Fylkir

That's not radically different from what happens with other abandoned subs, except that usually they are actually abandoned and there has to be more talk about who should take over.

Reddit's policy has always been that subreddit requests only apply if someone actually goes vacant. The only reason XKCD still doesn't have holocaust denial in the sidebar is because the guy who owned the sub disappeared. The XKCD case is especially egregious because I'd argue that associating a public figure's webcomic with a horrendous opinion he doesn't hold is something that would actually open you up to a lawsuit.

It's a lot more nuanced than that. The Chapo mods wanted to follow site-wide rules but reddit refused to explain what was in violation of them.

Reddit actually has a weird history of flipflopping with the banhammer.

Back in the day, the XKCD subreddit was run by a guy who linked a Holocaust denial subreddit and the red pill in the sidebar. Reddit didn't do anything about this. In fact The Red Pill still exists.

But then when the subreddit owner closed KotakuInAction, suddenly reddit doesn't mind interfering with the free market of ideas.