Reddit apologizes for Boston "online witch hunt"

Reddit, the online link-sharing community, released an apology on Monday for the conduct of some members of its site.

The website came to attention during the hunt for the Boston bombing suspect because several members of its community contributed to what some called vigilantism.

A sub-section of Reddit, called "findbostonbomber," was created soon after the bombing at the Boston marathon. The section was shut down soon after Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was identified and caught by law enforcement last Friday night. His brother and alleged co-conspirator Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in a violent standoff with police on Thursday night. The names of the men were not known until police released photographs on Thursday.

But before the Tsarnaev brothers were identified as the bombing suspects, there were a few innocent men whose photos and names were circulated online, including a 17-year-old high school student and a Brown University student who has been missing since March.

Reddit general manager Erik Martin expressed regret for fueling "online witch hunts and dangerous speculation which spiraled into very negative consequences for innocent parties."

"We have apologized privately to the family of missing college student Sunil Tripathi, as have various users and moderators. We want to take this opportunity to apologize publicly for the pain they have had to endure. We hope that this painful event will be channeled into something positive and the increased awareness will lead to Sunil's quick and safe return home," Martin said in a blog post.

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Reddit does have a policy of not allowing personal information on its site, and the community corrected itself by discouraging people from posting photos and identities of innocent parties. However, a few exceptions may have fallen through the cracks. Last week, moderators and community members of the site issued their own apologies.