that communities are focused around particular topics, hobbies or, in this case, the city of Providence, Rhode Island. Reddit is also fundamentally an anonymous platform. The information provided by this Redditor, or Reddit user, was a description of an encounter with a suspicious person around the time of the shooting and the statement that authorities should look into, quote, "possibly a rental gray Nissan." Rental because the Nissan had Florida plates.
SIMON: Reddit's been around for - what? - 20 years? Is this suddenly a new source for investigators?
JOHNSON: I would say no. Since the beginning, the platform really has focused on news and discussion of news. The Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 is an example where Reddit users really flooded communities with discussion and theories, and that led to wrongly identifying suspects, doxing or revealing the identities of people who were then the targets of harassment and scrutiny, despite having nothing to do with the case. One of those misidentified suspects, Sunil Tripathi, a Brown University student, was later found dead. Long story short, yes, Reddit is a gold mine for all kinds of information. Naturally, law enforcement knows this, too, and has probably known for a long time.
SIMON: Are Redditors aware that investigators are monitoring their comments?
JOHNSON: That's an interesting question, Scott. Redditors, by and large, can be pretty savvy, in my experience. It is true that this user may have posted on Reddit before being in touch with authorities, but whether that kind of behavior is deliberate or not, it's hard to tell. The same user later put out what they referred to as a kind of PSA post saying they had reached out to authorities directly, been interviewed and that they wouldn't be doing more interviews with media or discussing it further. That was a few days ago now. There was a financial reward advertised for information leading to breaks in the case, and it is possible that this user also wants to stay anonymous.
My excellent cohost on Endless Thread, Amory Sivertson, did reach out to the user and to Reddit. No answers as of yet. Redditors do love it when one of their own helps solve something. So I've been watching the community reaction, and they are definitely celebrating this user and their contribution to the case. I think, officially, Reddit has a history of working with authorities but also protecting user anonymity, and the company's evolved its rules about identifying people over the years. So this is an interesting and evolving thing to watch.
SIMON: Ben Brock Johnson of member station WBUR and the podcast Endless Thread. Thanks so much.
JOHNSON: Thank you, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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