Why Was Reddit Down? How Graham Platner’s Deleted Posts Impact His Maine Senate Race Against Susan Collins

Reddit’s recent outage on October 20, 2025 unexpectedly amplified scrutiny surrounding Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s deleted posts. The platform’s four-hour downtime coincided with resurfaced archives of Platner’s controversial Reddit activity from 2018-2021, creating perfect timing for opponent Susan Collins’ attacks.

As technical issues plagued Reddit servers, the Democratic challenger’s past comments about “breaking rules to make change” gained renewed attention. While Platner’s campaign claims the posts were taken out of context, the outage-fueled debate highlights growing tensions between digital histories and political authenticity.

The intersection of tech troubles and campaign vulnerabilities presents an unprecedented challenge for Platner’s bid against the Republican incumbent.

Why Was Reddit Down? Technical Glitches or Coordinated Disruption?

On October 20, 2025, Reddit users globally encountered a widespread outage lasting approximately four hours, with connectivity issues reported across major subreddits. The platform’s status page confirmed server errors (HTTP 500), marking its third significant downtime that year. While the disruption coincided with revived scrutiny of Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s deleted posts, Reddit executives confirmed the timing was purely coincidental.

This outage exemplifies how technical failures can inadvertently fuel conspiracy theories during politically sensitive moments. The inability to access archived content when Platner’s controversial history resurfaced created perceptions of intentional suppression – regardless of the actual cause.

Technical Breakdown of the Outage

• Start Time: 9:30 AM EST | Duration: 4 hours 12 minutes
• Affected Regions: North America (87% impact), Europe (63%)
• Root Cause: Database sharding failure during routine maintenance

The incident reignited debates about tech platforms’ role in political discourse. Similar outages during pivotal moments – like Twitter’s downtime during 2020 election fact-checking or Facebook’s 2021 outage amid whistleblower testimony – demonstrate how infrastructure vulnerabilities can become politicized.

Graham Platner’s Controversial Reddit Posts: What Actually Happened?

Archived content reveals the Democratic Senate candidate, under the username “MaineMarine79”, authored over 300 posts between 2018-2021 containing radical rhetoric about political reform. The most damaging included:

Key Controversial Statements

What makes this particularly damaging isn’t the content itself, but the hypocrisy contrast. Platner built his campaign as a pragmatic unifier while these posts reveal an activist persona. That dissonance matters more to voters than any individual statement.

Political Fallout: How Susan Collins Is Capitalizing on the Controversy

Within 48 hours of the Reddit outage, Collins’ campaign launched a three-pronged offensive:

1. “Two Faces” attack ads juxtaposing Platner’s posts with current moderate statements
2. Coordinated veteran outreach highlighting Platner’s post-military contractor work
3. Conservative media tours labeling him “Maine’s AOC”

Internal Democratic polling shows the strategy working – Platner’s favorability dropped 11 points among moderate Republicans and 7 points with independents. The GOP has particularly emphasized comments about Supreme Court reform that conflict with Platner’s current judicial neutrality stance.

Collins is executing classic incumbent strategy: define your opponent before they define themselves. By anchoring Platner as ‘the radical Reddit candidate,’ she’s shifted the campaign terrain to her advantage, regardless of whether the posts represent his current views.

Democratic Dilemma: Will the Party Stand By Platner?

DNC Chair Ken Martin’s tepid defense (“hurtful but not disqualifying”) reveals leadership’s discomfort. While no official withdrawal of support has occurred, three concerning developments emerged:

• National fundraising portal temporarily paused Platner’s campaign
• Senate Majority PAC redirected $2M to Georgia instead of Maine
• Whispers about recruiting 2018 gubernatorial candidate Janet Mills

Historical Precedents

This mirrors 2022’s Wisconsin Senate race where Democrats abandoned progressive Barnes after controversial comments surfaced. However, Maine’s ranked-choice voting system offers unique options – the party could theoretically run a centrist without splitting the vote.

Watch for three signals of impending abandonment: 1) major endorsements like the Bangor Daily News withdrawing support, 2) national Democrats scheduling fewer joint appearances, and 3) opposition researchers leaking more damaging material to force his exit.

Broader Implications: Social Media Archives as Political Weapons

The Platner controversy reflects an evolving political reality: digital footprints have become opposition research goldmines. Compared to past scandals, this incident reveals new dimensions:

Experts note this case highlights the “digital generation gap” – younger politicians accustomed to online discourse face disproportionate scrutiny compared to older counterparts whose pre-internet histories remain opaque.

This isn’t just about Platner – it’s a wake-up call for all digital-native candidates. The rules have changed: assume every online interaction will resurface, and understand that platforms’ technical failures can accidentally amplify your past mistakes at the worst possible moment.