He was almost certainly targeted for prosecution by the DOJ because of his radical ideas about a free and open internet. When you have the full weight of government coming down on you, suicide could start to look like a rational way to escape. They did not have to kill him to make an example of him but his killing himself worked just as well.

Reddit has a [Trust and Safety Team](https://www.reddit.com/r/ModSupport/comments/8nwhcp/what_does_the_trust_and_safety_mod_do_and_whyhow/) now that actively suppresses ungoodthink. They have moved well past only banning doubleplusungoodthink a long time ago.

Really? You aren't allowed to question a scientific conclusion without having substantial peer-reviewed evidence to support your question? That is not how science works. The whole intent is to kill any discussion outside of the narrow bounds that the mods set and it results the banning of large numbers of participants who could otherwise have provided interesting discussions. Don't forget that just making a light-hearted comment to add some levity to a discussion can get you banned.

Look at their comment rules. 1 On-topic. No memes/jokes/etc. 2 No abusive/offensive/spam comments. 3 Non-professional personal anecdotes may be removed 4 Arguments dismissing established scientific theories must contain substantial, peer-reviewed evidence 5 No medical advice! 6 Repeat or flagrant offenders may be banned. Simply saying something funny in a comment can get you banned for life. The solace is that someone like Richard Feynman would not have been able to get through their censorship filters either.

Agree that r/science is cancer and has been for years. But still, it should be [toe the party line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toe_the_line).