Antiwork Reddit forum is back after controversial Fox News interview

Antiwork, the popular Reddit forum where members discuss the exploitation of workers and other issues related to labor reform, has been made public again after one of its moderators made a controversial appearance on Fox News.

The subreddit had been taken private after a segment in which Fox News host Jesse Watters suggested the movement was “encouraging people to be lazy.” Some members expressed frustration that a single moderator appeared to be speaking for the entire community—which has exploded during the pandemic and now boasts more than 1.7 million members. 

As of Thursday morning, the public home page for /r/antiwork had reemerged with a statement saying, “We will now focus on more transparency regarding media.” The statement also mentioned that a few media interviews had yet to be released, including interviews with the New York Times and Fast Company. 

However, the statement did not appear to mollify critics who were opposed to moderators speaking for the broader movement. It had attracted thousands of comments within the first hour, with some saying they plan to abandon the antiwork forum for other subreddits. Others seemed upset that one of the moderators who had conducted interviews claimed to identify as an “anarchist.” 

‘”Sorry’ doesn’t cut it,” one user wrote in a follow-up post, “mods are not leaders of this sub.”

Forums like antiwork, while not new, have seen their membership grow significantly over the last two years, as the pandemic has prompted people to reevaluate their relationship to work and record numbers of workers have quit their jobs.