--- title: Reddit's r/opensource bans AI slop, and quite a few... description: Reddit's r/opensource subreddit introduced sweeping new rules banning any project that uses AI, was made with AI, or targets AI applications. Moderator... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/reddit-s-r-opensource-bans-ai-slop-and-quite-a-few-humans-for-good-measure-r6v1xqjyh twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Reddit's r/opensource bans AI slop, and quite a few humans for good measure | daily.dev og:description: Reddit's r/opensource subreddit introduced sweeping new rules banning any project that uses AI, was made with AI, or targets AI applications. Moderator... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/reddit-s-r-opensource-bans-ai-slop-and-quite-a-few-humans-for-good-measure-r6v1xqjyh og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/R6V1xQJyH.png og:image:alt: Reddit's r/opensource bans AI slop, and quite a few humans for good measure og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Reddit's r/opensource bans AI slop, and quite a few humans for good measure **[The Register](https://daily.dev/sources/theregister)** · 4 min read · 1 upvotes · 1 comments ## Summary Reddit's r/opensource subreddit introduced sweeping new rules banning any project that uses AI, was made with AI, or targets AI applications. Moderator Wolvereness wrote that AI 'as it exists today, is incongruent to this Open Source community.' The rules also require a year of active maintenance, an established community, and roughly three contributors, which excludes solo maintainers and new projects. A rule barring non-English speakers, since moderators can't verify AI-translated text, drew objections even from a fellow moderator. The backlash has already spawned alternative subreddits, r/TrueOpenSource and r/OpenSourceAIAllowed. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What are the new rules for posting projects on Reddit's r/opensource subreddit? Projects must not use AI, be made with AI, or target AI applications to be allowed. They also need at least a year of active maintenance, an established community, and roughly three contributors, which excludes many solo-maintained projects. Posters also need a Reddit account at least a year old and a history of significant prior contributions. _Anyone navigating open source community norms around AI can follow ongoing coverage on daily.dev._ ### Why does r/opensource require posts to be in English only? Moderators stated they cannot distinguish AI-written content from AI-translated text, and non-English speakers cannot verify whether a translation into English is accurate, so the subreddit requires English and tells non-English speakers to find a different community. A fellow moderator, ssddanbrown, publicly objected to the rule and said they weren't consulted. _Developers tracking open source governance disputes like this can follow the fallout on daily.dev._ ### How does Linux's policy on AI-assisted code contributions compare to Reddit's r/opensource ban? Linux kernel maintainers allow developers to use AI tools while holding them responsible for the resulting code, and recently dropped the requirement to disclose AI assistance. This contrasts with r/opensource's blanket ban on AI-made or AI-targeted projects, though a moderator said Linux would likely still be allowed there since enforcement depends on whether a project is obviously AI-generated. _Those weighing AI contribution policies for their own projects can track how different communities handle it on daily.dev._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@777777777777** · 0 upvotes > This is interesting, I must say. Quite a polarizing decision. They could've stopped at just banning AI slop though. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Open source grapples with agentic coding](https://daily.dev/posts/open-source-grapples-with-agentic-coding-42kxizrn6) · InfoWorld · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Collaborative project to document AI-contaminated FOSS](https://daily.dev/posts/collaborative-project-to-document-ai-contaminated-foss-m1q81q3xq) · The Register · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Let's talk about AI slop](https://daily.dev/posts/let-s-talk-about-ai-slop-qot1sze9k) · Hacker News · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#open-source](https://daily.dev/tags/open-source), [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux), [#ai-coding](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-coding) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/reddit-s-r-opensource-bans-ai-slop-and-quite-a-few-humans-for-good-measure-r6v1xqjyh) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Reddit's r/opensource bans AI slop, and quite a few humans for good measure","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/reddit-s-r-opensource-bans-ai-slop-and-quite-a-few-humans-for-good-measure-r6v1xqjyh","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/reddit-s-r-opensource-bans-ai-slop-and-quite-a-few-humans-for-good-measure-r6v1xqjyh"},"datePublished":"2026-10-26T17:00:25.366Z","dateModified":"2026-10-30T12:21:16.108Z","description":"Reddit's r/opensource subreddit introduced sweeping new rules banning any project that uses AI, was made with AI, or targets AI applications. 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Quite a polarizing decision. They could’ve stopped at just banning AI slop though.","datePublished":"2026-10-26T17:45:48.678Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/R6V1xQJyH#c-61WGeDJKr","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"A","url":"https://daily.dev/777777777777","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--PL8-tRCQ--/f_auto/v1790286663/avatars/avatar_A5rvA2ZoXB1U7x5OhCtjS?_a=BAMAMicg0"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/reddit-s-r-opensource-bans-ai-slop-and-quite-a-few-humans-for-good-measure-r6v1xqjyh#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What are the new rules for posting projects on Reddit's r/opensource subreddit?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Projects must not use AI, be made with AI, or target AI applications to be allowed. They also need at least a year of active maintenance, an established community, and roughly three contributors, which excludes many solo-maintained projects. 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