Reddit describes itself as a network of communities run by its users
Reddit describes itself as a network of communities that are created, run and populated by its users. It says people can post, comment, vote, discuss, learn, debate, support and connect there, and it encourages users to find or even create a community of their own.
Supporting quotations
Reddit is a vast network of communities that are created, run, and populated by you, the Reddit users.
we encourage you to find—or even create—your home on Reddit
Qualifications & exceptions
This is introductory description and encouragement, not a stated rule or obligation.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · Context
No community should be used as a weapon, and everyone should expect privacy and safety
Reddit says communities should create a sense of belonging for their members and not try to diminish it for others, and that no community should be used as a weapon. It also says everyone on Reddit should have an expectation of privacy and safety and asks users to respect the privacy and safety of others. Reddit acknowledges you may find some communities unrelatable or even offensive; that alone is not framed as a violation.
Supporting quotations
no community should be used as a weapon
everyone on Reddit should have an expectation of privacy and safety, so please respect the privacy and safety of others
Qualifications & exceptions
The privacy and safety sentence is phrased as an expectation and a request ("please"); the specific prohibitions are in the numbered rules and the linked policy pages.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · Restriction or exception
Platform-wide rules apply to everyone and are enforced by Reddit's admins, in letter and spirit
Below the rules of each community sit platform-wide rules that apply to everyone on Reddit, and Reddit's own staff, whom it calls admins, enforce them. Reddit says its communities can only exist if everyone operates by a shared set of rules, and it asks users to follow not just the letter of the rules but their spirit as well.
Supporting quotations
Below the rules governing each community are the platform-wide rules that apply to everyone on Reddit. These rules are enforced by us, the admins.
We ask that you abide by not just the letter of these rules, but the spirit as well.
Qualifications & exceptions
The "letter and spirit" sentence is phrased as a request ("We ask"), so it states an expectation rather than a defined test.
Not stated here
The text does not define what following the "spirit" of the rules requires beyond the rules themselves.
Legal Rights & Agreement Rules · Restriction or exception
Discussing legal access and linking to licensed vendors is allowed; other transactions you arrange are at your own risk
A note says that discussing how to legally access controlled goods, or sharing external links to appropriately licensed vendors of legal goods and services, is allowed. Examples given are licensed pharmacies filling valid prescriptions, licensed vendors of controlled substances, online or offline firearm dealers holding the necessary government-issued license, and licensed animal welfare organizations providing adoption services. If you decide to arrange non-prohibited transactions with other users, such as selling camping gear or a photography shoot, the policy says you are doing so at your own risk.
Supporting quotations
Discussing how to legally access controlled goods or sharing external links to appropriately licensed vendors of legal goods and services are allowed.
This includes, for example, licensed pharmacies filling valid prescriptions, licensed vendors of controlled substances, online or offline firearm dealers holding the necessary government-issued license, or licensed animal welfare organizations providing adoption services.
If you decide to arrange non-prohibited transactions (e.g., selling camping gear, photography shoot, etc.) with other users, please understand that you're doing so at your own risk.
Qualifications & exceptions
The allowance covers discussion of legal access and links to appropriately licensed vendors, not transactions between users in prohibited goods.
Non-prohibited transactions arranged with other users are at your own risk, which the policy states as an understanding you must have.
Not stated here
The text does not say what "at your own risk" means for any dispute or loss.
The Developer Terms, Data API Terms and Responsible Builder Policy are separate documents that are not supplied in this document, so what they require is not explained here.