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Hacker Defaces Dozens of Reddit Forum Pages with Pro-Trump Images

Reddit says the stunt was pulled off by breaking into the user accounts that belong to subreddit moderators. The hacker claims the affected accounts had weak passwords, making them easy to guess.

Michael Kan
 & Michael Kan Principal Reporter

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(Credit: Reddit)

A Pro-Trump hacker temporarily defaced dozens of forum pages on Reddit to promote the President’s reelection campaign. 

On Friday, the hacker managed to change the background and profile pictures to numerous subreddits with images of Trump and his campaign slogan: “Make America Great Again!” In some cases, the culprit also posted a message, extolling the command-in-chief using some nonsensical language and Chinese Mandarin:

“Donald Trump (唐纳德·特朗普) is the best, greatest, premier of the peoples Republic of the United States of Ameria. [sic] Batman, was a billionaire. Do you know what Superman was too?”

However, the hack wasn’t due to a software vulnerability or corporate breach at the social media site. Reddit says the stunt was pulled off by breaking into the user accounts that belong to subreddit moderators. “We are working to lock down those accounts and restore impacted communities,” the company said in a statement. 

The hacker responsible also took to Twitter to claim credit for the stunt, and said the affected accounts had weak passwords. “Their passwords are weak and leak so it was so fucking easy to take over them,” the culprit claimed. (Twitter has since shut down the person’s account.)

Reddit says that none of the compromised accounts had two-factor authentication enabled. The safeguard works on top of your normal login credential, and can prevent a hacker from breaking in if your password is successfully guessed.

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As a result, Reddit is recommending moderators turn the two-factor authentication setting on. The company is also considering making the safeguard mandatory for all moderators to help prevent future vandalism.

Subreddits defaced include r/Space, r/NFL, r/Naruto, and r/Avengers, which have hundreds of thousands to millions of followers. However, many of the affected subreddits were quick to remove the Trump images. A full list of the impacted pages can be found here.

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About Our Expert

Michael Kan

Michael Kan

Principal Reporter

My Experience

I've been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I'm currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country's technology sector.

Since 2020, I've covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I've combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink's cellular service.

I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.

I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I'm now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I'm always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.

The Best Tech I've Had:

  • My first video game console: a Nintendo Famicom
  • I loved my Sega Saturn despite PlayStation's popularity.
  • The iPod Video I received as a gift in college
  • Xbox 360 FTW
  • The Galaxy Nexus was the first smartphone I was proud to own.
  • The PC desktop I built in 2013, which still works to this day.

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