I posted the three-color image (above) on r/HawaiiSwingers on September 14, 2024. Or it might have been a different version of the same photograph with other colors. The triptych was created from the second photograph -- of me -- taken by my photographer on August 29, 2024 at 2:13 PM at Bellows Beach. The metadata on the original image shows the date, time, location, camera, and my photographer's copyright information. I am uncertain if Reddit strips the metadata when posting images.

My photographer created the triptych using the "Color Pop" app on his iPhone.

On September 24 -- for the second time -- Reddit put a "permanent ban" on my account, accusing me of violating its Rule 3 by posting "intimate media of someone without their consent." I post many photos -- perhaps, I think, too many -- but NONE are of other individuals without their consent. None.

I could not see the offending photo because Reddit deleted it. Makes no sense: accuse someone and simultaneously destroy the evidence. As before, I appealed, and Reddit advised me "We received your request and gave the following a second look (Content Shared from FromThisNight on 09/174/2024 UTC). After reviewing, we found that you broke Rule 3. [...] This decision was made without the benefit of automation."

When this happened previously -- in July -- I wrote a letter to Benjamin Lee, Reddit's VP & General Counsel. I hand delivered this letter to Reddit's agent in Hawaii for the service of process. I heard nothing from Mr. Lee -- or, indeed, anyone -- but the "permanent ban" was lifted.

They say that insanity is inflexible doing the same thing over and over while hoping for different results. I am many things, but I hope I am not insane. I was not writing another letter to Reddit to be ignored. So, this time, I wrote out a Complaint and Summons and sued Reddit, Inc. for the tort of defamation in the First Circuit Court of the State of Hawaii -- case 1CCV-24-0001375, I sent Reddit a copy of the documents file-stamped by the Court on Friday, and was able to formally serve the paperwork on Reddit's agent for service of process today. They have 20 calendar days in which to file their answer with the Court. I have requested a jury trial.

In Hawaii posting intimate photos of another on the internet without their permission -- which Reddit has twice said (falsely) that I did -- is a Class C Felony. And falsely accusing someone of a "serious crime involving moral turpitude: is defamation per se under Hawaii law.

I want Reddit to stop this practice. I don't believe that anyone complained to Reddit that these photos were of someone else -- I think Reddit came to this incorrect conclusion by itself. And how does Reddit know what I even look like when the process of opening a user account with Reddit is so perfunctory? I wonder if anyone at Reddit -- outside of perhaps their legal department -- knows the likely consequences of falsely accusing Redditors of "crimes involving moral turpitude."

I know that folks here don't visit Reddit to read long screeds like this one, so I'll stop now. I just wanted to say that I was sorry for my second forced absence, and that I am I hoping that dragging Reddit into Court may have the desired result of their improving their systems for the "permanent banning" of individuals without any substantive proof.