After Musk sparked a wave of ire with back-to-back Nazi salutes at an Inauguration Day event in Washington, D.C., on Monday, the bans quickly swept across Reddit. Such a move is not unheard of — moderators can ban links to specific sites, meaning that posts and comments including X links are easy to block.

Dozens of Reddit's communities, or subreddits, have discussed or enacted bans on links to Elon Musk's X in response to Musk's gestures at a Trump inaugural event that many interpreted as a Nazi salute.

A boycott of links to Mr. Musk’s social media platform spread on Reddit this week, after he made a gesture that some likened to a Nazi salute. Others worried about censorship.

Musk’s gesture has received mixed reactions from politicians and academics, with some likening it to a Nazi salute and others saying it was an accidental action made in the heat of his victory speech.

The ban spans basically every category of subreddit and will cut off X links from a significant source of traffic, as some of the communities boast millions of subscribers. The subreddit r/TwoXChromosomes,

Musk, the world's richest man and a close ally to Trump, was accused by many of twice making a Nazi gesture while speaking briefly to a crowd of Trump supporters gathered for an indoor "Presidential Parade" at Washington's Capital One Arena shortly after Trump was sworn in for his second term on Monday.

The Roman salute is conditionally allowed in Italy and outright banned in Germany. German chancellor Olaf Scholz responded to Musk's gesture by saying, "We have the freedom of speech in Europe and in Germany," he said, "what we do not accept is if this is supporting extreme right positions."

Elon Musk responds to the criticism over his one-armed gesture during Trump's inauguration which sparked controversy.